Guest lecturer is Professor em. Yrjö Engeström from the University of Helsinki. His lecture is titled "Cultural-Historical Activity Theory as a lens on school change and music education."
Abstract
Cultural-historical activity theory (CHAT) offers a framework for analyzing schools as object-oriented activity systems, which develop by facing and resolving their inner contradictions. Such an analysis reveals three key dimensions of transformation needed in schools: (1) temporal dimension: from rushing through curricula overfilled with skin-deep knowledge to taking time to ask questions and find principles; (2) socio-spatial dimension: from encapsulated schools to joining forces with outside actors for common good; and (3) ethical-political dimension: from alienation caused by reproduction of pre-packaged knowledge to empowerment by joint shaping of the contents of learning.
In his lecture, Engeström will examine how recently published CHAT-based studies of music education relate to these three dimensions of transformation.
Reference
Engeström, Y. (2026). Cultural–historical activity theory and educational change: Formative interventions toward a zone of proximal development. In A. L. Goodwin et al. (Eds.), Third international handbook of educational change. Cham: Springer.
About Yrjö Engeström
Engeström is known for his contributions to Cultural-Historical Activity Theory (CHAT), emphasizing his development of the Activity System Model. He has written several books that have had a major impact on research into learning, organisational change and human development, such as Learning by Expanding: An Activity-Theoretical Approach to Developmental Research (1987, rev. 2015) and From Teams to Knots: Activity-Theoretical Studies of Collaboration and Learning at Work (2008).
Engeström's work, including the widely recognized "Activity System Triangle," has played a crucial role in fields like education and organizational development. Key concepts such as Expansive Learning and Developmental Work Research stem from his studies. Engeström's approach connects learning and societal contradictions, proposing "learning activity" as a transformative process.
Engeström's works build on ideas from the russian psychologists Lev Vygotsky (1896-1934) and Aleksei Leontiev (1903-1979).
