‘Why is this child in special education?’: A cultural-historical activity theory-based research intervention with senior UK education leaders on assessment for, and allocation of, specialist educational resources

Abstract

AimsThis paper focuses upon systemic change in a local authority decision-making process (DMP) for allocating specialist resources for children with complex educational needs in a local authority in Scotland. The aim of the paper is to provide reflections and insights into the learning of senior managers and leaders of children’s services to lead organisational change processes.MethodThe original research study design was a two-stage, CHAT-based Developmental-Work-Research (DWR) formative intervention with nine senior managers over an 18-month period. Stage one, reported in this paper, comprised four, three-hour sessions enabling expansion of participants’ learning through a collective zone of proximal development (ZPD). Stage two was evaluation of the intervention as a change process framework and evaluation of implementation of the new model considered as a cycle of expansive learning (discussed elsewhere).FindingsExpansive learning and transformative agency in DWR sessions occurred via four key turning points. An initial focus on problems with, and then improvement of, the DMP shifted to a re-configuration of children’s services leading to the generation of a new model for meeting the children’s needs in mainstream school settings. Findings indicate that a CHAT-based intervention can support the development of new ways of learning, leadership and working to enable public services to make more effective use of resources.LimitationsSeveral groups such as social workers, allied health professionals, parents and young people were not represented directly in this study. Further research using DWR with these groups would contribute to a broader understanding of how systems within children’s services impact on service users.ConclusionCHAT has theoretical and practical relevance for professionals who engage in collaborative real-world research. Findings from the study contribute to the body of knowledge for leadership learning and intervention around change processes in educational systems.

The Investigation of Culture-Integrated Mathematics Remedial Modules on Indigenous Students’ Learning Outcome

“…To analyze the indigenous students resistance to learning mathematics lies in the difficulty of the four elements of tool, division of labor, community and rule in the learning system, just like Colville et al (2023) analyzed special education students with activity theory. The researcher also held the same opinion: the learning difficulties of disadvantaged students are constructed by social, historical, and spatial culture.…”

“…This model explains that the subject uses mediators: tools, rules, and division of labor to interact with the community, generating a perception of the goal and affecting the outcome. Activity theory has been expanded through three generations, from Vygotsky focusing on mediating artifacts between subject and object (first generation); Leont'ev focusing on object-related collective activity (second generation); and EngestrÖm focusing on a network of interacting activity systems-Cultural-historical activity theory (CHAT; third generation) (Colville et. al.…”