Learning by Expanding

Learning by Expanding challenges traditional theories that confine learning to specific tasks or problems. Yrjö Engeström argues that this approach fails to meet the challenges of social change, or to create novel artifacts and ways of life. He presents an innovative theory of expansive learning activity that transforms existing social practices.

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Learning by Expanding challenges traditional theories that consider learning to be a process of acquisition and reorganization of cognitive structures within the closed boundaries of specific tasks or problems. Yrjö Engeström argues that this type of learning increasingly fails to meet the challenges of complex social change and fails to create novel artifacts and ways of life. In response, he presents an innovative theory of expansive learning activity, offering a foundation for understanding and designing learning as a transformation of human activities and organizations. The second edition of this seminal text features a substantive new introduction that illustrates the development and implementation of Engeström's theory since its inception.