Abstract
The learning activity systems of disabled children attending local public school in Japan were analyzed within the framework of activity theory. The children participated in several different activity systems at the same time, all which have certain structural features in common. These include Subject child, the presence of adults who guide the child's learning, the goals that those adults have, and the ontogenetic history that constrains the goals. In this study, two systems, family and special education classroom, and their relationship were analyzed. The data was from my experience as an advisor of parents and teachers of disabled children who attend special education classes in local public elementary and junior high schools in Japan. When both systems are mediated by the same Subject child, two kinds of contradictions became visible, both of which are the possible moment of the development of each system : intra-systemic and inter-systemic contradictions. The latter occurs because the adults in each system envision the future of the same Subject child based on the different ontogenetic history of the system, and the former occurs because the possible future of the child has to be envisioned based on the existing past. The possibility of the resolution of the contradictions and the development of the systems when they experience a shared ontogenetic history is discussed.
