Discerning F2F Success in Blended Learning for Teacher Development with Activity Theory
Keywords:
activity theory, blended learning, English language teaching, professional developmentAbstract
A recurring complaint about the failure of professional development workshops in Asian ELT usually occurs as a result of ignoring the teacher's voice. Therefore, the chief aim of this study was to minimize this increasing divide by providing an opportunity to be heard. One hundred and thirty four High School teacher participants, while attending a professional development workshop in the North of Thailand, shared their insights on face-to-face (F2F) aspects in blended learning. Based on Activity Theory, a questionnaire, semi-structured interviews, and bite-sized journals gathered the opinions, and reflections of the participants. Then the data was, first, categorized and analyzed using framework analysis. Second, the outcomes, using the guiding principles of the second-generation human activity system model (Engstrom 1999), identified the tensions, and contradictions. The findings provide pertinent implications for secondary school contexts' with similar backgrounds, regarding F2F interactions, and identify suggestions for improving the F2F interactions beyond the confines of a classroom meeting.References
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