# Towards Equity, Peace and Sustainability in Times of Crisis

Margarida Romero, Enric Vidal, Annalisa Sannino, Sylvie Barma, Katerina Plakitsi, Brett Bligh, Manuel de la Mata, Diego Di Masi, Thomas Frøsig, Caroline Duret, et al.

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## To cite this version:

Margarida Romero, Enric Vidal, Annalisa Sannino, Sylvie Barma, Katerina Plakitsi, et al. Towards Equity, Peace and Sustainability in Times of Crisis. ISCAR 2025 Southern Europe and West Asia conference, Nov 2025, Sant Cugat del Vallès, Spain. 1, pp.185, 2025, 10.5281/zenodo.18080161. [https://hal.science/hal-05440289v1](https://hal.science/hal-05440289v1)

HAL Id: hal-05440289

[https://hal.science/hal-05440289v1](https://hal.science/hal-05440289v1)

Submitted on 4 Jan 2026

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Distributed under a Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 - Attribution - International License
Proceedings

ISCAR Southern Europe and West Asia

Conference 2025

*Towards Equity, Peace and Sustainability*
*in Times of Crisis*

Hosted by Universitat Internacional de Catalunya

Sant Cugat del Vallès (Barcelona), Spain

Proceedings edited by Margarida Romero

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Table of contents

S01_000_Romero_Proceedings_Cover_R01.pdf 1

Teacher Agency and Generative AI: A Cultural-Historical Analysis of Contradictions in Planning, Instruction, and Assessment, Frøsig Thomas B. [et al.] 1

Should we ban one-to-one tablets? Analyzing Discursive Manifestations of Contradictions in Educational Technology Integration in Secondary Education, Romero Margarida [et al.] 6

A sociocultural perspective to highlight the social educators' expertise in practice. A case study, Sorzio Paolo [et al.] 9

Working with a key community engaged in the transformation of work : historical analysis and key challenges, Lémonie Yannick [et al.] 13

Unfinished symphony: interpretations and dissonances of Vygotsky's theory of concept development, Anastasakis Marinos [et al.] 16

A Cultural-Historical Perspective on the Epistemological Foundations of Artificial Intelligence, Dafermakis Manolis 19

A Holistic Educational Approach to Science, Health, and the Environment for Sustainable Development, Kolokouri Eleni [et al.] 22

Interpreting systemic contradictions through a clinical analysis of activity: a situated case in the AEFE network, Santiago-Tescari Carmen 26
The Development of Scientific Thinking in Early Childhood: A Case Study of Personalized Learning in a Playful Context, Stavropoulou Eleni [et al.] 31

Building Scientific Agency Within the Collective during the Early Years, Fragki-adaki Glykeria [et al.] 35

Reflexive Masculinity: A Framework to Understand Men's Negotiation between Complicity and Caring Masculine Dispositions, Grau Grau Marc [et al.] 37

University students' perceptions of caregiving, Domingo-Coscollola Maria [et al.] 41

Using participatory design tools for the improvement of patient experience in geriatric care: an affordance analysis, Lefèvre Saint-Clair [et al.] 44

Teaching play skills to children with autism by mothers in their homes, Biazim Miriana [et al.] 48

Between Necessity and Will: Rethinking Agency in Everyday Work through CHAT, Karlow Egil 51

Transforming Science Education: Exploring Shifts in Attitudes Toward Artificial Intelligence, Efthimiou George [et al.] 54

Stimulating teacher agency through co-design: a study in a food education context, Turcotte Jessy [et al.] 58

Tracing Teachers' Transformative Agency in the Pedagogical Change Laboratory, Duret Caroline 62

An Expanded Theoretical Model for the Design Process Based on CHAT, Zahedi Mithra 68

Transforming Social Practices Through the Change Laboratory: A CHAT-Based Intervention on Marginality in Varese, Italy, Bonometti Stefano [et al.] 73
Development of a Mobile Writing Application to Support Inclusive Primary Education, Emre Baştuğ Yunus [et al.] 76

Powerful Transformative Learning Environments from theory to practice: a pluralist approach to transforming VET through sustainability across Europe, Isaac Guillaume [et al.] 80

Artificial Intelligence in STEM Education, Plakitsi Katerina [et al.] 84

Towards gender inclusion in computer science teaching and learning: articulating activity theories with the fabric of inclusion, Guibourdenche Julien [et al.] 87

Making Information Accessible: Transforming Municipal Web Communications Through Inclusive and Participatory Practices, Jolicoeur Edith [et al.] 90

Analyzing Educational Practices mediated by digital technologies through Activity Theory., Vilar Raúl López [et al.] 94

Emotional Intelligence and Sustainability Education: A Case-Based Approach to Promoting Transformative Competencies in Higher Education, Martino Elena [et al.] 97

Exploring the relationship between carbon footprint and internal personal factors in Spanish university students, Fernandez Morilla Mónica [et al.] 102

Places and eco-anxiety in pro environmental behaviors: Renewable energy communities as possible way to foster sustainability, Marano Biagio [et al.] 104

Experiences of online Change Laboratory research-interventions in miniature in doctoral education, Bligh Brett 107

Navigating AI Integration in TESOL: A Cross-Cultural Online Change Laboratory for Expansive Teacher Learning, Song Yurou 111

Co-Creating Ethical AI Guidelines: A Change Laboratory with Pre-Service Early Childhood Educators in a UAE Tertiary Education Context, Miles Rob117
Teachers Fighting for Dignified Homes for their Students: A Case for a Politicized Sustainability Education, Bussi Eliana [et al.] 121

Teaching-learning of social-emotional skills to children and adolescents with visual impairments: from theory to practice, Barras Alessio 125

Exploring ature-Based Solutions through the exploitation of educational robotics, rtificial ntelligence, Augumented Reality and 3Dimensional activities in the sustainable kindergarten, Topoliati Maria [et al.] 130

Generative Artificial Intelligence in Education: Navigating Contradictions to Support Creativity, Romero Margarida 135

Artificial Intelligence among us: From Theory to Action, Lorenzo Neus [et al.] 138

Maker-STEAM projects and science thinking: perspective from the Cultural-Historical Activity Theory (CHAT), Pech Torres Guillermo Emmanuel 144

Intersectionality and indicators of the self in the study of identity narratives of Latin American migrant women in the diaspora, De La Mata-Benítez Manuel L. [et al.] 148

Expanding the Present: collaborative creativity and imagination in work-places to design "the Near Future" of Family-School-Service Collaboration, Di Masi Diego [et al.] 153

Transforming Practice in Initial Teacher Education: Navigating Contradictions in the Integration of 21st-Century Skills through Activity Theory, Nisma Wulanjani Arum 158

Zone of Proximal Development in the Age of AI: Vygotskian Foundations for Intelligent Tutoring Systems, Sierra Carles 162

Integration of CHAT in Classroom Management Planning in the Digital Age: Educating for Online Sociability, Caron Josianne [et al.] 164

Reframing Critical Thinking in AI-Mediated Undergraduate Thesis Writing: Towards Equitable Assessment and Cognition in Higher Education, Diaz
Badra Patricia [et al.] 170

Together Toward Equity, Peace, and Sustainability in Times of Crisis. Opening of the ISCAR Southern Europe and West Asia Conference, Romero Margarida [et al.] 173

CHAT Scholarship in Times of Malignant Normality. Opening Address to the SEWA Region Conference by ISCAR President, Sannino Annalisa 175

Going beyond the wall: moving from a comfort zone to an expansive and unexpected journey in education, Barma Sylvie 180

Expanding Science Education: A Living Lab Cycle Integrating One Health, Equity, and Sustainability, Plakitsi Katerina 182

Cover, Romero Margarida 183

Author Index 184
Teacher Agency and Generative AI:
A Cultural-Historical Analysis of
Contradictions in Planning, Instruction, and
Assessment

Thomas B. Frøsig¹, Margarida Romero²

1 Université Côte d'Azur, France, thomas.froesig@unice.fr

2 Université Côte d'Azur, France, margarida.romero@unice.fr

**Abstract:** T Generative AI (GenAI) is being analyzed for its impact on student achievement through personalized learning, and concerns about the potential devaluation of educators' skills and expertise. Scholars traced diverse contradictions of GenAI's potential to seemingly both help and harm education back to the origins of AI in Education (AIED), thereby broadening the discussion to include a cultural-historical perspective. However few studies consider AIED's exchange value on teacher agency. This pilot study explores this subject by engaging primary school teachers in questions about AIED's influence on their agency during a) lessons planning, b) teaching and c) assessment. The answers were analyzed using Natural Language Processing (NLP) looking for the emotional valence (Sentiment Analysis) and symptoms contradicting teacher agency (Natural Language Inference). The final results were contextualised within three distinct activity systems, revealing that the activity of lesson planning had a positive perceived agency, while the activities of teaching and assessment displayed a neutral and a negative perceived agency. A primary contradiction of AI being perceived as a helpful tool in the delivery of learning while also being perceived as negating the development of teacher agency was found. As well as a secondary contradiction consisting of a dilemma between efficiency and autonomy.

**Keywords:** Teacher Agency, Contradictions, Artificial Intelligence in Education (AIED), Natural Language Processing (NLP)

**Introduction**

The introduction of AI in education holds both the potential to mediate a strong sense of use value through the promise of personalised learning that “can take your average student and turn them into an exceptional student”. (Khan, 2023, 1.47). And an exchange value, warning that such an instructionist approach is ignoring more than 60 years of pedagogical research in deep learning, active learning, productive failure and project-based learning (Holmes, 2022). From a historical perspective, this contradiction between personalised learning and a decline of open-ended constructivist human development is a classic debate that goes back to Anderson's cognitive design of Intelligent Tutoring Systems (Anderson et al., 1985) on one side and Seymour Papert's more exploratory, learner-centred approach of LOGO and Mindstorm on the other side (Mishra et al., 2025). This study aims to investigate Artificial Intelligence in Education (AIED) from a Cultural-Historical Activity Theory (CHAT) perspective. In its historical roots, teaching is not one singular event, so this study will also focus on the use of AIED in the so-called Tyler rationale (Tyler, 1949), which to this day can be found reflected in teacher training handbooks as the planning, instruction, assessment (PIA) cycle (edTPA Secondary Handbook, 2024; Grant et
al., 2013). By analysing AIED's role in each phase of this cycle, the study seeks to uncover how AIED enact or hinder teachers' agency in each of these phases.

## Research Design

Rooted in the third generation of CHAT (Engeström, 2015), linguistic cues indicating manifestations, or symptoms, contradicting teacher agency are identified (Engeström & Sannino, 2011). The data was collected in a free-text format, thereby containing the different perspectives and opinions in the participants' own words. And while such qualitative data holds great value and depth, it remains a time-consuming and labour-intensive process to code and annotate it. Natural Language Processing (NLP, Chowdhary, 2020) has previously been used to code qualitative data in exploratory mixed-method research (Lennon et al., 2021), and also Engeström and Sannino suggest that “the relative ease of detecting rudimentary linguistic cues, for example, with the help of an appropriate computer program, makes their analysis a useful preliminary step” (2011, p. 375). However, NLP coding has also shown to lack the ability to find context and nuances on its own. While the combination of human and NLP coding has been shown to add detail and depth to the analysis (Guetterman et al., 2018), in addition to reducing the time for the preliminary linguistic analysis (Williams, 2024). The contextual understanding and interpretations of the linguistic cues indicating manifestations of contradiction are based on the researcher's judgement.

## Methodology

Eleven pre-service primary school teachers were asked to fill out a survey asking them a total of 12 questions. The questions were clustered in three groups, asking them four questions in each group. This resulted in the matrix of questions shown in Table 1.

<table><caption>**Table 1**</caption><thead><tr><th></th><th>...you<br>are planning<br>your lesson</th><th>... you teach in<br>the classroom</th><th>... you assess<br>your students<br>work</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>How does AIED effect your power to act when...</td><td></td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td>How does AIED effect your power to influence the<br>result when...</td><td></td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td>How does AIED effect your power to make decisions<br>and choices when...</td><td></td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td>How does AIED effect your power to make decisions</td><td></td><td></td><td></td></tr></tbody></table>
that reflect your values and beliefs about teaching and
learning when you are...

Using NLP, the text responses from participating teachers were divided into single sentences, creating a dataset of 132 sentences to be analysed. Twelve answers were excluded due to either being empty or placed in a wrong category, resulting in a final dataset of 120 sentences. To systematically identify affective states, the dataset was analysed using Sentiment Analysis (SA, Medhat et al., 2014). Next, the identification of discursive manifestations or symptoms of contradictions was analysed in a twofold approach. First, linguistic cues of contradictions were extracted from the dataset using Natural Language Inference (NLI, MacCartney, 2009). Secondly, in line with Engeström and Sannino (2011), it was presumed that these cues could point towards any discursive manifestations of contradictions within the dataset. Then, the cues were interpreted by a researcher for identifying the discursive manifestations of contradictions.

## Results

Results from SA, NLI analysis and human analysis showed that the main manifestations of contradictions in the three teaching phases were found on the axis between the subject (teacher) and the tool (AI). While a majority of the entailing symptoms were found on the axis of the tool (AI) and object (delivery of learning). This supported a primary contradiction with a use value of AI being perceived as helpful in the delivery of learning and an exchange value negating AI as useful in the development of teacher agency. Mapping all information into a network of activity systems in the three phases of teaching showed that AIED was perceived as a positive tool for lesson planning, while it was not perceived as helpful for teacher agency in the classroom and assessment. Such a secondary contradiction shows that AIED has a use value for teachers in the first phase of the teaching phase. While the exchange value is AI's neutral and negative effect on teacher agency, the two other phases are the teaching phase. This secondary contradiction is manifested through a dilemma between efficiency and autonomy.

## Contributions

Through the use of both automated analysis and human coding, the researcher was able to triangulate the results by looking at the dataset from three different perspectives (SA, NLP, and human analysis). The NLP analysis was able to facilitate the human identification of a secondary contradiction, primarily through the use of SA. The interpretation of a primary contradiction required the researcher to map all linguistic cues of both contradictions and entailing manifestations to the axis of an activity system. Such methodological findings are in line with both Gueterman and colleagues (2018) and Williams (2024), which describe a shift towards a computational paradigm that is less time-consuming and labour-intensive, while leaving the final interpretations with the researcher.

## References

* Anderson, J. R., Boyle, C. F., & Reiser, B. J. (1985). Intelligent tutoring systems. *Science*, 228(4698), 456–462.

* Chowdhary, K. R. (2020). Natural Language Processing. In *Fundamentals of Artificial Intelligence* (pp. 603–649). Springer India. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-81-322-3972-7_19

* edTPA Secondary Handbook. (2024).

https://wp.cune.edu/educationdepartment/files/2024/07/edTPA_SES_Handbook.pdf
Engeström, Y. (2015). *Learning by expanding: An activity-theoretical approach to developmental research* (Second edition). Cambridge University Press.

Engeström, Y., & Sannino, A. (2011). Discursive manifestations of contradictions in organizational change efforts: A methodological framework. *Journal of Organizational Change Management*, 24(3), 368–387.
https://doi.org/10.1108/09534811111132758

Grant, L., Hindman, J., & Stronge, J. (2013). *Planning, Instruction, and Assessment* (0 ed.). Routledge.
https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315854342

Guetterman, T. C., Chang, T., DeJonckheere, M., Basu, T., Scruggs, E., & Vydiswaran, V. V. (2018). Augmenting Qualitative Text Analysis with Natural Language Processing: Methodological Study. *Journal of Medical Internet Research*, 20(6), e231. https://doi.org/10.2196/jmir.9702

Holmes, W. (with Persson, J., Chounta, I.-A., Wasson, B., & Dimitrova, V.). (2022). *Artificial Intelligence and Education: A Critical View Through the Lens of Human Rights, Democracy and the Rule of Law* (1st ed). Council of Europe.

Khan, S. (Director). (2023, May 1). *How AI Could Save (Not Destroy) Education* [Video recording].
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hJP5GqnTrNo

Lennon, R. P., Fraleigh, R., Van Scoy, L. J., Keshaviah, A., Hu, X. C., Snyder, B. L., Miller, E. L., Calo, W. A., Zgierska, A. E., & Griffin, C. (2021). Developing and testing an automated qualitative assistant (AQUA) to support qualitative analysis. *Family Medicine and Community Health*, 9(Suppl 1), e001287.
https://doi.org/10.1136/fmch-2021-001287

MacCartney, B. (2009). *Natural language inference*. Stanford University.

Medhat, W., Hassan, A., & Korashy, H. (2014). Sentiment analysis algorithms and applications: A survey. *Ain Shams Engineering Journal*, 5(4), 1093–1113. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.asej.2014.04.011

Mishra, P., Henriksen, D., Woo, L. J., & Oster, N. (2025). Control vs. Agency: Exploring the History of AI in Education. *TechTrends*. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11528-025-01064-2

Tyler, R. W. (1949). *Basic principles of curriculum and instruction*. University of Chicago Press.

Williams, R. T. (2024). Paradigm shifts: Exploring AI's influence on qualitative inquiry and analysis. *Frontiers in Research Metrics and Analytics*, 9, 1331589. https://doi.org/10.3389/frma.2024.1331589 When writing the paper please remember to use either British, or US, spelling but not a mix of the two.
# Should we ban one-to-one tablets? Analyzing Discursive Manifestations of Contradictions in Educational Technology Integration in Secondary Education

Margarida Romero¹, Enric Vidal¹

¹ Universitat Internacional de Catalunya, Barcelona, mromerov@uic.cat, evidal@uic.es

**Abstract:** The integration of digital technology in secondary education presents significant policy challenges for school leaders. While technology has been integrated in the last decade with the promise of supporting active learning pedagogies, it has produced tensions in the teaching-learning activity system, including increased distractions, potential cognitive impacts, and limitations for students with learning difficulties. This study examines the educational impact of technologies through an ecological observational study in two secondary schools with different technology integration policies. The study identifies contradictions in technology integration and their implications for policy recommendations for school leaders.

**Keywords:** Secondary Education, Contradictions, Educational Technology, Tablets

## Introduction

The widespread integration of technology in educational settings, driven by goals of digital literacy and active learning pedagogies (Sailer et al. 2024), has also raised concerns about its limitations and unintended consequences, such as significant distractions. Personal technology can be a substantial source of distraction (Flanigan & Babchuk, 2022). The introduction of one-to-one devices, through devices provided by the school or students’ own devices, has raised tension in the teaching and learning activities in secondary education. This study evaluates the impacts of technology use through the lens of Cultural Historical Activity Theory (CHAT), aiming to identify the contradictions within the teaching-learning activity system in secondary education. In Cultural-Historical Activity Theory (CHAT), contradictions are central to understanding the dynamics of an activity system, serving as the driving force for change and development (Engeström & Sannino, 2011; Engeström et al., 2024; Isaac et al., 2022; Romero & Barma, 2022). Contradictions are historically embedded structural tensions within an activity system or between different activity systems. These underlying contradictions manifest as observable symptoms, which can include various forms of tensions in relation to the integration of technology in secondary education.

## Method

This study employed a qualitative research design grounded in the principles of third-generation CHAT (Engeström, 2001). The research objective was to analyse the teaching and learning activity mediated by technological tools in secondary school classrooms, focusing on the potential contradictions that arise from their integration. Participants were involved from two secondary schools in Catalonia, both with a long-standing tradition since 1964. In School 1, teachers must request access to a computer lab or mobile devices for specific technology-dependent activities, as the school does not operate a one-to-one device programme. In contrast, School 2 implements a one-to-one tablet policy, providing each student with an iPad for use both inside and outside the school environment.
A two-phase methodology was carried out: an initial stage of intensive classroom observation and a second step involving a focus group. An observational coding grid, based on CHAT-based studies, was developed to capture and analyse interactions, integrating student actions related to direct engagement, collaborative, and individual learning. The coding schema was structured into three main dimensions: Social (XSK), Content (XCK), and Resources (XRK). The observations were naturalistic and non-interventionist, reported through the coding schema in 10-minute intervals. After the observational study, we organised focus groups, held in each school, including three learners, three teachers, two family members, and two teaching staff members. The recorded discussions were transcribed and analysed through the coding schema and by identifying discursive manifestations of contradictions (Engeström & Sannino, 2011).

## Results

The study identified diverse discursive manifestations of contradictions arising from technology integration in educational settings. A significant tension emerged regarding technology as a learning tool versus a source of distraction. While participants acknowledged technology's value for research and fostering engagement, particularly in subjects like mathematics, its unstructured access frequently led to disengagement and distraction. This was evident in observations where students, despite having tools meant for learning, often diverted their attention to non-academic applications. Another manifestation of contradictions was observed around the controlled versus uncontrolled use of technology. Schools grappled with maintaining control over digital environments; even with strict device policies, constant supervision was required, and past incidents of misuse contributed to heightened teacher difficulties regarding the misuse of technology provided by the school. This challenge was particularly pronounced in School 2, which adopted a 1:1 tablet policy, leading to increased efforts to manage student digital behaviour. In School 2, the students' reliance on digital devices posed a significant issue due to the lack of readily available alternative non-digital learning tools. Despite the availability of tablets in School 2, their use was significantly limited by restrictive policies, leading to a tension between the devices' capabilities and their actual application in learning. A second tension emerged between the school's digital resources and the learning activity itself. Specifically, School 1's limited availability of digital devices necessitated advance planning for any technology-based activities. This constraint led to a more intentional and, as observed, positive use of technology, as its integration was always a deliberate choice. From a school-family perspective, the study revealed an underlying tension between family expectations and the school's utilisation of technology. Parents held divergent views; some advocated for stringent regulations on screen time and digital device use, while others strongly believed digital tools were fundamental for providing a "modern education". This disparity in parental perspectives created uncertainty for schools in establishing consistent and effective technology integration policies that could bridge the home-school divide.

## Discussion

These results highlight the necessity of structuring technology regulation at the school level. While personal devices such as the tablets in School 2 can facilitate information access, they also introduce cognitive overload and distractions, requiring further regulation from teachers, families and the learners themselves. When school- or teacher-level regulation is not provided, learners must self-regulate, which is challenging for learners given their developmental stage. Without a well-defined digital policy at the school leadership level, teachers, families and learners struggle to regulate technology in secondary education. Parents' divergent perspectives on technology use further contribute to these tensions, with some equating technology with innovation and others concerned about screen time and distraction. For successful technology integration, policy must be created collaboratively with all stakeholders, including teachers, school staff, leadership, families and learners, to define the school policy on technology-enhanced learning and ensure alignment of family-school digital practices.

## References

Engeström, Y., & Sannino, A. (2011). Discursive manifestations of contradictions in organizational change efforts: A methodological framework. *Journal of organizational change management, 24*(3), 368-387.
Engeström, Y., Rantavuori, P., Ruutu, P., & Tapola-Haapala, M. (2024). The hybridisation of adolescents’ worlds as a source of developmental tensions: a study of discursive manifestations of contradictions. *Educational Review*, 76(2), 321-342.

Flanigan, A. E., & Babchuk, W. A. (2022). Digital distraction in the classroom: exploring instructor perceptions and reactions. *Teaching in Higher Education*, 27(3), 352-370.

Isaac, G., Romero, M., & Barma, S. (2022). Understanding co-creativity in real-world problem solving in project-based learning in higher education. *Revue internationale du CRIRES*, 6(3), 86-99.

Romero, M., & Barma, S. (2022). Analysing an interactive problem-solving task through the lens of double stimulation. *Canadian Journal of Learning and Technology*, 48(1).

Sailer, M., Maier, R., Berger, S., Kastorff, T., & Stegmann, K. (2024). Learning activities in technology-enhanced learning: A systematic review of meta-analyses and second-order meta-analysis in higher education. *Learning and Individual Differences*, 112, 102446.
# A sociocultural perspective to highlight the social educators' expertise in practice. A case study.

Paolo Sorzio¹, Caterina Bembich²,

1 University of Trieste, psorzio@units.it

2 University of Trieste, cbembich@units.it

**Abstract:** In this contribution, the socio-cultural approach (Edwards, 2010; Gegenfurtner, Gruber, Lehtinen and Säljö 2024; Wertsch, 1996) is applied to analyze the social educators' expertise in their institutional practices, aimed at the development of children's potentialities in the circumstances of their real-life experiences. By referring to an in-service workshop programme, some relevant dimensions will be highlighted: the mediational role of "vignettes" to support the development of advanced insights about the educational practices; the transformative potentialities of educational expertise (Sannino, 2022) and the educators' institutional positionality that may impact on the development of their motives (Munk, 2020).

**Keywords:** social educators; expertise; relational expertise; vignettes; motives

## Introduction

According to its classical definition, professional "expertise" consists in the capacity to recognize the conditions that characterize a class of recurring problems and to activate the appropriate intervention strategy. This definition can be applied only to static and repetitive tasks; however, in the welfare professions, problems evolve rapidly and cannot be easily interpreted by recurrent patterns. In their daily practices, social educators face multidimensional situations, in which each relevant factor evolves in relation to a series of other dimensions; it is not possible to have a single point of view capable of predicting the dynamics of complex systems.

An alternative definition of "expertise" refers to the dynamic adaptation to the evolving constraints of the emerging problems in the professional field; it implies high levels of awareness and creativity to recognize the relevant features of a particular event, to integrate them in a model of the situation, and to explore the consequences of alternative interventions (Gegenfurtner, Gruber, Lehtinen and Säljö, 2024). In this perspective, social educators' expertise consists in the recognition of the complexity of the evolving educational practices, the identification of the constraints on children's participation and the design of alternative pathways to increase the children's participation in the social life (Sannino, 2022).

Professionals develop their expertise in the light of their motives in the practice and it is constrained by the institutional goals and values, the protocols to interact with families and schools as well as the educators' motives within the educational field (Munk, 2020).

According to Wertsch (1996; 2007), the educational interactions between professionals and children are mediated by manifold dimensions of design and activity. Educators arrange the setting, select artefacts, and give structure to children's participation to achieve the institutional goals in practice.
As a consequence, educators develop motives that lead their practice, which are intertwined with the institutional mandate of their profession. The direction of their strategies is related to their interpretation of their institutional mandates.

To promote educational expertise, researchers and social educators can design workshops to align their specialized expertise to recognize the manifold conditions that impact on children’s wellbeing and prosocial development. The process of “relational expertise” ensures that “as much of the complexity as possible is revealed” (Edwards, 2017, p. 1).

## The case study

In the university-community engagement presented in this contribution<fnref n="1" />, the “relational expertise” model was applied to promote social educators’ expertise in developing playing activities to promote vulnerable children’s wellbeing and prosocial behaviour. The in-service programme consisted of a two-strand collaboration between a research team composed by the authors and a group of educators working in a system of afterschool service.

In the first strand of the programme, the researchers entered the educational setting and kept notes on the children’s participation in the daily educational activities. The fieldnotes underwent a complex reformulation to transform them in “vignettes”, which are prototypical scenarios that capture the educators’ agentic roles to promote children’s wellbeing and prosocial behaviour as well as the constitutive role of the structure of children’s participation in their daily activities in the afterschool, specifically, the design of the settings, the definition of the norms of interaction, the available tools and the scaffolding strategies that promote learning. (Erickson, 2004; Sorzio and Bembich, 2023). The vignettes depart from the original fieldnotes, as they focus on the essential dimensions of daily activities and highlight some critical obstacles that hinder the children’s activities.

In the workshops which constituted the second strand of the programme, the vignettes are introduced to the educators, since they “resonate with participants for the purpose of provoking responses, including but not limited to beliefs, perceptions, emotions, effective responses, reflections and decision making” (Skilling and Stylianides, 2020, p. 542). By common reference to the situations as represented in the vignettes, participants can point out the relevant elements that characterise the complexity of the educational practices, give salience to the specific events that constitute the opportunities for children to grow, and envision alternative educational pathways.

The following vignette, drawn from an afterschool setting, provides a concrete example of children’s symbolic play with natural materials. It has been analyzed in order to highlight the role of the environment, the educators’ interventions, and the limits and possibilities for supporting more complex forms of dramatic activity

An example of vignette:

<footnote n="1">¹ The in-service workshop programme was based on an agreement between the University team and the Head of the Education Department of the Municipality, according to which: all the participants agreed on the goals and methods of the researchers’ fieldwork; they had the right to read and comment on the written fieldnotes at any moment; they could withdraw from the activity at any moment; the children and their families were informed of the goals and methods of the programme and they permitted that it was a part of the daily educational activities; all the fieldnotes use pseudonyms to protect the personal privacy of the participants. It was well explained that the focus of the fieldwork was not a judgement of the professionals’ competencies or an assessment of the children’s achievements, but the rationale of the fieldwork was to highlight the conditions that impact on the transformative agency of the educators, to promote children’s learning.</footnote>
“Symbolic play: The Stone Age”

5 girls (7-8 year olds) and 1 girl (6-year old).

A "natural garden" was constituted inside an afterschool setting, composed by natural materials (tree branches of different sizes, stones and marbles, chestnuts, seashells), delimited by a settle, a large pillow, two wooden crates. At the outset, Erica (8-year girl) hits two stones simulating the production of fire. The girls say they are doing "the stone age with a cat" (the youngest girl stays on the pillow, sleeping as a cat. They decide that the large blue pillow is a lake. Erica proposes that the others do not know her, but they meet and discover to be sisters. "I don't remember you, but you remember me, although believing I have died" (she lies down on the settle as lying on a sarcophagus). (there is no plot, they improvise situations and events). Therefore, the play evolves by scattering from an imagined situation to another). Actions to find their lost sister unfold. Erica told me that her sisters arrived through the time machine from town and have found her living in the Stone Age. She teaches the sisters how to produce fire and to cook.

To better understand the opportunities and limits emerging from the vignette, the following table organizes its key elements across different analytical dimensions, highlighting how setting, norms, artefacts, goals, and assessment practices interact in shaping children's symbolic play (Table 1).

<table><caption>Table 1. Stone Age Vignette Analysis</caption><thead><tr><td>Dimension</td><td>Elements in the vignette</td></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>Setting</td><td>The “natural garden” designed by educators with authentic materials (stones, branches, shells, chestnuts), offering an open and flexible play environment.</td></tr><tr><td>Norms</td><td>Rules promote a child-centred approach, with minimal intervention of the educators; Institutional norms remain in the background.</td></tr><tr><td>Artefacts</td><td>Natural materials function as mediational means, stimulating imagination and enabling multiple frames of meaning in children's symbolic play.</td></tr><tr><td>Goals</td><td>No explicit or shared goals emerge. Play evolves in a fragmented way without a common orientation or a stable plot.</td></tr><tr><td>Dynamic assessment</td><td>Limited: educators observe and occasionally scaffold behavior but do not engage in sustained shared thinking to support children in structuring more complex dramatic activities.</td></tr></tbody></table>

In the workshop discussion, the educators and the researchers worked out a joint discussion about some relevant elements in the vignette: the educators' agency that consists mainly in the proposal of natural materials which are not made up by a human design, promoting the children's imagination. The children elaborated intricate reciprocal “mind reading”, expressed by a variety of mental verbs, within the imaginary frame of the Stone Age. However, their symbolic play goes on erratically since there is no opportunity to give a dramatic structure to their activity. The widespread model of child-centred education is based on minimal interventions by the educators, value each child's voice and initiative. During the workshops the educators emphasize their idea that school instruction overwhelms children's life and therefore free play with a minimal adult design may be a viable balance. However, the motives do not lead towards a constructivist approach to play, in which
educators promote the children’s exploration of new meanings and connect levels of thinking. The
setting and the natural objects may open children’s dramatisation, which offers the development of a
symbolic realm of interactions, characterised by a complex activity of “mind reading”. However, the
limited orchestrating role of the educators cannot give the children the opportunity to build more
complex dramatization upon the children’s initial stage of imagination.

The shared child-centred model of education, impacted on the development of motive orientation in
the after-school system (Munk, 2020). The educators refer that the institutional mandate is the
supervision of children’s activities, the design of stable and safe settings, as opportunity to assume
initiatives, to experience complex and often conflicting interpersonal relationships; the educators
intervene to promote prosocial behaviour, and support children in developing their emotional stances.
They do not share a “constructivist model” of education in informal settings, such as in the Reggio
Emilia approach (ReggioChildren, 2011). As a consequence, they seldom develop motives to design
with children more complex playing activities, and rarely support the children’s-initiated play with a
dynamic assessment to promote exchange of emerging ideas, the further articulation of the children’s
mind reading and the extension of vocabulary. Moreover, the institutional mandate does not require
any form of narrative documentation to make visible the children's symbolic artefacts
(externalisation). Children’s symbolic play may remain tied to early initiatives. In the Reggio Emilia
Approach, “microstories” aim to make learning visible and share constructivist strategies, but
workshop constraints (mandates, schedules, and funding) prevented full implementation.

References

Edwards, A. (2010). *Being an expert Professional Practitioner. The Relational Turn in Expertise*. Dordrecht, NL: Springer.

Edwards, A. (2017). “Revealing relational work”. A. Edwards (ed.). *Working Relationally in and across Practices. A Cultural-Historical Approach to Collaboration*. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/9781316275184.

Erickson, F. (2004). *Talk and Social Theory. Ecologies of Speaking and Listening in Everyday Life*. London: Polity.

Gegenfurtner, A., Gruber, H., Lehtinen, H., & Säljö, R. (2024). “Horizontal Transition of Expertise”. *Frontline Learning Research*. 12(3), 20-44 https://doi.org/10.14786/flr.v12i3.543.

Munk, K. (2020). “Motive orientations at work”. *Learning, Culture and Social Interaction*, volume 26, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lcsi.2018.04.005.

ReggioChildren (2011). *Making learning Visible*. C. Giudici, M. Krechevsky, C. Rinaldi (eds). Reggio Emilia, I: ReggioChildren Publishing.

Sannino A. 2022. “Transformative agency as warping. How collectives accomplish change amidst uncertainty”. *Pedagogy, Culture & Society*, 30(1), pp. 9-33.

Skilling, K. and Stylianides, G.J. (2020). “Using vignettes in educational research: a framework for vignette construction”. *International Journal of Research & Method in Education* 43 (5), 541-556. https://doi.org/10.1080/1743727X.2019.1704243.

Sorzio, P. Bembich, C. (2023). "Vignettes as an appropriate methodology to highlight the complexity of children’s participation in early childhood centers and Children’s schools". In C. Landridge (ed). *Emerging Trends in Early Childhood Education*. London: Proud Pen. https://doi.org/10.51432/978-1-914266-01-0-3

Wertsch, J.V. (1996). *Mind As Action*. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.

Wertsch, J.V. (2007). “Mediation”. In H. Daniels, M. Cole, and J.V. Wertsch (eds). *The Cambridge Companion of Vygotsky*. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Pre
# Working with a Key Community Engaged in the Transformation of Work: Historical Analysis and Key Challenges

Yannick Lémonie<fnref n="1" />, Anne Bationo-Tillon<fnref n="2" />, Vincent Grosstephan<fnref n="3" />, Lucie Cuvelier<fnref n="4" />,
Christophe Real<fnref n="5" />, Gaëtan Bourmaud<fnref n="6" />

**Abstract:** Ergonomic interventions aim to improve or adapt work situations, enhancing both health and performance. Ergonomists operate within evolving organizations and must adjust their methods to address emerging health risks. This proposal explores the learning challenges and historically rooted contradictions in ergonomic interventions. It draws on a workshop inspired by the change laboratory methodology, involving 75 consultant ergonomists and trainees. Key tools such as the history wall, activity system, contradictions, and “four fields models” are mobilized. The presentation highlights the importance of historical analysis, the future-oriented nature of the laboratories, and the potential for expanding the scope of ergonomic practice.

**Keywords:** Cultural-Historical Activity Theory; formative intervention; anthropocene; historicity

## Introduction

Faced with the challenge of the Anthropocene, the radical transformation of work is essential, insofar as work and its organisation are underlying causes of the climate crisis (Lémonie, 2025). In the context of a fourth generation of work within cultural-historical activity theory (CHAT), it becomes necessary to identify communities with whom to act. The community of ergonomists constitutes such a community, having historically formed around issues related to workplace interventions.

This communication aims to identify the learning challenges and historically inherited contradictions of ergonomic interventions, based on a workshop inspired by the change laboratory methodology (Engeström, 2007; Lémonie & Grosstephan, 2021). Within this framework, we conceptualise ergonomic intervention as an activity system that has evolved through historically situated contradictions. This perspective is not new (Blight, 2024; Vilela et al., 2020). In this context, ergonomic intervention is shaped by a contradiction between academic discipline and professional practice. Initially focused on individual work situations, recent developments call for a radical transformation of ergonomic practice to align it with the challenges of the Anthropocene (Pueyo, 2022). This developmental approach implies involving participants in the redefinition of their activity and in the reconceptualisation of its object.

Following an invitation to co-organise two study days on ergonomics and CHAT in April 2025, a design group was created to help ergonomist participants appropriate the concepts and tools of change laboratories and reflect on the history and future of ergonomic intervention. The objective was to provide an opportunity for participants

<footnote n="1">¹Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers, CRTD, Paris, France</footnote>

<footnote n="2">²Haute École Pédagogique du Canton de Vaud, Lausanne, Suisse</footnote>

<footnote n="3">³INSPÉ d'Aix-Marseille, Laboratoire LEST, Aix-en-Provence, France</footnote>

<footnote n="4">⁴CESI, Grenoble, France</footnote>

<footnote n="5">⁵Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers, Nantes, France</footnote>

<footnote n="6">⁶Université Paris 8- Saint Denis, Laboratoire Paragraphe, Saint-Denis, France</footnote>
to experiment with these tools and support the collective transformation of ergonomics practices through intergenerational learning.

The research questions were: (1) What developmental periods of ergonomics do participants identify?; (2) What areas of development do they see for ergonomic intervention?; (3) How do participants use the tools of the change laboratory?

## Methods

Seventy-five participants—students in a Master’s programme in ergonomics and professional ergonomists—were divided into three groups of 25, each working in subgroups of 4–5. Each group was tasked with creating a historical frieze to represent developmental periods in ergonomics, using selected mirror data (e.g. themes of the French ergonomics society, changes in work organisation, workers’ roles in interventions, evolution of ergonomics research). Each group then produced a summary of their discussions.

In the afternoon, a collective discussion focused on identifying historically inherited contradictions, key challenges, and a proximal zone of development using the “four fields model”. Data collected included workshop discussions, group outputs, Master’s student reports, and field notes from informal exchanges.

## Results and Discussion

Results showed heterogeneity across group syntheses, but all identified development trajectories for ergonomics, such as:

* Increasing stakeholder participation, from observation to active engagement. E.g., a participant said: “With the change laboratory, it’s the operators who are involved in the analysis – that’s a huge shift!”

* A shift from focusing on isolated work situations to broader work organisation and societal issues.

* Moving from task-level adaptation to the transformation of collective work to address major challenges.

Key concerns identified were the Anthropocene and ageing at work. From these, participants collectively proposed a new, broader object for ergonomics, termed “political ergonomics”, characterised by:

* The need for interventions beyond company boundaries.

* Empowering workers to take control of the transformation process.

* Contextualising interventions at the local level.

Results will be discussed through three lenses: the role of history in constructing a desirable future; the challenge of facilitating change with large groups; and the methodological contributions to the change laboratory approach within the framework of a fourth-generation CHAT.
References

Bligh, B. (2024). The Change Laboratory as a Collaborative Approach to Designing Tools and Activity Systems for Learning. In A.R Costa & R. Cooper (Eds), *Design for Education* (pp. 232-247). Routledge.

Engeström, Y. (2007). Putting Vygotsky to Work. The Change Laboratory as an Application of Double Stimulation. In H. Daniels, M. Cole, & J. V. Wertsch (Eds.), *The Cambridge Companion to Vygotsky* (pp. 363-382). Cambridge University Press.

Lémonie, Y., & Grosstephan, V. (2021). Le laboratoire du changement : une méthodologie d'intervention au service de la transformation du travail. *Revue d'anthropologie des connaissances*, 15(2). https://doi.org/10.4000/rac.21846

Lémonie, Y. (2025). Transforming & Understanding. An introduction to Cultural-Historical Activity Theory. Peter Lang.

Pueyo, V. (2022). Contribuer à des futurs souhaitables pour répondre aux défis de l'Anthropocène: les apports d'une Prospective du travail. *Activités*, (19-2), 15-10.

Vilela, R.A.G, Querol, M.A.P, Hurtado, S.L.B, Cerveny, G.C.O, & LopesM.G.R. (2020).
*Collaborative Development for the Prevention of occupational Accidents and Diseases*.
Springer.
# Unfinished symphony: interpretations and dissonances of Vygotsky's theory of concept development

Marinos Anastasakis¹, Manolis Dafermos²

1 Department of Primary Education, University of Crete, m.anastasakis@uoc.gr

2 Department of Psychology, University of Crete, mdafermo@uoc.gr

**Abstract:** Lev Vygotsky's work underwent a series of shifts and changes that gradually led to the formation and systematisation of what we currently identify as cultural-historical theory. Unfortunately, his early death due to a chronic battle with tuberculosis, left no time for completing one of the “masterpieces” that he and his colleagues were working between 1927 and 1934: a theory of how concepts form and develop. This presentation attempts to: (1) place Vygotsky's theory on concepts within the frame of the historical development of his research programme; (2) summarise the key points and make comparisons between the two main phases of Vygotsky's work on concept formation; (3) critically review some of the interpretations found in the literature and; (4) pose key questions that could enable Vygotskian scholars to re-conceptualise and extend Vygotsky's theory of concept development.

**Keywords:** Vygotsky; concept development; everyday concepts; scientific concepts

## Introduction

Characterised as the “Mozart of psychology”, Lev Vygotsky's work underwent a series of profound transformations that gradually led to the formation and systematisation of what we currently identify as cultural-historical theory (CHT). In *Thinking and Speech* (Vygotsky, 1987), a significant shift in Vygotsky's thought is captured: a change from a phase of using the double-stimulation method to identify the developmental stages of “artificial” concepts (Chapter 5) to a phase of studying how the instruction of scientific concepts restructures and expands everyday concepts (Chapter 6). Why did Vygotsky make this transition and how does it fit into his developing research programme?

## Periodisations of Vygotsky's research programme and the placement of concept development theory

The periodisation of Vygotsky's scientific efforts is a well-documented issue in the literature. This problem stems mainly from a lack of a complete list of his works and the chronology of their creation as well as a mismatch between the dates of writing and publication (Dafermos, 2018). Although the proposed periodisations have several differences, most scholars identify crucial “moments” in Vygotsky's creative endeavour, “points” in time during which his thought shifted radically. One of these shifts can be roughly placed around 1930. For example, Dafermos (2018) suggests that the primary appearance of CHT occurred during 1927–1930, after which Vygotsky formed and systematised CHT. In a more granular manner, Zavershneva and van der Veer (2018) suggest that Vygotsky went through a short period (1930–1931) during which he criticised his earlier work. For them, this transitional period
led to the final chapter of his work (1932–1934), a period during which a theory of dynamic, semantic
systems and the psychology of perezhivanie were developed.

Vygotsky's work on developing concepts was carried out during the last eight years of his life and can
be divided into two main phases (van der Veer & Valsiner, 1991). During the first phase (1927-1930),
Vygotsky and his colleagues attempted to replicate and expand upon Ach's work. However, during the
second phase (1931-1934), he criticised his previous line of inquiry and attempted to replicate and
extend Piaget. Considering the periodisation of Vygotsky's theory and the above phases, it is clear that
the development of his theory on concepts reflects the developing character of his research programme:
the first phase (1927-1930) corresponds to the primary appearance of CHT, while the second (1931-
1934) coincides with the period during which Vygotsky formulated and systematised CHT.

## Interpretations and dissonances

So, how do Vygotskian scholars view the theoretical content developed by Vygotsky during these two
phases? A significant part of the literature draws connections between the two phases by equating an
ontogenetic stage (the first phase) with either everyday or scientific concepts (the second phase). For
example, while Wertsch (1985) discusses the stages that Vygotsky and Sakharov identified, he
introduces for the first time elements of Vygotsky's subsequent work with Shif and equates the last
stage of concept development with scientific concepts. In a similar manner, Zavershneva (2014) makes
a leap from presenting the three ontogenetic stages to equating conceptual thinking with scientific
concepts. This is done by incorporating parts of Vygotsky's work with Shif (namely the law of concept
equivalence) into her summary of his work with Sakharov. In our view, these interpretations are quite
problematic for four main reasons; the first two have been put forward by Clarà (2017), and two of
which are discussed in this paper.

First, given that the empirical work carried by Vygotsky and Shif was focused on school-age children
and the third ontogenetic stage begins not before adolescence, choosing school children as subjects to
study an ontogenetic stage that occurs in adolescence seems as an inappropriate methodological
decision.

Second, Vygotsky believed that everyday and scientific concepts always work with each other and their
interaction is crucial for development. However, in his work with Sakharov, Vygotsky proposed that
the third ontogenetic stage substitutes the previous stages. Thus, the idea that different ontogenetic
stages coexist is highly problematic.

The third reason relates to an implicit assumption about the nature of (concept) development. If we
equate scientific concepts with the third ontogenetic stage (or everyday concepts to the stage of
complexes for that matter) we are then making the assumption that a subject's development follows a
trajectory comprised of a finite, non-repeatable number of stages (syncretism, complexes, concepts).

The final reason relates to neglecting the decisive role of instruction in transforming everyday concepts.
By introducing the notion of scientific concepts, Vygotsky clearly made a critical distinction from his
previous work by highlighting the importance of instruction in restructuring a child's spontaneous
meanings into scientific concepts. This process introduces children to a system of historically and
culturally developed meanings. On the other hand, the ontogenetic stages identified by the double-
stimulation method did not include an instructional phase.

Considering the developing nature of Vygotsky's research programme (Dafermos, 2018), the challenging conditions in which he completed Thinking and Speech and, the problematic interpretations of his theory of concepts, this paper aims to raise key questions that might help us to envision a "crescendo" of Vygotsky's "unfinished symphony".

References

Clarà, M. (2017). How Instruction Influences Conceptual Development: Vygotsky's Theory Revisited. *Educational Psychologist*, 52(1), 50-62.

Dafermos, M. (2018). *Rethinking Cultural-Historical Theory: A Dialectical Perspective to Vygotsky*. Springer

van der Veer, R., & Valsiner, J. (1991). *Understanding Vygotsky: A quest for synthesis*. Blackwell

Vygotsky, L. (1987) Thinking and Speech. In R. W. Rieber and A. S. Carton (Eds.), The collected works of L. S. Vygotsky. Vol. I: Problems of general psychology (pp. 39-285). Plenum Press

Wertsch, J. V. (1985). *Vygotsky and the social formation of mind*. Harvard University Press

Zavershneva, E. (2014). The problem of consciousness in Vygotsky's cultural-historical psychology. In A. Yasnitsky, R. van der Veer & M. Ferrari (Eds.), The Cambridge Handbook of Cultural-Historical Psychology (pp. 63-97). Cambridge University Press.

Zavershneva, E., & van der Veer, R. (2018). *Vygotsky's notebooks: A selection*. Springer.
# A Cultural-Historical Perspective on the
Epistemological Foundations of Artificial
Intelligence

Manolis Dafermos

University of Crete, mdafermo@uoc.gr

**Abstract:** This paper critically explores the epistemological challenges posed by the widespread proliferation of Artificial Intelligence (AI) through the lens of Lev Vygotsky's cultural-historical theory. It highlights how AI's persistent metatheoretical blind spot—particularly its ontological and epistemological commitments—arises from an overreliance on methodologies that overlook the sociohistorical dimensions of cognition. The paper contrasts two major AI paradigms: symbolic AI, grounded in rationalism, and connectionism, based on empiricism. Despite methodological differences, both approaches are limited by dualistic ontological and epistemological commitments that fail to account for the complexity and developmental nature of cognition. Drawing on Vygotsky's conceptualisation of cognitive development, the paper argues for an epistemological shift in AI research. Vygotsky's dialectical method, which views cognition as socially mediated and historically evolving, offers a more integrated model of intelligence, moving beyond the constraints of the empiricism-rationalism dichotomy. The paper concludes that a dialectical approach is necessary to rethink the epistemological foundations of AI and to understand the complexity and developmental orientation of cognition.

**Keywords:** Artificial Intelligence, dialectics, empiricism, rationalism

This paper presents a critical examination of the epistemological foundations of artificial intelligence (AI) through the theoretical framework of Lev Vygotsky's cultural-historical theory. Despite the unprecedented technical achievements of AI, we argue that the field remains epistemologically underdeveloped, operating within largely unexamined philosophical frameworks. This paper argues that the epistemological frameworks underpinning AI research remain largely implicit and unexamined, creating a theoretical vacuum that limits both our understanding of AI's capabilities and its limitations. The field's metatheoretical blind spots - particularly regarding ontological and epistemological assumptions - stem from methodological approaches that fail to account for the sociohistorical embeddedness of both human cognition and AI systems.

The paper addresses the need for AI to redefine its subject matter and methodology. Unlike established scientific disciplines with a clearly delineated object of study, AI's domain often overlaps with psychology, neuroscience, linguistics, and philosophy of mind, creating ambiguity about its precise focus. This definitional ambiguity has important epistemological implications. Without a clearly articulated subject matter, AI research runs the risk of conflating distinct processes - human cognition, animal intelligence, and computational processes - under the generic banner of 'intelligence'. Moreover, the lack of disciplinary boundaries allows AI to appropriate concepts from other fields without necessarily engaging with their theoretical contexts. Concepts such as 'learning', 'knowledge' and
‘dialogue generator’ are routinely applied to computational systems without adequate attention to their different meanings in different epistemological traditions. This conceptual importation, while pragmatically useful, often results in theoretical imprecision that hinders deeper understanding.

Contemporary debates in AI can be situated within the classical philosophical opposition between rationalism and empiricism. This dichotomy manifests itself in two dominant research paradigms: symbolic AI and connectionism. Symbolic AI emerged from the 1950s computational metaphor of the mind, conceptualising cognition as rule-governed symbol manipulation and formal logical operations. The computational metaphor of the mind has a distinctly Cartesian legacy, maintaining a strict mind-body dualism in which cognitive processes (software) are treated as functionally independent of their material implementation (hardware). Symbolic AI's emphasis on rule-based reasoning and formal logic is consistent with traditional rationalist epistemological traditions that privilege innate structures. In contrast, modern neural network approaches represent a revival of empirical epistemology, emphasizing bottom-up learning through statistical processing of large data sets. This approach parallels 19th-century associationism, which views learning as the progressive strengthening of connections between sensory inputs and behavioural outputs. Critics have aptly described connectionism as “behaviourism in computer’s clothing” (Papert, 1988, p. 9). Despite its impressive pattern recognition capabilities, connectionism remains epistemologically limited by its fundamentally reductionist view of intelligence.

By treating cognition primarily as pattern recognition across statistical regularities, connectionist approaches struggle to account for conceptual understanding, conceptual change and creativity. While they excel at reproducing patterns encountered in training data, these systems demonstrate fundamental limitations in understanding the semantic content of the patterns they manipulate and generating genuine conceptual innovations. Despite their opposition, both symbolic AI and connectionism maintain fundamental ontological and epistemological dualisms—between mind and body, innate structure and sensory input. These dualisms reflect a shared mechanistic worldview that fails to capture the dynamic, developmental, and dialectical nature of cognition that Vygotsky's work illuminates. To overcome these limitations, AI requires more than technical innovation - it requires a fundamental epistemological shift. Based on the study of complex, dynamic and historically evolving systems, Vygotsky's dialectical method paves the way for a truly integrated model of cognition - one that overcomes the shortcomings of both symbolic and connectionist paradigms and dismantles the dualistic and reductionist assumptions that dominate contemporary AI research. The paper concludes by advocating a 'dialectical turn' in AI research, urging researchers to foreground the complexity, historicity, and social mediation of cognitive processes - a shift that is seen as essential to resolving the deeper epistemological and methodological challenges facing contemporary science.

## References

Dafermos, M. (in press). A Dialectical Perspective on Machine Deep Learning and Artificial Intelligence. Eleutherna: Journal of Psychology and Behavioral Sciences.

Dafermos, M. (in press). *Vygotsky Meets Artificial Intelligence: A Cultural-Historical Perspective on the Epistemological Foundations of AI*. Culture and Education.

El Maouch, M., & Jin, Z. (2022). Artificial Intelligence Inheriting the Historical Crisis in Psychology: An Epistemological and Methodological Investigation of Challenges and Alternatives. *Frontiers in Psychology*, 13. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.781730

Müller, V. (Ed.) (2013). *Philosophy and Theory of Artificial Intelligence*. Springer.
Papert, S. (1988). One AI or many? *Daedalus*, Winter, 1-14.

Vygotsky, L. S. (1987). Thinking and speech. In R.W. Rieber & A. S. Carton (Eds.), *The collected works of L. S. Vygotsky* (Vol. I, pp. 39–285). Plenum.
# A Holistic Educational Approach to Science, Health, and the Environment for Sustainable Development

Eleni Kolokouri¹, Athina Christina Kornelaki², Katerina Plakitsi³

1 Laboratory Teaching Staff, University of Ioannina, Greece, ekolokouri@uoi.gr

2 Assistant professor, University of Ioannina, Greece, akornelaki@uoi.gr

3 Professor, University of Ioannina, Greece, kplakits@uoi.gr

**Abstract:** This research study focuses on the connection of Science Education, Health and the Environment through an educational program about water. The main purpose of the study is to investigate the contribution of an educational program on water in the direction of creating active citizens. Towards this direction, an educational program about water was developed using Cultural Historical Activity Theory as a theoretical framework. The educational program included activities from the three disciplines and was connected with the 17 Sustainable Development Goals and with the curricula of pre-primary school education. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected. Analysis of results showed the importance of the connection of Science with the Environment and Health in education, considering that these areas should be central units in the school curricula. Most of the students were willing to design and use a similar educational program in their future classrooms expressing their restrictions and limitations in the form of contradictions.

**Keywords:** Science Education, Health, Environment, Educational program, Cultural Historical Activity Theory

## Introduction-Theoretical Framework

The rapid developments at a global level, in terms of health, economy, politics, society and culture have set a new context and a need for modernization in education in the 21st century. Educational policies follow the lines of the globalized society and introduce innovations in their educational systems while at the same time reform their curricula at all levels of education. In this context, the necessity of developing skills related to scientific issues and active participation of citizens arises, and furthermore, the correlation of scientific concepts and the use of technology with social issues. This study focuses on the connection of Science Education with Health and the Environment through an educational program about water. The basic idea for connecting Science Education with the Environment and Health is based on the common benefits that arise for education from the combination of all three scientific fields. This specific approach is characterized as a new pedagogical approach, which connects Science Education, Environment and Health (Zeyer et al., 2021; Zeyer & Kyburz-Graber 2012).
The main purpose of the study is to investigate the contribution of an educational program on water, which connects Science Education, Environment and Health in the direction of creating active citizens. Furthermore, it seeks to find the common process skills that arise from this connection and the contradictions that come up in a possible implementation of the educational program. The educational program is linked with the 17 Goals of Sustainable Development and the Agenda 2030 as well as the curricula of pre-primary school education, which promote the development of skills such as communication, creativity and critical thinking, social skills as well as skills related to citizenship. It was implemented through a series of 4 laboratory courses and at the same time all the material of the courses were available to university students on a distance learning educational platform. The first part introduced the subject of water and the connection to the pre-primary school curriculum. The second part included water experiments combining Science, the Environment, and Health. The third part concerned experiential activities related to the 17 Sustainable Development Goals and the fourth part involved activities using a short film about water.

Cultural Historical Activity Theory (CHAT) was used as a theoretical framework and more specifically the SCOPES methodology (Kolokouri & Kornelaki, 2019). Within this frame, research focused on studying the Systems of activity involved, the contradictions that arose, the Outcome of the results, the connection theory and practice (Praxis). Furthermore, the research follows the phases of an Expansive learning cycle (Engeström, 2020) for the development of educational material in the field of Science Education, the Environment and Health. In this sense, the field of Science teaching-learning process is expanded through a socio historical cultural perspective, so as to include new approaches and concrete initiatives combining science teaching with environmental and health issues.

## Methods

Participants to the educational program were 185 students from the Department of Early Childhood Education at the University of Ioannina, who attended the course "Teaching of Science Concepts in Early Childhood Education I", in the 3rd year of studies, during the winter semester of the 2021-2022 academic year. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected, including questionnaires about students' views, program evaluation questionnaires as well as educational material that pre-service teachers developed at the end of the program. At the beginning, a questionnaire was used to investigate students' views on issues concerning the connection of Science with the Environment and Health and at the end, a second questionnaire was used as a means of evaluation after the completion of the program. The open-ended questions from the questionnaires, as well as the students' assignments, were analysed qualitatively. The quantitative data were coded and analysed using SPSS, while the qualitative data were processed with the qualitative data analysis software Nvivo 9. The research questions connected with this paper mainly concern the Science Process Skills that can be developed according to pre-service teachers as well as the contradictions that arise during the design and implementation of an educational program that combines Science Education, Health and the Environment. The learning activities of the educational program were developed in an expansive cycle (Engeström, 1999).

## Results

The analysis of results showed that participants supported the connection of Science with the Environment and Health in education, considering that these areas should be central units in the school
curricula, as the current school curricula do not seem to include subjects related to Health Education and the Environment to a large extent. The contradictions that appeared during the implementation of the educational program brought about changes in the entire activity system. They were expressed as conflicts, difficulties and dilemmas but also as phases of development of the educational program. From the four levels of contradictions of Engeström (1987) three levels were identified, as shown in the table below (Table 1):

<table><caption>Table 1: Observations and findings of contradiction analysis</caption><thead><tr><td>Contradiction Level</td><td>Engeström's definition (1987)</td><td>Findings of analysis from this study</td></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>Primary Contradiction</td><td>"...the inner conflict between exchange value and use value within each corner of the triangle of activity."</td><td>Concerns about the role of participants in the design and implementation of an educational program based on all three areas. More specifically, they mentioned the didactic transformation of scientific concepts for early ages, the theoretical background on science, time availability, the experience, the structure and the effectiveness of the educational program and finally, the motivation of the early years' learners.</td></tr><tr><td>Secondary Contradiction</td><td>"...are those appearing between the corners. The stiff hierarchical division of labor lagging behind and preventing the possibilities opened by advanced instruments is a typical example."</td><td>During the implementation of the educational program of the present research, issues arose regarding the mandatory laboratory courses and the workload related to them. The division of labour created conflicts as in the groups of participants some members were less active, which affected the functioning of the group as there was a need to redefine their framework.</td></tr><tr><td>Tertiary Contradiction</td><td>"...appears when representatives of culture (e.g., teachers) introduce the object and motive of a culturally more advanced form of the central activity into the dominant form of the central activity.</td><td>Tertiary contradictions between the new teaching practices introduced into the activity system as Science Education was for the first time linked to Environment and health in the educational curriculum.</td></tr></tbody></table>

The science process skills commonly identified in all three disciplines were: Experimenting, Communication, Observation, Inferring, Formulating Hypotheses, Interpretation, Predictions, Mathematical Expressions, Measurement, Sorting, Identification and control of variables and Formulating models. These skills, developed through an educational program that connects Science Education, contribute to the scientific literacy of citizens who have the opportunity to participate in global issues by utilizing their knowledge and experience within sociocultural context in which they live.

## Conclusions-Discussion

Designing within a Science Education, Health and Environment approach for educational learning environments raises a number of questions about the state of environmental health issues in schools, with the skills to be developed in school for environmental health, the interpretation of these competencies in schools, books, and the assessment at the end of compulsory education, of the skills acquired by the students. These questions raise important issues in the design of educational programs that connect the three areas and open new fields of research. The common science process skills that
were developed through the educational program, made participants familiar with the scientific way of thinking as well as the scientific method of organizing teaching and learning.

The development of expansive learning offers a new methodology to organized learning in which the learners' context is associated with the implementation of new didactic strategies and evaluation processes. All in all, the methodological framework of CHAT points out the socio-cultural dimension of learning in which the teacher is not a simple transmitter of knowledge but a dynamic mediator of teaching and learning. Despite the difficulties that emerged with the form of contradictions, participants responded that the educational program of the present research met their expectations. In addition, they seemed to have been helped through the assignment of tasks, in which they had the opportunity to interact, develop participatory work methods, create educational materials that they can use as a basis to develop other educational programs in their future profession.

## References

Engeström Y. (2020). Ascending from the Abstract to the Concrete as a Principle of Expansive Learning, *Psychological Science and Education, 25*(5), 31-43.

Engeström, Y. (1999). Activity theory and individual and social transformation. In Y. Engeström, R. Miettinen & R-L. Punamäki (Eds.), *Perspectives on Activity Theory*. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Engeström, Y. (1987). *Learning by expanding: An activity-theoretical approach to developmental research*. Helsinki: Orienta-Konsultit.

Kolokouri, E., & Kornelaki A. C. (2019). Introducing a new socio-cultural tool for Science Education in First Grades: SCOPES, Conference proceedings ISCAR 2019: *Crisis in contexts*, Ioannina, Greece, (pp. 87-101).

Zeyer A., Kyburz-Graber R. (2021) Science|Environment|Health: An Introduction. In: Zeyer A., Kyburz-Graber R. (eds) *Science | Environment | Health. Contributions from Science Education Research*, vol 10. Springer, Cham

Zeyer, A. (2012). A Win-Win Situation for Health and Science Education: Seeing Through the Lens of a New Framework Model of Health Literacy. In A. Zeyer & R. Kyburz-Graber (Eds.), *Science | Environment | Health. Towards a Renewed Pedagogy for Science Education*. Dordrecht: Springer.
# Interpreting systemic contradictions through a clinical analysis of activity: a situated case in the AEFE network

Carmen Santiago-Tescari

Université de Reims Champagne-Ardenne – CEREP (ED 555),

carmen.tescari@univ-reims.fr

**Abstract:** This contribution explores how the articulation between the Clinical Activity Approach and Cultural-Historical Activity Theory can illuminate the professional tensions experienced by educational trainers working in transnational contexts. Based on research conducted within the Agency for French Education Abroad, the study analyses a video-recorded remote training session and autoconfrontation interviews with two trainers supporting locally recruited early-career teachers. The analysis identifies professional gestures that are constrained, suspended, or reconfigured in response to dilemmas and impeded activities rooted in systemic contradictions. By examining these gestures as expressions of both subjective inhibition and structural tension, the study highlights how symbolic asymmetries, logistical constraints, and failures in instrumental mediation affect the capacity to sustain pedagogical presence in a digital environment. These tensions reflect broader contradictions within transnational activity systems, including disparities between expatriate trainers and local recruits. The trainers' decision to deviate from the prescribed session structure is interpreted as a situated gesture of transformative agency, enacted in response to the inadequacy of digital artefacts to support meaningful interaction. Rather than being merely adaptive, this reconfiguration reflects an attempt to reclaim their capacity to act by engaging with and partially transforming the systemic contradictions shaping their activity. Impeded activity thus acts as an analyser of underlying systemic contradictions within the activity system.

**Keywords:** impeded activity; systemic contradiction; Cultural-Historical Activity Theory; Clinical Activity Approach

## Introduction

This paper addresses the theoretical challenge of conceptualising professional dilemmas that cannot be reduced to either individual hesitation or systemic contradiction. Drawing on the Clinical Activity Approach (Clot, 1999, 2008, 2009) and Cultural-Historical Activity Theory (CHAT; Engeström, 1987, 2015), it proposes a cross-analysis of subjective inhibition and structural tensions in professional training contexts.

Although both frameworks originate in the Vygotskian tradition, their combined application in empirical research on professional development remains relatively limited. This contribution argues that mobilising both the concept of impeded activity from the Clinic of Activity and the analysis of systemic contradictions from CHAT enables a deeper understanding of the tensions structuring professional development work in transnational education settings.

Rather than treating these frameworks as contradictory or redundant, this paper engages them in a complementary dialogue – one reaching outward and upward to analyse interconnected activity systems (Engeström, 2015), the other descending inward and downward to capture subjectivity, dilemmas, and situated agency (Clot, 1999). This dual perspective makes it possible to access not only what is said and done, but also what is prevented, silenced, or rendered invisible in the course of work. In doing so, this paper seeks to expand CHAT’s methodological repertoire by showing how clinical analysis can illuminate the interplay between subjective inhibition and systemic contradiction – particularly in professional contexts marked by persistent structural asymmetries.
The empirical material stems from a research conducted within the Agency for French Education Abroad (AEFE), focusing on a remote training session and autoconfrontation interviews with two educational trainers (EF2D) supporting locally recruited early-career teachers (Neo) under the “Teachers to be Professionalised” (PàP) programme. The analysis reveals professional gestures that are (1) impeded by subjective constraints, (2) modulated to preserve relational balance, or (3) reconfigured in response to systemic contradictions – suggesting that interpersonal hesitations can signal deeper tensions in the symbolic and material mediation of remote pedagogical activity.

We now examine how such breakdowns – in tools, environments, and interactional routines – constitute not mere operational issues but situated expressions of instrumental contradictions where artefacts fail to mediate the intended pedagogical relation.

# 1. A Dilemma as Symptom of a Systemic Contradiction

A professional dilemma cannot be reduced to individual hesitation or indecision. It emerges at the intersection of historically sedimented structures and situated modes of engagement, where the subject is compelled to navigate between competing norms, rules, and expectations. Drawing from the Clinical Activity Approach (Clot, 1999), we consider the dilemma as a manifestation of conflict within the activity itself – not merely between the subject and the task, but between different dimensions of what is prescribed, enacted, and possible, constraining the subject's capacity to act (Bonnemain & Clot, 2017; Matteï-Mieusset, 2013). Such tensions often manifest as dilemmas, which, far from being mere personal hesitations, should be analysed as symptomatic expressions of underlying systemic contradictions (Ianeva, Séguret, & Clot, 2021).

From a convergent theoretical register, Cultural-Historical Activity Theory (CHAT; Engeström, 1987) also conceptualises dilemmas as symptomatic expressions of systemic contradictions. As noted by Ianeva et al. (2021), these symptoms do not directly disclose the contradiction itself but serve as heuristic entry points for its reconstruction. The analytical task, in both traditions, involves a dialectical movement from the manifest disruption to the underlying structure – a shift that links the subject's experience to systemic tensions embedded in the activity.

In the case analysed here, the dilemma arises during a remote professional development workshop facilitated by educational trainers within the AEFE network. As he reintroduces the object of the session – formative pupil assessment – he is interrupted by a novice teacher expressing uncertainty about his place in the group. Instead of reaffirming the institutional framework, the trainer responds with humour and tact. In subsequent self-confrontation, he evokes a sense of discomfort linked to his dual positioning – simultaneously a peer and a figure of authority – navigating a tension between collegiality and dissymmetry. This hesitation is not symptomatic of indecision or lack of professional clarity. Rather, it constitutes a situated effort to regulate a contradiction between two poles of the division of labour: on one side, the formal authority conferred by his institutional mandate as trainer; on the other, the informal norm of horizontality that underpins peer relationships in the field. His decision to refrain from asserting his position does not reflect a diminished capacity for agency, but a deliberate modulation of it – a compromise aimed at preserving relational equilibrium in the face of symbolic dissymmetry. Moving from such a dilemma to the identification of a systemic contradiction requires interpretive reconstruction, through which the visible symptom is analysed as a possible manifestation of deeper tensions (Ianeva et al., 2021). In this instance, we interpret the dilemma as the situated expression of a secondary contradiction (Engeström, 1987) between the division of labour –which legitimates the trainer's hierarchical position –and implicit rules of peer cooperation based on horizontality and trust. To manage this tension, the trainer mobilises interactional tactics – humour, status withdrawal, empathy – which may serve to maintain engagement despite internal dissonance (Clot, 1999).

He retrospectively describes this position as “schizophrenic,” using the term colloquially to signal not merely discomfort but a deeper conflict between incompatible logics of action: the institutional imperative to lead, and the interpersonal imperative to remain equal. This disjunction is not solely pedagogical. It is entangled with latent socio-professional inequalities between expatriate trainers and
locally recruited teachers. During autoconfrontation, the trainer alludes to the jealousy elicited by his
significantly higher salary, contrasting with that of the Neo – a disparity he describes as “*a real chasm*.”
This awareness informs his relational style, which implicitly seeks to soften symbolic asymmetries that
training does not formally address. These latent tensions – expressed through ironic remarks or micro-
aggressions – may constrain his power to act and partially structure his dilemma. Thus, the dilemma
cannot be fully understood without reference to the broader contradictions that underlie the symbolic
and material organisation of work – particularly the unequal distribution of resources and recognition
between expatriate and locally recruited personnel.

What initially appears as a relational dilemma thus reveals a deeper systemic logic: one where the
trainer’s agency is shaped not only by pedagogical dynamics, but by enduring institutional asymmetries
embedded in the organisation of transnational training. This symptomatic experience reveals the limits
of local regulation and calls for expansive transformation of the training activity itself (Engeström,
2015; Clot, 2008). The gesture of withdrawal is not the endpoint of agency, but the visible trace of a
constrained power to act – one that signals a contradiction exceeding individual adjustment.

## 2. Impeded Activity as an Analyser of Instrumental Contradictions in Professional Training

This systemic perspective is deepened through the cross-analysis of autoconfrontation interviews (Clot, 2009), which reveals a pattern of impeded activity symptomatic of a failure in instrumental mediation within the remote support system provided to the Neo on the topic of formative pupil assessment. In this method,

“*confrontation of the professional with the video recording of his or her activity in the presence of the researcher is called simple autoconfrontation. Confrontation of the same professional with the same video recording in the presence of the researcher and of a colleague [...] is called crossed autoconfrontation*” (Ibid., p. 300).

Two interconnected impediments are observed. First, the absence of an integrated digital tool for roll call – since the dedicated ATENA feature was only made available several months later. Second, the inability to establish stable visual contact, due to the systematic deactivation of trainee cameras and the recurring partial disappearance of one trainer’s face (EF2D2) when screen sharing with his colleague. These impediments obstruct the trainers’ capacity to regulate interaction and sustain presence in a distributed setting.

EF2D1 explicitly acknowledges this limitation, stating his decision not to request camera activation to avoid time-consuming justifications from participants. This withdrawal, however, cannot be reduced to a pragmatic choice: it signals an impeded activity, wherein the subject’s power to act is partially constrained (Clot, 1999, 2008). The action that could have structured a more embodied training relation remains suspended, unrealised.

EF2D2, in turn, describes the logistical difficulties encountered by trainers themselves: working from home, lacking access to institutional premises, relying on unstable personal internet connections. He describes their status as “*wandering trainers, with no assigned room.*” Yet this account does not reflect a personal complaint but rather reveals a broader systemic compromise: ensuring continuity of professional training for the Neo, who are geographically dispersed across an entire educational zone, while keeping the costs of training operations within feasible limits. A face-to-face format would require substantial logistical and human resources – such as releasing both trainers and trainees from teaching duties, funding travel and accommodation, and mobilising physical infrastructure – which are challenging to sustain, especially in transnational contexts.

Paradoxically, the very format that makes support possible (online, synchronous) also undermines its pedagogical quality, depriving trainers of the symbolic and material resources required to maintain a strong formative presence. At the same time, this session plays a critical role: it supports the Neo as they engage with the training modules on M@gistère – the platform that centralises content, tasks, and
assessment leading to certification via open badges. These digital badges are essential to the progressive validation of the two-year PàP training pathway to professionalisation.

The trainers are thus caught in a *double bind* (Engeström & Sannino, 2011): either accept a degraded pedagogical relationship, or risk leaving novice teachers unsupported. The persistence of this dilemma indicates that the issue lies not only in the surface-level constraints of remote interaction, but in the systemic failure of instrumental mediation – a dimension we now explore through the lens of impeded activity.

In this configuration, the artefact does not reach the status of an instrument (Rabardel, 1995), leaving mediation structurally deficient. The failure of instrumentalisation exposes an activity that cannot stabilise its own mediating structure – a case of incomplete instrumentalisation revealing deeper systemic contradictions. What appears as a breakdown in use is, in fact, a trace of impeded activity (Clot, 1999), where the subject's power to act is constrained by the absence of collectively shared rules and institutionalised norms. The artefact, deprived of the socio-institutional conditions required for its operationality, reveals the unfinished and internally fragmented nature of the activity system itself.

Thus, impeded activity acts as an analyser (Clot, 2008), rendering visible the structural incompleteness of the mediating configuration. In the absence of stabilised norms and collective rules, the artefact's failure to mediate the pedagogical relation is not incidental, but rather diagnostic in itself – revealing a contradiction that exceeds local adjustment and demands reconfiguration of the systemic conditions for formative presence.

### 3. Transformative agency in tension: a situated professional gesture within contradictory activity

In the situation analysed, the two trainers deliberately diverged from the prescribed session structure by shortening the autonomous work phase on M@gistère in favour of an extended synchronous exchange. While the institutional framework specified a sequence of 30 minutes of presentation followed by 90 minutes of self-directed work, this reconfiguration reflects more than a circumstantial adjustment: it constitutes a situated professional gesture grounded in the practical arbitration of conflicting constraints.

M@gistère – the digital platform officially used by the AEFE to structure remote tutored support for the Neo, particularly in the context of open badge certification – prescribes individual progression through a modular sequence. However, the trainers perceived a tension between this model of autonomy and the need for real-time pedagogical interaction.

Confronted with this contradiction, they opted to transform the implicit rules of the activity to preserve its systemic object – the development of professional competence among the Neo, through sustained dialogic engagement. This gesture marks a regained capacity to act (Clot, 2008), where the subject reappropriates the conditions of their activity rather than submitting to its limitations. The impeded activity – that of a support process deprived of its interactive dimension – is converted into a springboard for transformation. In this sense, the reconfiguration exemplifies a form of transformative agency (Engeström & Sannino, 2010): the actors are not merely pursuing their task but acting upon the systemic contradictions that shape the conditions of their own engagement.

By reframing the balance between autonomy and guided support, they do not simply substitute one pedagogical format for another. Rather, they open a space of conflictual rationality (Sannino, 2010) in which alternative conceptions of what constitutes meaningful training emerge and are negotiated. However, such situated gestures also reflect the systemic conditions that enable or constrain professional agency – pointing to broader possibilities for reconfiguring the activity system itself.

### Conclusion
This study has shown how the combined use of the Clinical Activity Approach and Cultural-Historical Activity Theory can illuminate both the subjective inhibitions and systemic contradictions that shape professional training activity in transnational contexts. Within the AEFE support framework for the Neo, the empirical analysis identified professional dilemmas and impeded activities that cannot be reduced to individual hesitation. These tensions reflect broader structural misalignments between institutional norms, symbolic asymmetries, and the material and relational conditions of remote support.

The trainers' gestures – whether constrained, suspended, or reconfigured – revealed not only a partially inhibited power to act, but also a capacity to act upon the very contradictions of the activity system. In this sense, the clinical and systemic perspectives do not compete, but converge: one makes visible what is prevented or unspoken in the course of work; the other reconstructs the latent tensions within and between interconnected systems of activity.

This contribution has examined the heuristic potential of a dialogue between the Clinic of Activity and CHAT, showing how the articulation of situated experience with systemic contradictions can reveal dilemmas, impeded activities, and professional gestures as potential vectors of transformative agency.

## References

Bonnemain, A., & Clot, Y. (2017). Réorienter l'activité pour transformer le travail. *Travailler, (37)*, 87-104.

Clot, Y. (1999). *La fonction psychologique du travail*. PUF.

Clot, Y. (2008). *Travail et pouvoir d'agir*. PUF.

Clot, Y. (2009). The Clinic of Activity: A Dialogical Intervention. In A. Sannino, H. Daniels, & K.D. Gutiérrez (Eds.), *Learning and Expanding with Activity Theory* (pp. 286-302). Cambridge University Press.

Engeström, Y. (1987). *Learning by Expanding: An Activity-Theoretical Approach to Developmental Research*. Orienta-Konsultit.

Engeström, Y. (2015). *Learning by Expanding* (2nd ed.). Cambridge University Press.
https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781316225363

Engeström, Y., & Sannino, A. (2010). Studies of expansive learning: Foundations, findings and future challenges. *Educational Research Review, 5*(1), 1-24.

Engeström, Y., & Sannino, A. (2011). Discursive manifestations of contradictions in organizational change efforts. *Journal of Organizational Change Management, 24*(3), 368-387.

Ianeva, M., Séguret, A., & Clot, Y. (2021). Pour une clinique de l'activité dialogique : Dilemmes, conflits de normes et transformation du travail. *Travailler, (45)*, 33-54.

Matteï-Mieusset, C. (2013). Les dilemmes professionnels : entre souffrance et développement. *Travailler, (30)*, 99-116. https://doi.org/10.3917/trav.030.0099

Rabardel, P. (1995). *Les hommes et les technologies : approche cognitive des instruments contemporains*. Armand Colin.

Sannino, A. (2010). Teachers' talk of experiencing: Conflict, resistance and agency. *Teaching and Teacher Education, 26*(4), 838-844.

Vygotsky, L. S. (1978). *Mind in Society: The Development of Higher Psychological Processes*. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
# The Development of Scientific Thinking in Early Childhood: A Case Study of Personalized Learning in a Playful Context

Eleni Stavropoulou¹, Glykeria Fragkiadaki²

¹Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, estavrob@nured.auth.gr

²Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, fragkiadaki@nured.auth.gr

**Abstract:** International literature has shown that young children are natural explorers, curious about the world, and explore concepts and phenomena from the natural world. According to Vygotsky's cultural-historical theory, play has a critical role in children's learning and development and is the dominant and guiding activity in early childhood. Although the literature indicates that preschoolers do learn science during play, we still do not know much about how they learn and how they form their personalized learning pathways in science. This study focuses on documenting and unpacking how preschool children's learning pathways in science are formed within play-based settings. A set of cultural-historical concepts has been used as an analytical tool. The findings illustrate the turning points that formed children's learning pathways in relation to their play and highlight how the interrelation between the individual and the collective forms conceptual learning in science. Capturing the individual along with the collective, it is shown how even if children started from the same point and arrived at the same goal, the learning pathway they developed was personalised and unique.

**Keywords:** early childhood education, preschool science, play and science learning

## Extended Abstract

The role of play in science learning in preschool children is important as it provides a natural process for the development of curiosity, experimentation and exploration (Gomes & Fleer, 2020; Akman & Özgül, 2015). Vygotsky (2004) argued that play was not just a fun activity, but a rich resource for children's learning and development. However, the learning and teaching of science frequently appear to have cognitive and conceptually centered characteristics, thus creating distance from children's play and overlooking the dominant role that play should have during educational activities in preschool children.

According to the findings of international literature (Fragkiadaki et al., 2021; Bulunuz, 2013), children learn through play and form scientific concepts, but there is a gap in our understanding about the way children learn within play-based settings. Recording data before and after a scientific activity is necessary to conduct some inferences and generate evidence about the knowledge children had before and after the intervention and the development of this knowledge (Albin-Clark, 2021). However, what seems to be missing from the literature is the mapping of play-based learning and the documentation of the whole process of learning and development in science during play. While there is some research showing how this is documented, it is mostly fragmentary and usually comparative (Bulunuz, 2013; Schulz, 2015). Ways of mapping and documenting the entire learning and developmental pathway that a child follows during their scientific play should therefore be explored more deeply.

From a cultural-historical theoretical perspective, the study also utilizes Galperin's theory, which is interrelated and works in a complementary way with the vygotskian theory, as it highlights how the interaction between individual and collective processes enhances conceptual development. Galperin's
theory provides a detailed framework for understanding how learners can effectively engage with tasks across varying contexts (Engeness & Lund, 2020). Galperin proposed that individual mental actions are internalized versions of external, collective activities. Children first engage in shared, external tasks (often guided by adults or peers) and gradually internalize these actions to form independent mental processes. This aligns with the idea that individual cognition arises from collective experiences, mediated by cultural tools and interactions (Arievitch & Haenen, 2005).

Considering all of the above, this study seeks to provide better insight into recording and mapping the learning processes that preschool children follow during play-based learning activities, filling the above gap in the literature. It will also determine how we can document preschool children learning through play, and the process of forming science concepts.

Based on the above, the following research question arises:

1. How are preschoolers' personalized learning pathways formed during their scientific play in early childhood educational settings?

Two hundred preschool children from 6 kindergartens in Northern Greece participated in the study. Empirical data were collected and generated in various phases of children's play. The overall process of qualitative data generation and data collection lasted 3 months. Children's play, ideas, and thoughts were recorded through over 160 hours of video recordings, over 300 drawings, and children's scientific narratives during their play. Data generation was conducted through a series of visits to preschool centers and support of EC teachers who participated in a professional development program and planning sessions. Data were collected before, during and after the play-based teaching intervention.

The study design followed the play-based Conceptual PlayWorlds (CPWs) model of practice for teaching and learning science in the early years, developed by Fleer (2019). The overall study followed the educational experiment method, as defined by Hedegaard (2008, 2012), according to which the participating teachers collaborate with the researcher to create the appropriate developmental conditions for each child to form science concepts and phenomena through play.

Through the cooperation of the researcher with the EC teachers, an educational design for each preschool center was created. The teachers used a storybook, a fairy tale, which they read with the children of their classroom, and within each story, some problems arose, which could be solved through scientific play, requiring children to explore science concepts by collectively constructing and experimenting with artefacts.

As basic tools of analysis, a set of cultural-historical concepts has been selected and used such as play, everyday and scientific concepts, collectiveness and individuality, which function as a conceptual system. Another important concept is the turning points that are identified in children's personalised learning pathways. A turning point is defined as a qualitative change in participant's discourse and a step in the quality and quantity of their expressions of transformative agency (Fragkiadaki, 2020; Haapasaari et al., 2016). The analysis follows Hedegaard's dialectic-interactive method (2012). The first level of this method "common sense interpretation", is based on the researchers' comments about children's playful experiences. At the second level of analysis "situated practice interpretation" we searched for conceptual links of the results produced at the first level. And at the third level, "thematic analysis" a theoretical analysis is conducted so that patterns can emerge and explain how the science pathways are formed.
Currently, the data analysis is at an early stage. The first findings already show a better understanding of how we can document how preschool children learn through play and form scientific concepts. The unique and complex ways in which personalized learning pathways were developed through collectivity were made visible. The presentation will focus on the case example of two 5-year-old children from two different preschools. The two children were engaged in the same scientific concepts. All phases of the children's personal learning pathways were recorded, and there was a strong emphasis on the process and duration of the activities they took part in. Based on the children's initial (pre-test) and later representations (post-test), these two children appeared to begin their pathway from the same point, with similar representations of the concepts. At the end of the teaching intervention, it appeared that they both reached the final teaching and learning goals. However, the emphasis was placed on the 5-week intermediate educational process, as it was observed that children's individual and personalized pathways were created through group participation and collectiveness in completely different and diverse ways. Among the two children's pathways, dynamic turning points were detected.

The study aimed to explore how children's learning pathways are being developed during their scientific play and give better insight into recording and mapping the learning processes that they follow. The main research question focused on how children's learning pathways are formed and the route they followed to reach the learning goal. The study adds to the literature by highlighting the complexity inherent in the learning process when it involves the formation of scientific concepts and takes place in play-based settings. Implications that inform practice about dialectically interrelating play and learning are discussed.

## References

Akman, B., & Güçhan Özgül, S. (2015). Role of play in teaching science in the early childhood years. *Research in early childhood science education*, 237-258. DOI:10.1007/978-94-017-9505-0_11

Albin-Clark, J. (2021). What is documentation doing? Early childhood education teachers shifting from and between the meanings and actions of documentation practices. *Contemporary Issues in Early Childhood*, 22(2), 140-155. https://doi.org/10.1177/1463949120917157

Arievitch, I. M., & Haenen, J. P. (2005). Connecting sociocultural theory and educational practice: Galperin's approach. *Educational psychologist, 40*(3), 155-165. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15326985ep4003_2

Bulunuz, M. (2013). Teaching science through play in kindergarten: Does integrated play and science instruction build understanding? *European Early Childhood Education Research Journal*, 21(2), 226-249. https://doi.org/10.1080/1350293X.2013.789195

Engeness, I., & Lund, A. (2020). Learning for the future: Insights arising from the contributions of Piotr Galperin to the cultural-historical theory. *Learning, Culture and Social Interaction*, 25, 100257. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lcsi.2018.11.004

Fleer, M. (2019). Conceptual PlayWorlds as a pedagogical intervention: Supporting the learning and development of the preschool child in play-based setting. *Obutchénie, 3*(3). https://doi.org/10.14393/OBv3n3.a2019-51704

Fragkiadaki, G. (2020). Conflicts during Science concept formation in early childhood: barriers or turning points?. *Review of Science, Mathematics and ICT Education, 14*(1), 113-128. https://doi.org/10.26220/rev.3367

Fragkiadaki, G., Fleer, M., & Rai, P. (2021). Innovation in early childhood and primary education. In *Educational innovation in society 5.0 era: Challenges and opportunities* (pp. 7-10). Routledge. DOI: 10.1201/9781003206019-2
Gomes, J., & Fleer, M. (2020). Is science really everywhere? Teachers' perspectives on science learning possibilities in the preschool environment. *Research in Science Education, 50*, 1961–1989.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11165-018-9760-5

Haapasaari, A., Engeström, Y., & Kerosuo, H. (2016). The emergence of learners' transformative agency in a Change Laboratory intervention. *Journal of education and work, 29*(2), 232–262.
https://doi.org/10.1080/13639080.2014.900168

Hedegaard, M., & Fleer, M. (2008). *Studying children: A cultural-historical approach*. Open University Press.

Hedegaard, M. (2012). Analyzing Children’s Learning and Development in Everyday Settings from a Cultural-Historical Wholeness Approach. *Mind, Culture, and Activity, 19*(2), 127–138.
https://doi.org/10.1080/10749039.2012.665560

Schulz, M. (2015). The documentation of children's learning in early childhood education. *Children & Society*, *29*(3), 209-218. https://doi.org/10.1111/chso.12112

Vygotsky, L. S. (2004). Imagination and Creativity in Childhood. *Journal of Russian & East European Psychology, 42*(1), 7–97. https://doi.org/10.1080/10610405.2004.11059210
# Building Scientific Agency Within the Collective during the Early Years

Glykeria Fragkiadaki¹, Konstantinos Ravanis²

1Faculty of Education, School of Early Childhood Education, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki,
[fragkiadaki@nured.auth.gr](mailto:fragkiadaki@nured.auth.gr)

2Faculty of Education, School of Early Childhood Education, University of Patras,
[ravanis@upatras.gr](mailto:ravanis@upatras.gr)

**Abstract:** This study seeks to explore how children build scientific agency within the collective in early childhood educational settings. Focusing on the phenomenon of clouds formation, we showcase how preschoolers can collaborate effectively to form the scientific concept through successive phases of interactions and with no typical teaching intervention. The cultural-historical concepts of real and ideal forms, everyday and scientific concepts, intra and inter-psychological functioning are used as analytical tools. The findings map a child's learning pathway within the collective from the difficulty of forming an explanation for the phenomenon, to the formation of an explanatory model based on artificialism and human causality and finally, to an explanation compatible with the scientific model used in early childhood science education. A set of turning points in the interactions between the child and his peers is highlighted. The study concludes by emphasizing the significance of institutional pedagogical practices that cultivate collective science cultures.

**Keywords:** agency; collectiveness; science; early childhood

## Extended abstract

This cultural-historical study positions young children as agentic science learners and scientific agency as a social practice (Arnold & Clark, 2013) during the early years. Capturing the dialectical interrelation between the individual and the collective in science learning and development, the study explores how children build scientific agency within the collective in early childhood educational settings. Focusing on the phenomenon of clouds formation, we showcase how preschoolers can collaborate effectively to form the scientific concept through successive phases of interactions and with no typical teaching intervention. The study is part of a wider research project exploring science concept formation as a social and cultural process during the early years. The initial sample of the project involved one hundred and thirteen preschool students in Greece, within the age range of 4.5 to 6.5 years old (with an average age of five years and three months). In this study we thoroughly present the personalized learning pathway of one child with the pseudonym Odysseus. The research procedure was organized as a science-oriented activity integrated into the child's everyday educational reality in preschool settings. During this activity, the child participated in three semi-structured conversations centered on the natural phenomenon of clouds, and particularly the process of clouds' formation. The three conversations were carried out at three different phases over time. During the first phase, Odysseus and the early childhood teacher participated in the conversation. During the second phase, that followed a week after the first phase, one child named Nestor joined the conversation between Odysseus and the early childhood teacher. During the third phase, that followed a week after the second phase, a small group of four children, including Odysseus, and the early childhood teacher participated in the conversation. The same central question was addressed to the child or children in each phase. The question was "How clouds are formed?". Empirical qualitative data arose from the digital recordings of the conversations through the three phases and the child's initial drawing from the first phase and the following two co-drawings (Areljung et. Al, 2024, Fragkiadaki, Fleer & Ravanis, 2021) with his peers during the second and the third phases. Following a dialectical analysis a set of cultural-historical concepts (Vygotsky, 1987, 1998) were
used as analytical tools. These concepts are the interrelation between real and ideal forms, everyday and scientific concepts, intra and inter-psychological functioning. The findings map Odysseus’s learning pathway within the collective from the difficulty of forming an explanation for the meteorological phenomenon, to the formation of an explanatory model based on artificialism and human causality and finally, to an explanation compatible with the scientific model used in early childhood science education. A set of turning points in the interactions between the child and his peers is highlighted and analysed. The findings suggest that children’s agency in science is promoted when children constantly interact and effectively navigate themselves within diverse social situations where they are encouraged to engage in discourses and take ownership of their learning pathways in science. Co-drawing, as a collective process that promotes interactions and negotiations, appears also to be critical in this process. The study concludes by emphasizing the significance of institutional pedagogical practices that cultivate collective science cultures.

References

Areljung, S., Andersson, J., Hermansson, C., Skoog, M., & Sundberg, B. (2024). Co-drawing to Learn in Science. Research in science education, 1-16. Co-drawing to Learn in Science. Research in Science Education. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11165-024-10217-x

Arnold, J., & Clarke, D. J. (2013). What is ‘Agency’? Perspectives in Science Education Research. *International Journal of Science Education, 36*(5), 735–754. https://doi.org/10.1080/09500693.2013.825066

Fragkiadaki, G., Fleer, M., & Ravanis, K. (2021). Understanding the complexity of young children's learning and development in science: A twofold methodological model building on constructivist and cultural-historical strengths. *Learning, Culture and Social Interaction, 28*, 100461. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lcsi.2020.100461

Vygotsky, L.S. (1987). *The collected works of L.S. Vygotsky. Vol. 1: Problems of general psychology*. (Trans. N. Minick. R.W. Rieber & A.S. Carton [Eds.]). Plenum Publishers.

Vygotsky, L.S. (1998). *The collected works of L. S. Vygotsky. Vol. 5: Child Psychology*. (Trans. M.J. Hall; R.W. Rieber [Ed]). Plenum Publishers.
# Reflexive masculinity: A theoretical framework of men “in-between” and alternative masculine dispositions

Marc Grau Grau¹, Ashlee Borgkvist²

1 Universitat Internacional de Catalunya, mgrafug@uic.cat

2 University of South Australia, Ashlee.Borgkvist@unisa.edu.au

**Abstract:** We propose a new theoretical model, the theory of reflexive masculinity, to consider the process whereby men may come to reflect on and alter their masculine dispositions. A process of socialization and subsequent reflexivity leading to changes in masculine dispositions is outlined, utilizing sociological and organizational literature to demonstrate how this process may occur. We apply the concepts of Habitus, personal, institutional, and historical conversion factors, reflexivity, hegemonic and complicit masculinity, and capital to denote the tenets of this process. It is envisioned that a process of reflexivity and incorporation of alternative masculine expressions into Habitus may contribute to changes in hegemonic masculinity. The theory of reflexive masculinity provides a framework through which change in men's masculine expression can be considered, and the progression of hegemonic masculinity may be theorised.

**Keywords:** masculinity, reflexivity, flexibility, conversion factors
# Introduction: The “men in-between” and the challenge of masculinity

The study of men and masculinities has evolved significantly since its inception in the 1970s, with growing attention to the intersection of work, family, and masculinity. The dominant theoretical paradigm, hegemonic masculinity, posits a culturally exalted ideal of what it means to be masculine, which varies across contexts but consistently encourages adherence to specific behaviors. Traditionally, hegemonic masculinity has been linked to notions of financial provision and engagement with paid work. While new concepts like "caring masculinities" - which embrace values of care, positive emotion, interdependence, and a rejection of domination - have emerged as potential alternatives, their capacity to fundamentally shift the prevailing hegemonic form remains debated.

Crucially, Connell's concept of "complicit masculinity" describes men who do not fully embody hegemonic ideals but nonetheless benefit from the "patriarchal dividend" by appearing to align with dominant masculine practices (Connell, 2005; Connell & Messerschmidt, 2005). These "men in the middle" represent a significant but often overlooked group whose decisions to either maintain complicity or challenge the status quo are vital for theorizing gendered change. This article addresses this theoretical gap by proposing a process-oriented framework that explains why and how these men might engage in reflection and choose alternative masculine expressions

## Central concept of Reflexive Masculinity Theory

Our theoretical model integrates several key concepts to explain the process of reflexive masculinity:

**Gender Order and Gender Regimes:** Men's masculine identities are formed and expressed within specific individual, social, and organizational contexts, termed "gender regimes" (institutional) and "gender order" (societal). These contexts reinforce culturally accepted masculine forms (Addis et al., 2010). We argue that while norms generally encourage and reward adherence to traditional behaviors, the interaction between individual agency and sociocultural context can disrupt existing notions of masculinity and foster new expressions. For instance, men may perceive challenging hegemonic masculinity (e.g., using flexible working arrangements for caregiving) as risky, weighing potential gains against losses, as suggested by prospect theory.

**Habitus:** Rooted in Bourdieu's theory, Habitus is the mechanism linking structure and agency. It represents a set of internalized historical, cultural, and familial relations, shaping mental schemas, judgments, perceptions, and inclinations to act (Bourdieu, 1977). Our model posits that masculine practices are part of a man's Habitus, meaning that the way men practice masculinity is influenced by the incorporation of various forms of capital acquired in different contexts. Therefore, men socialized in traditional gender orders are more likely to exhibit "traditional masculinity," while those in non-traditional contexts are more likely to practice "non-traditional masculinity". Changes in Habitus are complex but not impossible, and are necessary for alternative masculinities to be practiced.

**Conversion Factors:** These are influences within the gender order and gender regimes that can prompt individuals to make specific choices regarding their masculinity. These factors can be understood at different levels. At the personal level, they may involve life events such as becoming a father (Brandth & Kvande, 2020) or facing a serious illness. At the institutional level, they include circumstances like the introduction of a father's quota or organizational policies that support flexible working arrangements (FWA) (Vandello et al., 2013). Finally, at the historical level, they reflect broader societal transformations, such as movements toward a more egalitarian society (Meil, 2013).
These factors act as "invitations" for men to reflect on their masculine practices and consider the potential gains and losses of altering their dispositions. Men who experience high-intensity or opportune conversion factors are more likely to engage in this self-reflection and change their practices, whereas those with low-intensity or no conversion factors are less likely to do so.

*Reflexivity*: Drawing on Archer's concept of analytical dualism, reflexivity is defined as the "internal conversation" that mediates between social structures and agency, making structural and agentic transformations possible (Archer, 2003, 2012). It is during this period that men "evaluate" the gains and losses of changing their masculine practices, particularly within an organizational setting.

*Position in the Field (Capital)*: Our model incorporates Bourdieu's concept of "field" as a social space where individuals compete for various forms of capital (economic, social, cultural, symbolic). The volume of capital a man possesses influences his capacity to appropriate new forms of capital and his power within a given field (Bourdieu, 1986). We propose that men with higher levels of capital are better positioned to challenge traditional masculine expressions that align with hegemonic masculinity, potentially revealing new forms of masculinity. Conversely, men with low capital may feel less empowered and choose to remain complicit rather than express alternative masculinities. Even men from non-traditional backgrounds might remain complicit in traditional organizations if their capital is low, while those with high capital are more likely to practice new forms, including caring masculinity.

## Applied Example: Flexible Working Arrangements (FWA) and Masculinity

Men's utilization of flexible working arrangements (FWA) for family reasons serves as a compelling case study for our theory. Despite the potential for greater work-life integration, men often face significant stigma when seeking or using FWA for family care. Research shows that men who request FWA may experience career stagnation and be perceived as less masculine. Unsupportive organizational cultures and societal norms often signal to men that their desire for flexibility for family reasons is illegitimate, reinforcing traditional notions of male breadwinning and disengagement from "feminine" caregiving roles. Our framework explains how the interplay of socialization, conversion factors (e.g., fatherhood, FWA policies), reflexivity (weighing career costs against caregiving desires), and capital (the power to resist stigma) influences men's decisions to either adhere to traditional work norms or challenge them through FWA use. This application highlights how the "men in the middle" possess the potential to shift masculine expressions away from the current hegemonic form and towards caring masculinities. In future, we plan to explore how this theoretical model may apply in the area of men's utilization of FWA, and the processes which are at play in any shifts in masculine expression. In this exploration we will consider comparative organizational analyses to determine what organizational factors may influence reflexivity and shifts in masculine expression.

## Limitations

In this model we take a broad approach to social context, which may overlook the nuanced impacts of context on individual behaviour. Similarly, the broad nature of theories generally allows the organization of complex information and provision of a framework for understanding large areas of knowledge, however this often means that theories are boundaried in how much they can explain of varied instances of identity expression and behaviour. Further research and specific empirical testing of the model will allow a more in-depth examination of the utility of the theory.
References

Addis, M. E., Mansfield, Abigail, K., & Syzdek, M. R. (2010). Is “masculinity” a problem?: Framing the effects of gendered social learning in men. *Psychology of Men & Masculinity, 11*(2), 77–90.
https://doi.org/10.1037/a0018602

Archer, M. S. (2003). *Structure, Agency and the Internal Conversation*. Cambridge University Press.

Archer, M. S. (2012). *The Reflexive Imperative in Late Modernity*. Cambridge University Press.

Bourdieu, P. (1977). *Outline of a Theory of Practice*. Cambridge University Press.

Bourdieu, P. (1986). The Forms of Capital. In J. Richardson (Ed.), *Handbook of Theory and Research for the Sociology of Education* (pp. 241–258). Greenwood.

Brandth, B., & Kvande, E. (2020). *Designing Parental Leave Policy: The Norway Model and the Changing Face of Fatherhood*. Bristol University Press.

Connell, R. W. (2005). *Masculinities* (2n Edition). Polity Press.

Connell, R. W., & Messerschmidt, J. W. (2005). Hegemonic Masculinity: Rethinking the Concept. *Gender & Society, 19*, 829–859. https://doi.org/10.1177/0891243205278639

Meil, G. (2013). European Men’s Use of Parental Leave and Their Involvement in Child Care and Housework. *Journal of Comparative Family Studies, 44*(5), 557–570. https://doi.org/10.3138/jcfs.44.5.557

Vandello, J. A., Hettinger, V. E., Bosson, J. K., & Siddiqi, J. (2013). When equal isn't really equal: The masculine dilemma of seeking work flexibility. *Journal of Social Issues, 69*(2), 303–321.
https://doi.org/10.1111/josi.12016
# University students' perceptions of caregiving

Maria Domingo-Coscollola<fnref n="1" />, Judit Onsès-Segarra<fnref n="2" />, Sandra Soler-Campo<fnref n="3" />

**Abstract:** This paper presents university students' perceptions of caregiving. From a participatory and inclusive research perspective, we developed 50 learning trajectories in collaboration with university students from Catalonia and the Basque Country. These trajectories were created based on discussions held during multiple meetings (typically four with each student). Using the transcripts of these meetings and the documents produced by each participant, the researchers drafted their respective learning trajectories, which were subsequently validated by the students. The findings are drawn from these trajectories. The main conclusions indicate that students particularly value self-care and social relationships involving caregiving. Additionally, the study confirms that caring for oneself, others, and the environment positively impacts students' personal and academic well-being, fostering their learning and health.

**Keywords:** higher education, university students, care, learning

## Extended Abstract

In general, a deficiency in care has adverse effects on health (Jones et al., 2023; Runacres et al., 2021). Recently, health issues have been on the rise, highlighting the need for young people to develop tools and strategies to navigate complex situations. Consequently, it is crucial to deepen our understanding of university students' perceptions of caregiving (González et al., 2020; Meyers et al., 2012; Walker, 2022).

Therefore, the obligation to care extends beyond the private sphere and assumes a public dimension, where everyone should be a caregiver—not just healthcare professionals. As a result, recognizing the importance of caregiving across all organizations and institutions is gaining significance (Babarro et al., 2023; Bieto, 2021).

In this report, we present one of the research directions that emerged within the R&D&I project "Learning trajectories of young university students: conceptions, strategies, technologies and contexts" (TRAY-AP), involving two research groups from different autonomous communities in Spain: one from the Basque Country and the other from Catalonia. TRAY-AP is funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation.

Specifically, we assess university students from these regions regarding caregiving in their personal and social lives, as well as during their academic experiences. Our goal is to explore questions such as: How do students engage in self-care? Who influences their well-being when caregiving is involved, and in what ways? Why is it important for universities to foster more caring environments to support student learning?

<footnote n="1">¹Universitat Internacional de Catalunya (UIC), Barcelona mdomingoc@uic.cat</footnote>

<footnote n="2">²Universitat de Girona (UdG), Girona judit.onses@udg.edu</footnote>

<footnote n="3">³Universitat de Barcelona (UB), Barcelona sandra.soler@ub.edu</footnote>
In TRAY-AP, we view university students as active agents with valuable knowledge and experiences. Accordingly, we adopt a participatory and inclusive research approach (Nind, 2014). Young people participate in the research and recognize themselves (Hernández-Hernández & Domingo-Coscollola, 2017). A total of fifty university students from Spain participated in this study, 22 from the University of the Basque Country and 28 from Catalan universities. Among them, 30 were women and 20 were men, aged between 18 and 25 years. Participants were recruited through chain referral sampling (Penrod et al., 2003).

The research design necessitated collaboration with participants residing near the research team. Thus, only students from the two autonomous communities involved in the project participated. The sample reflects the ontological, epistemological, pedagogical, and ethical perspectives of the study, as well as the high level of commitment required from each student collaborator. Participants committed to attending four meetings with researchers, sharing their perspectives and experiences related to learning, and documenting their lives and learning strategies visually or textually.

Using transcripts from meetings and personal documents created by each participant, researchers constructed individual learning trajectories, which students then validated. The findings presented here are based on these trajectories. We organized the results into three sections: students' perceptions of how they are cared for, how they care for others, and how they experience being cared for both inside and outside the university.

The main findings reveal that students particularly value self-care and social relationships involving caring interactions. Engaging in self-care, caring for others, and caring for the environment positively impact students' well-being, enhancing their learning and health. Therefore, caring for others should be a fundamental aspect of any social setting.

## References

Babarro, A., Correa-Gorospe, J. M., & Aberasturi, E. (2023). Repensar la educación infantil y la sociedad desde los cuidados. *Revista Infancia, Educación y Aprendizaje, 9*(1), 1-14.
https://doi.org/10.22370/ieya.2023.9.1.2903

Bergbom, I., Nåden, D., & Nyström, L. (2022). Katie Eriksson's caring theories. Part 1. The caritative caring theory, the multidimensional health theory and the theory of human suffering. *Scandinavian journal of caring sciences, 36*(3), 782-790.
https://doi.org/10.1111/scs.13036

Bieto, E. (2021). Hacia una sociedad del cuidado. El cuidado de las personas en las organizaciones. *Ars Brevis, 27*, 42-53.
https://raco.cat/index.php/ArsBrevis/article/view/400576

González, G., Nogueira, F., del Valle, M. V., & Grossi, M. C. (2020). Trayectorias Educativas en el Marco de la Implementación del Ingreso Irrestricto en una Universidad Argentina. *Revista Internacional De Educación Para La Justicia Social, 9*(2), 109-129.
https://doi.org/10.15366/riejs2020.9.2.006

Held, V. (2006). *The ethics of care: personal, political and global*. Oxford University Press.

Hernández-Hernández, F., & Domingo-Coscollola, M. (2017). Jóvenes que participan en una investigación para ser reconocidos. En F. Hernández-Hernández (Coord.), *¡Y luego dicen que la escuela pública no funciona! Investigar con los jóvenes sobre cómo transitan y aprenden dentro y fuera de los centros de Secundaria* (pp. 241-284). Octaedro.
Jones, A., Hopkins, S., Larsen, A., Lisciandro, J., Olds, A., Westacott, M., Sturniolo-Baker, R., & Subramaniam, J. (2023). Looking into the "Dark Mirror": Autoethnographic reflections on the impact of COVID-19 and change fatigue on the wellbeing of enabling practitioners. *Student Success, 14*(3), 41-52. https://doi.org/10.5204/ssj.2779

Meyers, S., Rowell, K., Wells, M., & Smith, B. C. (2019). Teacher Empathy: A Model of Empathy for Teaching for Student Success. *College Teaching, 67*(3), 160-168. https://doi.org/10.1080/87567555.2019.1579699

Nind, M. (2014). What is Inclusive Research? Bloomsbury.

Penrod, J., Preston, D. B., Cain, R. E., & Starks, M. T. (2003). A discussion of chain referral as a method of sampling hard-to-reach populations. *Journal of Transcultural nursing, 14*(2), 100-107. https://doi.org/10.1177/1043659602250614

Runacres, J., Herron, D., Buckless, K., & Worrall, S. (2021). Student Carer Experiences of Higher Education and Support. *International Journal of Inclusive Education, 1-18*. https://doi.org/10.1080/13603116.2021.1983880

Walker, C. T., (2022). Wellbeing in Higher Education: A Student Perspective. *Pastoral Care in Education, 40*(3), 310-320. https://doi.org/10.1080/02643944.2022.2093963
Using participatory design tools for the
improvement of patient experience in
geriatric care: an affordance analysis

Saint-Clair Lefèvre¹, Oluwakemi Oyesola², Fabíola Fick³, George Kalmpourtzis⁴,
Lazaros Vrysis⁵, Ifigeneia Tsolaki⁶, Anna Podara⁷, Diana Marques⁸, Fátima González
Palau⁹, Ambre Laplaud¹⁰, Terry Simon¹¹, Matthieu Frasca¹², Rosana Angles
Barbastro¹³, Lourdes Zurbanobeaskoetxea¹⁴, Michael Luís¹⁵, Zoé Grange¹⁶, Lucie
Pollet¹⁷, Betriz Jiménez Galán¹⁸, Dimitrios Vrysis¹⁹, Marta García²⁰, María Isabel
Hidalgo García²¹

1 Infinitivity Design Labs, Université Côte d'Azur France, saint-clair.lefevre@playcompass.com, 2 Infinitivity Design Labs, Université Côte d'Azur France, kemi.oyesola@playcompass.com, 3 Infinitivity Design Labs, Université Côte d'Azur France, fabiola.fick@playcompass.com, 4 Infinitivity Design Labs, gkalmpourtzis@infinitivitydesignlabs.com, 5 Infinitivity Design Labs, lvrysis@infinitivitydesignlabs.com, 6 Infinitivity Design Labs, itsolaki@playcompass.com, 7 Infinitivity Design Labs, Université Côte d'Azur anna.podara@playcompass.com, 8 Fundación INTRAS, diana.marques@intras.es, 9 Fundación INTRAS; Instituto de Neurociencias y Bienestar Universidad Siglo 21, Argentina, Université de Limoges; Gérontopôle Nouvelle Aquitaine; ALN Consulting, a-laplaud@gerontopole-na.fr, 11 Pavillon de la mutualité, simon.terry@lestey.fr, 12 Service d'accompagnement et de médecine palliative, CHU Bordeaux, matthieu.frasca@chu-bordeaux.fr, 13 Servicio Aragones de Salud, Hospital de Barbastro, ranglesb@salud.aragon.es, 14 Regional Government of Bizkaia, maria.lourdes.zurbanobeaskoetxea@bizkaia.eus, 15 Palliative Care Unit, Portuguese Institute of Oncology, michael.luis@ipoporto.min-saude.pt, 16 Madopa, zoe.grange@madopa.fr, 17 Service d'accompagnement et de médecine palliative, CHU Bordeaux, lucie.pollet@chu-bordeaux.fr, 18 Gerencia de Servicios Sociales de Castilla y León, beatriz.jimenezgalan@jcyl.es, 19 Infinitivity Design Labs dvrysis@playcompass.com, 20 Gerencia de Servicios Sociales de Castilla y León, misabel.hidalgogarcia@jcyl.es, 21 Fundación INTRAS, mgr@intras.es

**Abstract:** This study explores the perceived affordances and utility of patient journey mapping as a participatory design tool to enhance patient care, especially in geriatric and palliative settings. Twenty-one participants from seven healthcare organizations in France, Spain, and Portugal took part in a multiphase study to develop, evaluate, and refine journey mapping tools. Findings suggest that journey mapping effectively identifies care process issues and supports interdisciplinary communication, with a Net Promoter Score (NPS) of 48. Common uses included pinpointing pivotal care points and recognizing disease trajectory patterns. However, challenges with ease of use and tool confidence highlight the need for further training and support. Recommendations include improved digital infrastructure and structured templates. Future research should examine the tool's long-term impact on patient outcomes and its adaptability across healthcare settings. Overall, the study underscores the potential of journey mapping to promote more patient-centered care.

**Keywords:** patient journey maps, participatory design, patient-centered design, affordances
**Introduction**

The digital transformation of healthcare has highlighted the importance of user participation in designing products and services, driving interest in Participatory Design (PD). Rooted in Cultural-Historical Activity Theory (CHAT), PD involves all stakeholders to ensure tools meet real-world needs and remain usable (Simonsen & Robertson, 2012). A key PD method, journey mapping, visualizes user interactions with healthcare services—emphasizing patient actions, feelings, and pain points—to help identify improvement areas (McCarthy et al., 2016).

Affordance theory supports understanding how tools enable action possibilities (Pucillo & Cascini, 2014). In healthcare, affordances arise from interactions between users and environments (Bardenhagen & Rodiek, 2016). For instance, collaborative affordances in medical records enhance clinician coordination, while environmental affordances improve family involvement in care (Bardram & Houben, 2018).

Patient-centered experience design, building on PD principles, emphasizes patient needs and preferences, and is linked to better health outcomes and care efficiency, especially in palliative care (Stewart et al., 2000).

Patient journey mapping has proven effective in capturing patient experiences, improving communication among stakeholders, and revealing systemic issues (Trischler & Scott, 2016). These visual tools support comparative analysis and reduce misinterpretations in care planning and delivery.

**Methodology**

This study was conducted as part of the HENKONET project, aimed at improving palliative care across institutions in France, Portugal, and Spain. Twenty-one participants from seven healthcare organizations—including administrators, healthcare professionals, and decision-makers—took part in a multiphase study exploring the perceived value of patient journey mapping.

**Phase 1: Design of patient journey maps**

Participants created journey maps using a structured template divided into sequential sections. For each, they described patient actions, thoughts, feelings, pain points, and areas for improvement.

**Phase 2: Testing the maps through a journey mapping exercise**

Over four months, participants tested the tool in their institutions through focus groups guided by a standardized session plan. An online alignment workshop followed, where organizations presented their maps and shared challenges, needs, and improvement ideas. This led to a collaborative ideation session focused on common issues identified.
## Phase 3: Evaluation of journey maps

An online questionnaire was used to assess the perceived utility of the tool, including a Net Promoter Score (NPS) and open-ended questions on effectiveness, benefits, and challenges (Reichheld, 2003). Following completion of all journey maps, an online alignment workshop was conducted where each organization presented their maps while others identified challenges, needs, and improvement opportunities. This led to an ideation activity where participants collaboratively brainstormed solutions for collective pain points.

## Data analysis

A mixed-methods approach was applied. NPS responses were categorized per Reichheld's model (Promoters: 9–10, Passives: 7–8, Detractors: 0–6). Due to the small sample size, quantitative data were analyzed descriptively, while open-ended responses underwent thematic analysis.

## Results

The Net Promoter Score (NPS) was calculated based on 21 individual responses. The resulting NPS is +48, indicating a strong proportion of Promoters (scores 9–10) relative to Detractors (scores 0–6). This suggests a generally positive attitude toward the product/service among respondents.

Analysis of Likert-type questions revealed strong perceived effectiveness, with nineteen of twenty-one participants agreeing or strongly agreeing that journey mapping effectively improves patient care. Remarkably, no participants disagreed that journey maps help identify issues in current patient care processes, demonstrating strong belief in their utility for identifying systemic or procedural problems.

Regarding ease of use, sixteen participants expressed positive sentiments, though five participants either disagreed or remained neutral, suggesting potential usability challenges requiring additional training or support. Confidence levels showed similar patterns, with fifteen participants expressing strong confidence while six remained neutral.

Perceived affordances analysis revealed that 85.7% of participants identified potential pivot-points of care as the most common application, highlighting journey mapping's value in isolating critical decision-making points for care pathway improvements. Additionally, 66.7% noted its potential for facilitating communication of patient information among healthcare professionals, enhancing interdisciplinary collaboration. Recognizing patterns in disease trajectories was cited by 42.9%, while 33.3% highlighted journey mapping's use in clinical practice.

Participants provided improvement suggestions including strengthening digital infrastructure with secure technology for privacy protection, incorporating qualitative analysis programs, using flowcharts to guide mapping processes, training to use such tools and providing clear objectives with structured templates.
Discussion, Limitations & Future Work

Patient journey mapping appears to be a valuable participatory design tool for improving care, especially in geriatric and palliative contexts. A positive NPS of 48 and broad agreement on its effectiveness highlight its practical relevance. Its main use—identifying critical care “pivot-points”— supports decision-making and strategy development, while secondary uses include enhancing communication and recognizing disease patterns.

However, usability and confidence issues suggest a need for better design, digital infrastructure, analysis tools, and templates. The small sample size (21 participants, 7 organizations) limits generalizability, and long-term impacts on patient outcomes remain unassessed.

Future research should involve larger, more diverse samples, evaluate long-term effects, and explore training approaches to improve adoption across healthcare settings.

References

Bardenhagen, E., & Rodiek, S. (2016). Affordance-based evaluations that focus on supporting the needs of users. HERD Health Environment Research & Design Journal, 9(2), 147-155.

Bardram, J. E., & Houben, S. (2018). Collaborative affordances of medical records. Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW), 27(1), 1-36.

McCarthy, S., O'Raghallaigh, P., Woodworth, S., Lim, Y. L., Kenny, L. C., & Adam, F. (2016). An integrated patient journey mapping tool for embedding quality in healthcare service reform. Journal of Decision Systems, 25(sup1), 354-368.

Pucillo, F., & Cascini, G. (2014). A framework for user experience, needs and affordances. Design Studies, 35(2), 160-179.

Reichheld, F. F. (2003). The one number you need to grow. *Harvard Business Review*, 81(12), 46-54.

Simonsen, J., & Robertson, T. (Eds.). (2012). Routledge international handbook of participatory design. Routledge.

Stewart, M., Brown, J. B., McWhinney, I. R., Oates, J., Weston, W. W., & Jordan, J. (2000). The impact of patient-centered care on outcomes. *Journal of Family Practice*, 49(9), 796-804.

Trischler, J., & Scott, D. R. (2016). Designing public services: The usefulness of three service design methods for identifying user experiences. *Public Management Review*, 18(5), 718-739.
# Teaching play skills to children with autism by mothers in their homes

¹Miriana de Araujo Biazim, ²Camila Domeniconi, ³Priscila Benitez

**Abstract:** This study investigated the effectiveness of a curriculum for teaching three mothers of children with autism spectrum disorder to develop playful activities with their daughters during social isolation due to COVID-19. The curriculum offered two types of play, functional play and games with rules, divided into three stages. Demonstration videos and written instructions were sent to participants, who were also monitored weekly with synchronous guidance and cell phone messages. The dependent variable was the skills to be taught to mothers, including: selecting toys that interest the child and that can have a function in play; gaining the child's attention and promoting eye contact through social involvement; social engagement, represented by changes in expressions and laughter with their daughters; and praise, which mothers could give during play. The independent variable was the application of the Curriculum to achieve the objectives. The results indicated the effectiveness of the Curriculum, as mothers learned to promote new games and expanded interactions with their daughters.

**Keywords:** Mother; Children; Play; Autism

Children with neurodivergent development, diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder, may have limited play repertoires due to restricted interests and repetitive patterns directed at certain objects, which can impair social interactions (Akers et al., 2018). Given this context, for many parents, getting the attention of their children with ASD and promoting diverse play becomes a challenging process, which can impact emotional well-being and maternal expectations (Cipriano, Araujo & Satler, 2025). During the COVID-19 social isolation period, in-person clinical interventions were interrupted, and reflection on the continuity of treatment turned entirely to parents, who would be the main agents of change to promote the well-being and development of their children in the family environment, with monitoring and guidance from the team through telehealth (Blanco et al., 2020).

Therefore, given the need to promote knowledge among parents and provide new proposals for interaction and play with their children in the family environment, this study sought to investigate the effectiveness of a teaching procedure to teach three mothers of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder to develop playful activities with their daughters, using resources available in their homes, within a context of social isolation. The procedure consisted of applying a structured curriculum, written with step-by-step instructions for developing a game, videos with practical demonstrations of the application, and weekly synchronous meetings with the mothers about the applications. At the same time, during the meetings, the mothers would also receive instructions on how to promote interactions and engagement in the games.

<footnote n="1">¹Universidade Federal de São Carlos, mirianabiazim87@gmail.com</footnote>

<footnote n="2">²Universidade Federal de São Carlos, domeniconicamila@gmail.com</footnote>

<footnote n="3">³Universidade Federal do ABC, priscila.benitez@ufabc.edu.br</footnote>
## Methods

The participants were enrolled in a service at a university in Brazil that offers free treatment to children with disabilities. Due to the pandemic, treatment was provided via telehealth, explaining the modality and their participation in mediating playful activities with their children. There were three participants: P1 (36 years old) and her child C1 (2 years and 5 months old), ASD level 2 support; P2 (36 years old) and her child C2 (2 years and 10 months old), ASD level 2 support; and P3 (29 years old) and her child C3 (4 years and 6 months) with ASD level 1 support and comorbidity with Oppositional Defiant Disorder). To assess teaching needs, mothers were asked to send three videos of moments of play with their daughters. From this, it was possible to identify the type of play and list the main teaching objectives, which would be: selecting toys that interested the child and that could have a function in play; getting the kid's attention and promoting eye contact through social involvement, like changing expressions and laughing with their daughters and giving compliments during play. For P1-C1, the type of play we decided on was Functional Play with her favorite stuffed animals. For P2-C2, the established curriculum was Functional Play with cars, trains, and Lego pieces that she liked. For P3-C3, the established curriculum was Games with Rules, and since C3's interest was drawing on paper, the proposal was to teach a tic-tac-toe game. In this study, the experimental design was a single subject with repeated measures.

The curriculum was based on the process of developing repertoires of play skills described by McKinnon and Krempa (2002) and offered two types of play: functional play with objects and rule-based games, structured in three stages with a gradual increase in complexity. In the first phase of functional games, the mother teaches motor movements; in the second phase, she also teaches sounds and onomatopoeia; and in the last phase, she may invite a family member to participate. In rule-based games, the child was expected to have already developed verbal communication skills and an understanding of rules. In the first phase, the mother teaches the rules of the game; in the second phase, the child initiates and directs the game with the mother; and in the last phase, the mother can invite a family member to participate.

To corroborate the written material, videos were recorded demonstrating the practical application of the steps, with professionals giving guidance and examples of how to play with children. The videos were made available free of charge on a video platform, which mothers could access freely and practice with their children throughout the research process. In addition, each participant had a weekly synchronous meeting with the researcher, in which they received feedback on the applications and new guidance, as well as access via email if they had questions or needed any emotional support or encouragement during the week.

## Results and Conclusion

The data analysis for this study was based on videos sent by mothers and synchronous meetings. All participants demonstrated gains in new interaction skills with their daughters within 4 to 6 weeks. As the mothers learned to gain their children's attention, engage them, and use step-by-step play in a fun way, they felt more confident and part of the moment with their daughters. P1 and P3 managed to include C1's sister and C3's father, which contributed to family play. P2 lived alone with her daughter at home, but both developed new repertoires of play with multiple objects.
The materials used provided guidance and confidence to the mothers in the applications, but synchronous guidance and text messages were essential for emotional support and encouragement in their achievements, especially during a period of social isolation due to the pandemic, when the whole family was together, seeking solutions and emotional support. It is hoped that this study will contribute to expanding new possibilities for mothers and family members of children with ASD to develop new proposals for interaction and social engagement through playful mediation, also contributing to the strengthening of emotional bonds between them.

## References

Akers, J. S., Higbee, T. S., Gerencser, K. R., & Pellegrino, A. J. (2018). An evaluation of group activity schedules to promote social play in children with autism. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 51(3), 553-570.
https://doi.org/10.1002/jaba.474

Blanco, S., Meisels, M., Blair, B. J., & Leonard, L. (2020) Evidence-based telehealth practice in the time of COVID-19. Behavioral Health Center of Excellence® (BHCOE®). Retrieved March 15, 2020, from
https://bhcoe.org/2020/03/telehealth-aba-therapy-ebpcovid-19/

Cipriano, C. D. R., Araujo, L. M., & Satler, C. E (2025). Experiences of mothers of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder. Health Sciences Journal - CEUMA, 2025; 3(1): https://doi.org/10.61695/rcs.v3i1.80
70493923.6.0000.5553

McKinnon, K., & Krempa, J. (2002). Social Skills Solutions: A Hands-On Manual for Teaching Social Skills to Children with Autism. New York: Different Roads to Learning, Inc. DRL Books.
# Between Necessity and Will: Rethinking Agency in Everyday Work through CHAT

Egil Karlow

Umeå University, egil.karlow@umu.se

**Abstract:** This paper sketches a conceptual framework for analysing wilful agency as a continuous, subject-defined phenomenon within broader activity. Grounded in a case study of employee participation in a Swedish preschool, the framework is developed in dialogue with cultural-historical activity theory (CHAT). A key analytical challenge addressed is how to distinguish between actions shaped by necessity and those that express the subject's will. The framework conceptualises agency not as defined by its external form or observable outcomes, but by its meaning for the subject and the evaluative stance they take in relation to their activity. The broader research aims to understand how employees already exercise influence in their daily practices. In doing so, the research seeks to build a knowledge base that can support efforts to democratise workplaces from the bottom up – by making visible the subjective and situated ways in which power is negotiated and enacted.

**Keywords:** agency, freedom, marx, leontiev

## Extended abstract

As part of a case study which follows the work of a team of preschool teachers, it became crucial to develop a theoretical and methodological framework to analyse employee participation from the point of view of the employees as democratic subjects (Karlow, 2022). This work is now being further elaborated within my doctoral research. The research aims at contributing ideas on how to develop a democratic bottom-up management which breaks with prevailing utility maximising ideals of New Public Management. This effort builds on the assumption that in order to increase employee power within preschools, and other workplaces, we need to understand to what extent employees already have power and what concrete circumstances that curb this power from further developing.

In order to study participation, in ways that challenge utility maximising reductionism, the research needs to investigate the workplaces from within, starting from the employee's perspective – based on employees as subjects of change. Within the activity theoretic tradition, it is emphasised that learning and agency should not be assessed based on predetermined criteria - but understood as expansive phenomena that move beyond the predetermined (Engeström, 2015; Stetsenko, 2008). This research orientation contains important qualities that are essential for finding ways to an emancipatory organisational development – partly because it highlights the employees’ own subjective perspectives and partly because it deals with how these perspectives are expressed in ongoing activities. However, there are major challenges in conducting research based on such premises without mixing what expresses *necessity* and what expresses *will* in the activities. To address this challenge, I propose the concept of wilful agency as an analytical lens for examining the extent to which, and the ways in which, activity reflects and expresses meaning and will from the horizon of a specific subject. This concept frames agency not in terms of observable outcomes, but through the meaning that actions hold for the subject and the evaluative stance they take toward their activity.

During recent years scholars have been engaged in theoretic and methodologic developments that address broadly acknowledged limitations within the CHAT-framework regarding its ability to understand power
asymmetries, subjective dimensions of activity and individual actions (Hopwood & Sannino, 2024). These
contributions build on and develop the traditional CHAT model of Engeström (2015). But for the purpose of
understanding employee agency as a constant feature of workplace activity in ways that clearly differentiates
between the subjective perspective and will of the employees and pressing necessities the model still has its
limitations contingent on the foundational notion of agency that the model builds on. Within the foundational
theoretical grounds of CHAT there is, however, another way in which agency also is being understood. This
duality is pointed out by Jones (2009) who stresses the importance of not confusing agency as it is conditioned
within historically specific social structures and a more fundamental notion of agency as “the simple relation
between man and nature”. These two aspects are illustrated in the difference between how Engeström (2006)
describe agency as a breaking away from the current frame of action and the way Stetsenko (2019) elaborates on
human agency as an ontological condition of our lives as an “inalienable feature of human knowing-being-
doing”.

These conceptions of agency – whether as a rupture or as existential condition – are both grounded in Marx’s ideas on human labour. While Engeströms (2015) notion of the activity system relates to the way Leontiev (1977) describe an activity as being distinct from other activities due to its object – the notion of wilful agency, that I develop, builds on the broader view of activity as a human existential life condition. Leontiev, drawing on Marx (1993), describes activity in this later sense as a process of mutual transformation between subject and object. Kaptelinin (2005) highlights the duality in Leontiev’s (1977) writing by pointing out how the word object in English refers to two different Russian terms; *predmet* and *objekt*. My work aligns with the latter. In contrast to the standard CHAT approach, which often links agency to organisational change, my conceptualisation relates agency more directly to the question of human freedom. This accords with Gould’s (1978) notion of *concrete freedom*, which she defines, following Marx, as “the active relation between the subject’s will or desires and the external conditions for their fulfilment.” This portrays freedom “not as an a priori philosophic definition” but as a psycho-material process that needs to be understood empirically (Chaiklin, 2012).

In line with these ideas my research design entails on the one hand dialogical interviews aimed at understanding
the personal, wilful perspective of the employees and on the other hand observations of activity as an external,
material process. This dual gaze enables an analysis of the extent to which developments in the preschool reflect
or contradict the staff's will. In a second analytic step, I examine how the actions of staff and other actors –
together with organisational arrangements and constraints – mediate whether and how wilful development is
enacted or suppressed within the overall system of activity. Importantly both the subjective view and the
objective development of the activity are understood as being part of the same phenomenon of wilful agency.
The experience of will and meaning is interpreted as human activity, and the objective circumstances to which
the subjective perspective relates are themselves understood as co-constructed by the individuals involved.

Given these conceptual groundings, the question of whether individuals succeed in enacting agency is not
analytically relevant – it is already assumed. Rather, attention is directed toward how agency is expressed and
oriented within the overall activity. My study showed that the staff’s wilful agency was largely directed toward
managing immediate circumstances – damage control and choosing between undesirable alternatives (Karlow,
2022). This form of agency was, on the one hand, essential for keeping everyday operations afloat, yet on the
other hand, it inadvertently reinforced the very structural challenges that staff were attempting to navigate in the
short term. The value of such findings lies in their capacity to offer a grounded and nuanced understanding of
agency from the point of view of the employees – one that moves beyond celebratory rhetoric and instead
provides insight into the actual conditions under which a genuinely democratic work organisation can be
developed and sustained.
References

Chaiklin, S. (2012). Dialectics, politics and contemporary cultural-historical research, exemplified through Marx and Vygotsky. In H. Daniels (Ed.), *Vygotsky and Sociology* (0 edn, pp. 32–51). Routledge.
https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203112991-8

Engeström, Y. (2006). Development, movement and agency: Breaking away into mycorrhizae activities. In K. Yamazumi (Ed.), *Building activity theory in practice: Toward the next generation* (No. 1). Center for Human Activity Theory, Kansai University. https://lchc.ucsd.edu/mca/Mail/xmcamail.2008_12.dir/att-0247/Yrjo.dev.pdf

Engeström, Y. (2015). *Learning by expanding: An activity-theoretical approach to developmental research* (Second edition). Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139814744

Gould, C. C. (1978). *Marx's social ontology: Individuality and community in Marx's theory of social reality*. MIT press.

Hopwood, N., & Sannino, A. (2024). Motives, Mediation and Motion. In N. Hopwood & A. Sannino (Eds), *Agency and Transformation* (pp. 1–34). Cambridge University Press.

Jones, P. (2009). Breaking away from Capital? Theorising activity in the shadow of Marx. *Outlines. Critical Practice Studies, 11*(1), 45–58. https://doi.org/10.7146/ocps.v11i1.2255

Kaptelinin, V. (2005). The Object of Activity: Making Sense of the Sense-Maker. *Mind, Culture, and Activity, 12*(1), 4–18. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327884mca1201_2

Karlow, E. (2022). *Jag vill kunna genomföra mitt uppdrag: En fallstudie om personalinflytande på en förskola* [Unpublished master’s thesis, Stockholms universitet, Institutionen för pedagogik och didaktik]. https://su.diva-portal.org/smash/record.jsf?pid=diva2%3A1706002

Leontiev, A. N. (1977). Activity and consciousness. In *Philosophy in the USSR: Problems of dialectical materialism*. Progress Publishers. https://www.marxists.org/archive/leontiev/works/activity-consciousness.pdf

Marx, K. (1993). *Grundrisse: Foundations of the critique of political economy*. Penguin books.

Stetsenko, A. (2008). From relational ontology to transformative activist stance on development and learning: Expanding Vygotsky's (CHAT) project. *Cultural Studies of Science Education, 3*(2), 471–491.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11422-008-9111-3

Stetsenko, A. (2019). Radical-Transformative Agency: Continuities and Contrasts With Relational Agency and Implications for Education. *Frontiers in Education, 4*, 148. https://doi.org/10.3389/feduc.2019.00148
# Transforming Science Education: Exploring Shifts in Attitudes Toward Artificial Intelligence

George Efthimiou<fnref n="1" />, Katerina Plakitsi<fnref n="2" />

**Abstract:** This study investigates shifts in early childhood education students' attitudes towards Artificial Intelligence (AI) and chatbots within science teaching contexts. Making use of Engeström's Activity Theory framework, pre- and post-intervention data from 289 university students reveal statistically significant positive changes in perceptions of AI as effective science education teaching tools. Over a semester, lectures and workshops demonstrated AI's applications in preschool science education, particularly emphasizing the role of chatbots like ChatGPT. The Wilcoxon signed-rank test indicated substantial improvements (p<0.001) in students' beliefs regarding AI's efficacy in enhancing pedagogical methods. This research contributes to understanding how structured technological interventions can reshape educational practices, specifically in the science education domain.

**Keywords:** Artificial Intelligence, Science Education, Chatbots, Activity Theory

## Introduction

The integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in education marks a significant shift in pedagogical practices, particularly in early childhood settings (Holmes, Bialik, & Fadel, 2019; Zawacki-Richter, Marín, Bond, & Gouverneur, 2019). This research explores changes in university students' attitudes toward AI tools, specifically chatbots, within the context of science education for preschool children. Engeström's Activity Theory (Engeström, 1987) serves as the theoretical lens, examining the interactive development between human actors and technological artifacts. The exploration aligns with broader discourses on AI's transformative potential and its ethical implications for teaching and learning (UNESCO, 2021).

## Theoretical Framework

Activity Theory, proposed by Vygotsky and expanded by Engeström, is a conceptual approach for studying learning processes and human interaction through mediated activities. It includes six interconnected components: subjects, objects, tools, community, division of labor, and rules and serves as the foundational framework guiding this study (Engeström, 1987). Each component interacts dynamically within a specific activity system, facilitating learning and development. Tools, mediate the relationship between subjects (learners) and objects (learning outcomes). In the context of AI integration in education, chatbots represent advanced cognitive tools capable of enhancing teaching methodologies and learning experiences. Theoretically, this study seeks to explore how AI-driven tools influence educational practices, reshape roles within learning communities, and modify interactions between teachers, learners, and technology. Activity Theory highlights how new tools can disrupt traditional educational practices, leading to innovation, new practices, and shifts in community dynamics (Kaptelinin & Nardi, 2006; Barab, Evans, & Baek, 2004). It provides a comprehensive

<footnote n="1">¹Department of Early Childhood Education, University of Ioannina, g.efthimiou@uoi.gr</footnote>

<footnote n="2">²Department of Early Childhood Education, University of Ioannina, kplakits@uoi.gr</footnote>
perspective to understand the transformative potential and the complexities involved in integrating
emerging technologies like AI in educational settings.

Methodology

This research was realized using a pre-post-test design to assess the impact of an AI-focused educational intervention on students' attitudes toward AI and chatbots. Participants included 289 undergraduate students from the Early Childhood Education Department at the University of Ioannina, Greece. Engström's Activity Theory provided a framework for structuring the learning environment as well as for the design of the intervention. Each component of the activity system was considered: the subjects (early childhood education students) engaged with tools (AI chatbots such as ChatGPT) in pursuit of the object (developing pedagogical knowledge and attitudes toward AI in science education). The intervention of the study was realized within a community of peers and educators, guided by rules of responsible AI use and ethical considerations, and involved a division of labor between students, educators, and AI tools. Implementing the study in this way ensured that the intervention was a systemic configuration aimed at transforming educational practices. This theoretical orientation also guided the interpretation of results, enabling us to view changes in attitudes as indicators of transformations within the activity system.

The study collected quantitative data through structured questionnaires administered before and after the intervention period. Attitudes toward AI's potential in educational settings, specifically in science education, were evaluated using Likert-scale items, facilitating statistical analysis to identify significant shifts in perceptions. The semester-long intervention consisted of lectures and workshops explicitly designed to introduce AI concepts and demonstrate practical applications. Data were statistically analyzed using the Wilcoxon signed-rank test to evaluate the significance of attitudinal shifts. The Wilcoxon signed-rank test was employed to analyze the statistical significance of attitudinal shifts, following recommended practices for non-parametric data analysis in educational research (Zawacki-Richter et al., 2019). This methodological approach ensured reliable data collection and analysis, providing evidence of the intervention's effectiveness. Ethical standards were upheld throughout, ensuring informed consent, confidentiality, and voluntary participation.

Intervention Overview

The intervention was designed to provide students with both theoretical insights and hands-on experiences with AI tools, emphasizing their applicability in science education (Luckin & Cukurova, 2019). Lectures initially introduced foundational concepts of AI, including its history, categories (narrow and general AI), and real-world applications across various sectors such as marketing, economics, arts, and education (Luckin et al., 2016). Workshops specifically highlighted chatbots, particularly OpenAI's ChatGPT, showcasing their capacity to facilitate science education through interactive dialogues with the Chatbot and dynamic content generation. During this study, students used the free version of GPT-4o of OpenAI's ChatGPT. At this time OpenAI had started offering unlimited prompts in the free version. Students engaged actively with AI-generated prompts, designed educational activities, and created tailored lesson plans that integrated chatbot technology. The intervention also included hands-on exercises aimed at building skills in effective prompt design and response verification strategies (Luckin & Cukurova, 2019). Ethical considerations, including accuracy, transparency, and human oversight, were thoroughly discussed, fostering critical awareness among students about the responsible use of AI in educational contexts. By embedding AI tools in practical teaching scenarios, the intervention aimed not only at enhancing technical competence but also at reshaping pedagogical beliefs and community interactions.

Results

Statistical analysis using Wilcoxon signed-rank tests revealed significant positive shifts in attitudes regarding the effectiveness of AI tools in science teaching (Wilcoxon Statistic = 3811.0, p < 0.001). This marked improvement underscores the intervention's efficacy, indicating enhanced student recognition of AI's pedagogical potential. Detailed analysis of pre- and post-test responses demonstrated increased comfort levels, reduced skepticism, and greater perceived educational benefits
of AI integration. Quantitative findings were complemented by qualitative feedback, which revealed students' appreciation for AI's ability to deliver personalized educational experiences, immediate support, and interactive learning environments. Participants reported feeling better equipped to integrate technology into their teaching practices effectively, showing heightened enthusiasm for incorporating AI-driven resources into their future educational roles. Overall, the results clearly demonstrate that structured interventions significantly impact perceptions, competence, and openness to embracing innovative educational technologies (Zawacki-Richter et al., 2019) Discussion

The results indicate that AI tools, particularly chatbots, significantly enhance educational practices by shifting traditional roles and introducing innovative pedagogical methods. Students' increased receptivity towards AI integration reflects broader educational trends emphasizing technology-enhanced learning environments (Holmes et al., 2019; Luckin et al., 2016). The intervention can be hypothesized as a reconfiguration of an activity system since it was implemented regarding the Activity Theory. The subjects (student, educators) engaged with AI chatbots as mediating tools to achieve the object of developing new pedagogical knowledge and attitudes toward technology integration. This process took place within a community of peers and instructors, under evolving rules concerning responsible AI use, and involved a shifting division of labor, as chatbots assumed tasks such as generating examples or explanations that are traditionally teacher-led.

Furthermore, the findings validate Activity Theory's utility in examining and understanding the integration of technological innovations in education, demonstrating how AI mediates learning activities and transforms interactions within educational communities (Kaptelinin & Nardi, 2006). Critical engagement with ethical considerations throughout the intervention helped students navigate potential challenges, reinforcing responsible and effective AI use in education.

The statistically significant positive shifts in individual attitudes thus represent more than personal preference change: they illustrate how a technological artifact mediated and transformed collective educational activity. Importantly, the intervention surfaced contradictions between traditional science teaching practices and AI-mediated approaches. These tensions enabled expansive learning, as participants collaboratively redefined the roles of teachers, learners, and AI tools in early childhood science education. In this way, the findings demonstrate how technological interventions can mediate not only individual attitudes but also broader systemic transformations in pedagogical communities.

## Conclusion

This research highlights the transformative potential of AI in science education, highlighting significant shifts in future educators' attitudes towards integrating AI technologies in pedagogical practices. Applying the Activity Theory, this study illustrates how technological interventions can mediate and enhance educational activities, not only at the level of individual attitudes but also within the collective and historical dynamics of the activity system. By inserting AI tools as mediating artifacts in science education workshops, students reconsidered their pedagogical practices, discussed the rules of responsible technology use, and experienced shifts in the division of labor between educators (humans) and AI. The changes in attitude therefore signal a broader systemic transformation, where contradictions between traditional and AI-supported teaching practices promoted expansive learning and the development of innovative pedagogical communities. This strengthens the case for continued research on AI's role as a transformative mediator in early childhood education, capable of reshaping both individual outlooks and collective professional practices. The positive changes documented, towards attitude, in this study support the ongoing integration of AI tools in early childhood education curricula, suggesting their potential to enrich teaching methodologies, enhance student engagement, and improve learning outcomes. Continued research and practical exploration of AI applications in educational settings are vital to fully utilize the benefits and address the complexities of this evolving pedagogical landscape.
Barab, S. A., Evans, M. A., & Baek, E. O. (2004). Activity theory as a lens for characterizing the participatory unit. In D. H. Jonassen (Ed.), *Handbook of research on educational communications and technology* (pp. 199–213). Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Engeström, Y. (1987). *Learning by expanding: An activity-theoretical approach to developmental research*. Orienta-Konsultit.

Holmes, W., Bialik, M., & Fadel, C. (2019). *Artificial intelligence in education: Promises and implications for teaching and learning*. Center for Curriculum Redesign.

Kaptelinin, V., & Nardi, B. A. (2006). *Acting with technology: Activity theory and interaction design*. MIT Press.

Luckin, R., Holmes, W., Griffiths, M., & Forcier, L. B. (2016). *Intelligence unleashed: An argument for AI in education*. Pearson.

Luckin, R., & Cukurova, M. (2019). Designing educational technologies in the age of AI: A learning sciences-driven approach. *British Journal of Educational Technology, 50*(6), 2824–2838.
[https://doi.org/10.1111/bjet.12839](https://doi.org/10.1111/bjet.12839)

UNESCO. (2021). *Artificial intelligence in education: Challenges and opportunities for sustainable development*. UNESCO Publishing. Zawacki-Richter, O., Marín, V. I., Bond, M., & Gouverneur, F. (2019). Systematic review of research on artificial intelligence applications in higher education – Where are the educators? *International Journal of Educational Technology in Higher Education, 16*(1), Article 39.
[https://doi.org/10.1186/s41239-019-0171-0](https://doi.org/10.1186/s41239-019-0171-0)
# Stimulating teacher agency through co-design : a study in a food education context

Jessy Turcotte¹, Sylvie Barma², Isabelle Arseneau³

1 Université Laval, jessy.turcotte.2@ulaval.ca

2 Université Laval, sylvie.barma@fse.ulaval.ca

3 Université du Québec à Rimouski, Isabelle_Arseneau@uqar.ca

**Abstract:** This study, currently at the beginning of its data collection, is a doctoral research project that proposes an exploratory study of teacher agency through a co-design process aimed at developing a food education learning situation. Grounded in cultural-historical activity theory, this study examines the emergence and the development of transformative agency as a way to overcome contradictions generated by the introduction of a non-mandated curricular innovation. Preliminary findings from the co-design process – including the co-analysis of a problematic situation and the modelling of a didactic approach – will be presented. The relevance of co-design in school settings will also be discussed as a fruitful path to explore conditions that support the emergence of transformative teacher agency in the context of contemporary challenges related to adolescent health and well-being.

**Keywords:** transformative agency, co-design, food education, science teachers

## Introduction

In Quebec, food education was for a long time the focus of home economics course, which was integrated into the curriculum until its abolition in the early 2000s. Since then, although there is a growing consensus in the scientific literature on the importance of developing food literacy from adolescence onwards, food education remains largely absent from the formal curriculum, particularly at secondary level. Yet numerous studies demonstrate its positive effects, both on physical health and on civic engagement, social equity and environmental sustainability (Food and Agriculture Organization, 2021; Dunn et al., 2019).

However, the integration of food education in secondary schools continues to face several systemic obstacles, such as curriculum overload, the relatively low academic status attributed to food as an object of knowledge, the scarcity of pedagogical resources, teachers’ limited sense of self-efficacy, and the lack of institutional recognition and support (Stage et al., 2016; Dunn et al., 2019). These challenges often constrain teachers’ capacity to innovate and hinder the sustainability of food education initiatives within formal schooling. In this context, it becomes essential to investigate approaches that not only provide teachers with concrete tools and resources but also create spaces for reflection, collaboration, and professional growth. Supporting teachers in the design and appropriation of new pedagogical practices requires moving beyond prescriptive models and engaging them as active co-constructors of educational innovation. Our research therefore aims to analyze how co-design processes can foster the emergence and development of teacher agency in a context of non-prescribed curricular innovation, with particular attention to the conditions that enable teachers to negotiate systemic constraints, transform their practices, and position themselves as agents of educational change.
## Theoretical framework

This research is grounded in the third generation of cultural-historical activity theory (CHAT) (Engeström, 2001), which conceptualizes learning as a collective transformation of an activity system marked by internal and systemic contradictions. Within this framework, we draw particularly on the principle of double stimulation (Sannino, 2015), according to which transformative agency arises when individuals, confronted with a problematic situation (first stimulus), mobilize a conceptual or material tool (second stimulus) to reconfigure their activity and create new possibilities for action. This perspective emphasizes the dialectical interplay between structural tensions and the creative responses of actors, making contradictions not simply obstacles but potential drivers of change.

In this context, co-design is employed as both a methodology and a pedagogical stance of co-construction. It enables the active and reflective involvement of participants, not only in addressing immediate problems but also in shaping the conditions of their professional practice. Consistent with the principles of CHAT, the aim is not limited to producing educational artifacts or curricular materials. Rather, it is to engage participants in a collective process of problematization, the development of new mediating tools, and the cultivation of transformative agency (Engeström, 2011; Haapasaari & Kerosuo, 2015). Through this process, co-design becomes a powerful means of jointly developing tools and practices that extend beyond the classroom, fostering broader cultural and institutional transformations within the activity system.

## Methodology

This multiple case study is conducted with science teachers from two different secondary schools in Quebec: one school located in a coastal community and the other school in a rural area. In both settings, the participating science teachers demonstrate a strong interest in integrating food education into their teaching practices. Their engagement stems not from external mandates, but from a personal and professional commitment to promoting healthy eating habits among adolescents. This voluntary involvement underscores their motivation to explore innovative pedagogical approaches and to position food and nutrition as meaningful entry points into the science curriculum.

The co-design unfolds in two complementary phases:

1. An interventionist phase, based on the principle of double stimulation, during which mirror datas from a survey on teenagers' eating behaviors and knowledges are analyzed with the participating teachers to prompt critical reflection on their activity.

2. A co-construction phase, in which the teachers, in collaboration with the researcher, co-design a didactic proposal and initiate its implementation.

Data are collected through a triangulation of methods designed to capture both the process and its effects: the researcher's logbook, participant observations, audio and video recordings of design sessions, semi-structured interviews with teachers, and an analysis of the artifacts produced (e.g., notes, diagrams, prototypes, and didactic materials). This combination of data sources enables a nuanced
reconstruction of the ways in which teachers engage with contradictions, mobilize mediating tools, and
begin to reconfigure their activity.

## Results

As this doctoral research has just entered the second phase, the findings presented are preliminary and pertain to the interventionist phase. These include the identification of teachers' expressed needs, the first manifestations of transformative agency, the institutional tensions perceived by participants, and the mediating tools created and mobilized during the process. Together, these elements shed light on the dynamics underpinning the appropriation of a posture of pedagogical innovation and the conditions that support teachers in engaging with curricular challenges.

The paper will also reflect on the contributions of co-design as a methodology for supporting change in educational contexts. In particular, it will highlight how co-design fosters collective reflection, generates new mediational tools, and creates spaces for agency to emerge. Beyond immediate outcomes, these insights point to the potential of co-design to act as a catalyst for longer-term transformations of teaching practices and professional identities.

## References

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Tracing Teachers' Transformative Agency in the
Pedagogical Change Laboratory

Caroline Duret

Lecturer, Haute École Pédagogique Vaud, Lausanne, Suisse,
Doctoral researcher under the supervision of Prof. Margarida Romero (UNICA/IIIA)
Université Côte d'Azur, France,
caroline.duret@hepl.ch

**Abstract**: This study examines how card-based co-design of technology-enhanced learning (TEL) scenarios supports teachers' transformative agency within the *pedagogical change laboratory* (PCL). As a CHAT formative intervention, the PCL combines the Change Laboratory methodology with the Learning by Design approach to address the persistent challenge of integrating digital technology into teaching and learning. Four secondary teachers of French from an international school in Switzerland participated in three sessions featuring four episodes of card-based co-design, incorporated within the cycle of expansive learning actions. Using the transformative agency by double stimulation (TADS) model, we conducted both quantitative and qualitative analysis of video recorded sessions. Findings reveal that all TADS instances were observed throughout the intervention, with card use consistently co-occurring with all four TADS steps. The analysis traced a warping process revealing teachers' progressive collective construction of their second stimulus. The study contributes methodologically by demonstrating how to trace the warping process through fine-grained analysis and offers practical implications for teacher professional development.

**Keywords**: Transformative agency, Teacher professional development, Change Laboratory, Design of TEL

**Background**

This study aims to address the ongoing challenge of integrating digital technology into teaching and learning (Abel et al., 2022; Lai et al., 2023) by approaching the issue through the lens of transformation (Engeström, 2009; Lund & Hauge, 2011; Pettersson, 2021). It proposes experimenting with a formative intervention called the *pedagogical change laboratory* (PCL), which combines two approaches: the Change Laboratory methodology, where participants collectively develop a new concept for their activity system (Virkkunen & Newnham, 2013), and the Learning by Design approach, in which teachers co-design technology-enhanced learning (TEL) scenarios and are expected to develop their Technological Pedagogical Knowledge, known as TPACK (Duret & Romero, in press; Mishra, 2019; Yeh et al., 2021). The interventionist introduces episodes of card-based co-design of TEL in the cycle of expansive learning actions (Engeström, 2014). It aims at facilitating expansive visibilization
(Engeström, 2018), which, as “an integral part of expansive learning” (p. 199), is a deliberate strategy to make “troubles, contradictions, future visions, and novel solutions [...] visible, so that the practitioners could transform their activity in conceptually mastered and practical” (p. 198).

Within the PCL, co-design is considered a creative activity (Glăveanu, 2015, 2020; Romero, 2019), likely to foster teachers’ transformative agency (Sannino, 2015, 2020) and support their collective efforts to transform teaching and learning practices in response to didactic and pedagogical challenges (Duret & Romero, 2022).

## Purpose

This paper aims to answer the following research question: How does card-based co-design of TEL scenarios support teachers' transformative agency in the *pedagogical change laboratory (PCL)*?

## Methods

The study involves four secondary teachers of French from an international school in Switzerland. They aimed to overcome instructional challenges associated with teaching canonical literature while effectively integrating digital technologies.

The PCL is conceptualised as an augmented methodology (Winberg et al., 2023). It combines the conceptual tools of the Change Laboratory (Sannino et al., 2016), expansive learning (Engeström, 2014) and transformative agency (Sannino, 2020), with the Learning by Design approach (Yeh et al., 2021). The intervention consists of three sessions that include four episodes of card-based co-design of TEL scenarios, starting from the modelling step of the expansive learning cycle (Figure 1) in visibilization 3.

<figure><img src="image_4.png" /><figcaption>**Figure 1**

*Overview of the Pedagogical Change Laboratory*</figcaption></figure>

The data consists of video recordings that were transcribed verbatim. Our analysis draws on the model of transformative agency by double stimulation (TADS) developed Sannino (2020). Through an exploratory quantitative approach (Sannino, 2016), we begin by examining how TADS instances are distributed throughout the PCL and especially within the co-design episodes, to identify emerging patterns. Then, drawing on Sannino (2020) and Romero & Barma (2022), we conduct “a fine-grained analysis of discourse and action” (Sannino, 2020, p. 23) to carefully trace the process in the decision phase. Notably, we employ the “warping metaphor” (Sannino, 2020, p. 2) to visualise teachers’ “anchoring forward movement” (p.22) and their transformative trajectory as they develop the second
stimulus to break out of the problematic situation. Our analysis takes into account participants' movements (Sannino, 2016) while interacting with the cards during the co-design episodes (Figure 2). Following Romero & Barma (2022), we examined how the artefact configurations evolved across the first two co-design episodes to better “understand the decision-forming process” (p. 19).

## Findings

All TADS instances from Sannino's model (2020) were observed within the PCL. The second stimulus (step 2) showed the highest TADS instance frequency, while sticking to the second stimulus (step 3) was the least frequently observed.

The central conflict of motives emerged in exchanges preceding the first co-design episode, occupying over half the speaking turns devoted to the construction of the first stimulus (step 1). Second stimulus development unfolded in the first two sessions through a progressive warping process, where throwing successive “kedge anchors” (Sannino, 2020, p. 8) set in motion a dynamic chain-hauling system that simultaneously stabilised and drove teachers' prospective and transformative movement.

The analysis also showed that at the beginning of the co-design episode 4, teachers displayed uncertainty before implementing the second stimulus. The conflict of motives was reactivated, but they ultimately crossed “the threshold to implementation” (Engeström et al., 2023, p. 113). This process was revealed through two successive antithetical metaphors in teachers' discourse: first paralysis, then setting in motion.

The study showed that throughout the co-design episodes, card use consistently co-occurred with all four TADS steps. In proportion to TADS instance frequency within co-design episodes, cards were used least often in step 1 and most often in step 2.

<figure><img src="image_5.png" /><figcaption>Figure 2

*Teachers Interacting with the Cards while Co-designing*</figcaption></figure>
## Implications

The study contributes to understanding how TADS emerges within CHAT formative intervention (Engeström et al., 2023; Morselli & Sannino, 2021) and especially addresses the methodological challenge to trace the warping process as participants construct their second stimulus (Sannino, 2020). The study has implications for teachers’ professional development. It proposes a CHAT formative intervention that could help them transform their practices through card-based co-design of new TEL scenarios as mediational means of TADS process (Hopwood & Sannino, 2023) within a cycle of expansive learning and visibilization. The PCL may serve as a replicable formative intervention both for pre-service and in-service teacher education programs seeking to support pedagogical transformation through collaborative design practices.

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