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Yrjö Engeström
Personal Life and Education

Yrjö Engeström was born 1948 in Lahti, Finland. In 1987. At the age of 39, he received his PhD in Educational Psychology from the University of Helsinki. Engeström is a professor of Adult Education and Director of the Center for Research on Activity, Development and learning (CRADLE) at the University of Helsinki and is also a professor of Communication at the University of California, San Diego. He also received honorary professorship from University of Birmingham in UK and an honorary doctorate from University of Oslo in Norway (Glăveanu & Engeström, 2012).

Academic Career

1)Professor of Adult Education and Director of the Center for Activity Theory and Developmental Work Research at University of Helsinki.

2)Professor of Communication at University of California, San Diego, where he served as Director of the Laboratory of Comparative Human Cognition from 1990 to 1995.

3)Honorary Professor in the School of Education at University of Birmingham, UK.

Research

Yrjö Engeström is the founder and leader of the Center for Activity Theory and Developmental Work Research at the University of Helsinki in Finland and is at the same time Professor at the University of California, San Diego. He fundamentally builds his theoretical work on the so-called cultural-historical or activity-theoretical approach to learning and mental development, which was first launched in the Soviet Union in the 1920s and 30s by Lev Vygotsky. However, in his dissertation on “expansive learning” in 1987, he combined this approach with the system theoretical work of Briton Gregory Bateson on double-bind situations and learning levels and thereby introduced the notion of conflicts which were absent in Vygotsky’s framework. In the following slightly abridged version of an article, Engeström sums up the historical development and current status of activity theory and illustrates its potential with a case story from the work at his Boundary Crossing Laboratory in Helsinki. Expansive learning is “…learning in which the learners are involved in constructing and implementing a radically new, wider and more complex object and concept for their activity” (Engeström & Sannino, 2010).

Publications

1. Engeström, Y. (1967). Nykyisen koulukasvatuksenperiaatteellisia epäkohtia (Principal weaknesses of the present school education). In H. Taanila (Ed.), Kouludemokratia (School democracy). Helsinki: Tammi (in Finnish).

2. Engeström,Y. (1967). Uuden koulukasvatuksen ideologiaa(Toward the ideology of a new school education). In H. Taanila (Ed.), Kouludemokratia (School democracy)Helsinki: Tammi (in Finnish)

3. Engeström, Y. (1968). He osaavat totella määräyksiä (They know how to follow orders). In M. Tyynilä (Ed.) Huomenta yliopisto (Good morning, university). Helsinki: Otava (in Finnish).

4. Engeström, Y. (1969). Koulutus yhteiskunnan muuttajana (Schooling as a transformer of society). Kasvatus ja koulu, 55, 196-200 (in Finnish).

5. Engeström, Y. (1969). Lasten oikeudet (Children’s rights). In J. Tala (Ed.), Kantajana kansalainen (Citizen as plantiff). Helsinki: Tammi (in Finnish).

6. Engeström, Y. (1970). Ei mikään vallankumous [arvostelu Maya Pinesin teoksesta Oppimisen vallankumous] (No revolution [review of Revolution in learning, by Maya Pines]). Parnasso, 20,186-190 (in Finnish). 7.Engeström, Y.(1970). Koulutus luokkayhteiskunnassa: Johdatus kapitalistisen yhteiskunnan koulutusongelmiin. (Education in class society: Introduction to the educational problems of capitalism). Jyväskylä: Gummerus (in Finnish, 270 pages). 

References

http://www.edu.helsinki.fi/activity/people/engestro/

http://www.helsinki.fi/cradle/Yrjo_Engestrom_CV.html

http://www.helsinki.fi/cradle/Publications%20of%20Yrjo_Engestrom_2.html

http://pagi.wikidot.com/engestrom-expansive-learning

Engeström, Y., & Sannino, A. Studies of expansive learning: Foundations, findings and future challenges. Educational Research Review (2010), doi:10.1016/j.edurev.2009.12.002