A Cultural Historical Activity Theory framework for understanding challenges experienced by Student-teachers of science at secondary level of education in Bangladesh

Abstract

This article critically reviews Cultural Historical Activity Theory (CHAT) as a framework for analysing secondary level teacher education with a particular focus on science teaching by student-teachers in Bangladesh. Although the newly developed teacher education curriculum introduced constructivist teaching approaches but substantial change has not been seen yet. The review draws assumptions from CHAT that student-teachers may be facing contradictions due to their past experience of teaching as school students and the culture of the school where they go for practice teaching. These contradictions can pose challenges for student-teachers influencing their choice of teaching methods in school. Here teacher education is seen as an activity that takes place in two different cultural settings – training college for course works and partnered school for practice teaching. It is argued here that a CHAT framework can trace back the root of current issues in teaching practice to past experiences and can draw learning to negotiate the issues to change practice.