The development of technical and scientific professional education systems : an analysis through activity theory using Engeström’s historical type model.

Abstract

The need to wider disseminate the technical and scientific education arising from the modern modes of production was an influential factor in the establishment of the current educational systems. Attributing to education a more utilitarian perspective, responsible for many features of the curriculum and school practices, the educational model has been adapted to the new demands and levels of social organization. In order to better understand this process as well as its internal conflicts, we will use notions of the activity theory, specifically the historical type model developed by Y. Engeström to systematize the evolution of an activity throughout of history.