From splendid isolation to crossed boundaries? The futures of teacher education in the light of activity theory

Abstract

Many policy documents addressing the future of teacher education do not take into account the fundamental unpredictability of the future, nor the opposing forces that will try to influence that future. Through the analysis of 48 scenario documents on the future of education or teacher education, we identified a set of unpredictable key factors that have to be taken into account when addressing the future of teacher education. We also identified four main futures that may lie ahead for teacher education. We analyzed these four scenarios using the concepts of activity systems, boundary objects, and boundary crossing. This revealed that the extent to which activity systems are open to boundary crossing and are willing to remove institutional boundaries will largely define the future that lies ahead for teacher education. Future scenarios in themselves can play a role as boundary objects that facilitate the dialogue and boundary crossing between these activity systems.

Keywords:

• teacher education
• future scenarios
• activity theory
• boundary objects

Notes

1. The full list of scenario publications can be found at http://www.hva.nl/kenniscentrum-doo/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/The-futures-of-teacher-education-Teacher-Development-Extended.pdf.

2. For brevity, scenario publications published by national agencies or ministries are referred to by using the country or state name. The full reference can be found in the list of scenario documents.