Brief history/biography

As you will discover below, Bruner’s theories about child’s cognitive development form part of the theoretical position known as constructivism

1915                 Born (blind) in New York

1917                 Sight partially restored through operations

1937                 BA in Psychology, Duke University

1939 – 41          MA and PhD in Psychology from Harvard

1940 – 45          Worked with the Psychological Warfare Division

1945                 Professor at Harvard, specialising in cognitive & educational psychology

1972                 Professor at University of Oxford

1980                 Returned to the States to work on cognitive psychology

1990                 Professor at NY university, working on the impact of psychology on legal practice

2016                 Died in US

Bruner’s work and theories

In a simplistic view, Bruner’s theories are a synthesis of the work of Vygotsky and Piaget. Bruner’s believed that all children had an innate curiosity and so if presented with tasks which piqued this curiosity and which were within their intellectual capacity, they would engage. However, if the level of the task is too complex, children will quickly get bored and switch off. So, one of the roles of a teacher or tutor is to ensure that the child has the capacity to manage the task at a level that challenges the learner but does not overwhelm them.

His writings suggest that the best approach is what he termed ‘scaffolding’:  a learning structure which builds on the skills that the child already has, and which then guides the learning process to a different level. So, there is an emphasis on the interaction between the student and the tutor or teacher.

Bruner was clear that the scaffold would not function if it was not stabilised by the educator, who’s role is to ensure the scaffold remains a supportive structure. The scaffolding concept was built upon Vygotsky’s Zone of Proximal Development.

Bruner published ‘The Process of Education’ in which he emphasised that all children are active learners and problem solvers and that their intellectual development is on a continuum. We never stop learning. He wrote about the significance of knowledge and how as educators, we need to understand how children use experiences to become knowledge.

He wrote about how knowledge is organised into three modes:

• Enactive representation: physical, active-based
• Iconic representation: image-based
• Symbolic representation: visual, picture-based

His constructivist theory proposes that all learning (at any age) moves from enactive, to iconic to symbolic. Unlike Piaget, he also stated that children of any age can learn any material, as long as the teaching is organised and presented appropriately. Also, unlike Piaget, Bruner felt that there was movement in both ways between the age groups and that schools should not dictate what is learnt according to age. Instead, he saw education not as a delivery of knowledge, but of skills that could be applied to different areas.  He advised a ‘spiral’ curriculum which introduces concepts in increasing sophistication once the student can manage the learning.

In this way, the students are encouraged to work independently and to apply knowledge and skills to increasingly complex tasks without the direct ‘teaching’ of the educator. This ‘constructivist’ approach is designed to have the educator as the facilitator, not encouraging learning facts because they have been delivered, but encouraging discovery learning.

Enactive (0 – 1 year)

At this stage, the infant is learning by experience and action. Thinking is not part of their learning process, but memories based on physical actions are being laid down in the brain.

Iconic (1 – 6 years)

At this stage, children are storing learned information in pictures, or other sensory icons – smell, taste, touch.  Many students of all ages are helped to understand information by diagrams, pictures or maps which accompany the written text

Symbolic (7 years onwards)

At this stage, students of all ages store information in language, words, symbols, music etc . The icons are transferable, so that the learning process is not constrained as it would be with an image or a picture.

Practical implications for tutoring.

If Bruner was tutoring, he would ensure all lessons were heuristic. This means learning through trial, error, and self-discovery. So, he would act as a motivator, rather than a lecturer.

He would try to tutor skills which the student can then apply to different tasks, rather than tutoring to a task. So, for example if he was helping students to build a wooden box with a hinged lid, his role would be to teach the individual skills of mitred corners and dovetails, measuring, cutting precisely. Then, he would ask the students to use these skills to make something that could store items with a lid that was attached.

Bruner would put considerable stock in modelling answers or approaches before asking the student to do the task (or a part of it). This enables students to ask questions, assimilate information, then apply. He could then encourage the students to look back at what they have learnt and explore how to use this knowledge to apply to the next step e.g. making a box with a side hinged panel.

Bruner’s theories highlight the importance of encouraging learning that links to other learning areas, so even young students can grasp complex skills and specific topics if they have relevance to all of their learning. One of the things that pedagogy has lost over many centuries is that innate understanding of the cross-fertilisation of learning. If you are in any doubt about that, look at the 16th century learners whose schooling made no distinction between what we see as ‘science’, ‘arts’ and ‘language’.

Critical challenges to Bruner

There has been some criticism of Bruner’s ideas about discovery learning. Some critics are concerned that any learning that happens outside the educators’ immediate control may be incorrect. Also, this sort of learning may not suit all children. Some feel that Early years teaching in particular does need to be mostly direct instruction as a failure to grasp ideas at an early stage might have a significant impact on later learning. Scaffolding and spiralling require educators to know exactly when and how to intervene, this is easier in a one-to-one setting, but still requires the educator to be always in tune with the child’s educational needs, something that may prove more difficult when a syllabus and impending examinations are to be navigated.

Glossary

Constructivism: 

This theory highlights the importance of the individual constructing their own knowledge and of a structured learning process for the individual.

Spiral curriculum

A teaching programme in which students learn and develop their learning by revisiting the knowledge or subject to reinforce understanding. A greater understanding will then enable the student to apply their knowledge to different topics and tasks.