ABSTRACT

The aim of this paper is to explore the role of instruction as an integrated part of work activity. The perspective I take is an activity-theoretical conception of instruction integrated with three fundamental professional work practices, namely highlighting, use of coding schemes, and articulation of graphic representations. The empirical part of the paper consists of a patient case from a clinical heart conference that is studied in detail. The main outcome of the study is an analytical distinction between instruction as (“crystallized”) artifact-bound representations and “live” or situated instructions. It is argued that all instructions are situated, and that situatedness is a doubly situatedness: both from the artifact-mediated tradition of the profession and from the ongoing interactions at work.