Contradictions in Cultural-Historical Activity Theory

Dr Joanne (Jo) Hardman, a psychologist, is a Professor at the University of Cape Town School of Education, South Africa, where she is the Deputy Director. A Commonwealth Scholar, she obtained her PhD in 2008. She holds the Distinguished Teachers Award at UCT for her work with students and in curriculum design and implementation. She is also the recipient of the Mellon Young Scientist Award for her work on child development. Her research interests lie in developmental psychology, technology, developmental pedagogy, learning, and Cultural Historical Activity Theory. She has spent the better part of 22 years investigating how students across the lifespan learn and what the most effective developmental teaching methods are from a cultural historical viewpoint. Joanne has published over 60 articles and book chapters in her field, 7 textbooks and two books. Her latest book, A Cultural-Historical Approach to Pedagogical Transitions was published in 2022. In this book she provides a dialectical model of pedagogy for developmental learning, that focuses on contradictions as sites of dynamic change in educational spaces. She is an National Research Foundation-rated scientist and serves as an exco member for Africa of the International Society for Cultural Historical Activity research and African secretary for the International Association for Cognitive Education and Psychology.Dr Ekaterina Rzyankina is a scholar in the field of Engineering Education, with a specialised focus on Cultural Historical Activity Theory (CHAT) and the concept of contradictions. With a PhD in Engineering Education from the University of Cape Town, South Africa, Dr Rzyankina has spent years researching how contradictions manifest in educational settings and how they can be navigated through digital technology to enhance student learning in STEM fields. As an Engineering Lecturer at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology, Dr Rzyankina has spearheaded numerous projects focused on integrating technology into education, particularly in STEM subjects. Her latest work includes several publications in academic journals, such as a study on enhancing mathematics in conceptual understanding mathematics. In this research, she examined how to improve students’ grasp of mathematics, analysing the data through the lenses of Cultural Historical Activity Theory (CHAT) and Vosniadou’s concept of conceptual change. This approach allowed the researchers to explain the complex, real-world challenges students face when using e-textbooks to solve mathematical problems. Another significant publication Dr Rzyankina employ CHAT as a methodological tool for a for systematic literature review. Here, the analysis of selected articles was conducted using key concepts from the second generation of activity theory. Dr Rzyankina’s current research builds on this foundation, exploring how contradictions shape learning environments and the ways educators can address these challenges to promote deeper student engagement and understanding.

• Introduction.- Part 1 Theory and context.- Conceptual understanding of contradiction: historical and dialectical.- Methodological perspective of contradictions.- Part 2 Praxes of case studies.- Digital literacy practices of engineering students and lecturers using with e-textbooks.- Mathematics lecturers teaching with technology.- Contradictions as sites of pedagogical change in primary school maths classrooms.- A dialectical model of pedagogy: contradictions as developmental sites.- Conclusion.