Title: Science teachers' professional development in the light of activity theory

Authors: Liana Stylianou; Katerina Plakitsi

Addresses: Department of Preschool Education, University of Ioannina, Ioannina, Epirus, Greece ' Department of Preschool Education, University of Ioannina, Ioannina, Epirus, Greece

Abstract: This paper is a review of 32 articles focusing on science teachers' professional development and guided by the following research question: 'How do science teachers in secondary education perceive their professional development and how does the Activity Theory interpret teachers' perceptions and highlights the contradictions that develop?' The findings indicate that no educational reform effort can succeed if it does not take into account the personal interpretive context through which teachers interpret their actions, participate in professional learning programs, integrate or reject modern learning theories. The supportive conditions for teachers' active involvement in experimentation and innovation are their participation in learning communities and the strengthening of school collaborative culture. Activity Theory highlights the contradictions of their professional development process, the aspects that enable or limit their teaching activity and the motivations that drive them to participate in professional learning programs and the dynamics of their zone of proximal development.

Keywords: professional development; science teachers; activity theory; science teaching; learning communities.

DOI: 10.1504/IJTEL.2022.120562

International Journal of Technology Enhanced Learning, 2022 Vol.14 No.1, pp.88 - 100

Received: 22 May 2020
Accepted: 26 Sep 2020
Published online: 26 Jan 2022 *

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