BRUNER'S CONSTRUCTIVIST THEORY

JEROME BRUNER
 one of the first proponents of constructivism with a major theme, learning is an active
process in which learners construct new ideas or concepts based upon their
current/past knowledge.
 Born at New York City on October 1, 1915.
 Received his A.B. degree from Duke University in 1937 and his Ph.D in 1947 from
Harvard.
 Faculty in the Department of Psychology at Harvard University (1952- 1972) and at
Oxford (1972 – 1980).
 Published The Process of Education in 1960 a landmark book which led to much
experimentation and a broad range of educational programs in the 1960.

BRUNER’S FOUR MAIN CONCEPTS

1. REPRESENTATION
Bruner’s three ways to represent knowledge.
1. Enactive representation
 At the earliest ages, children learn about the world through actions on physical
objects and the outcomes of these actions.
 Children represent objects in terms of their immediate sensation, the muscles
and involved motor responses, or ways to manipulate the environment (i.e.
riding a bicycle and tying a knot, tasting the apple).
2. Iconic representation
 Learning can be obtained through using models and pictures and uses mental
images to stand for certain objects or events.
 Allows one to recognize objects when they are changed in minor ways (e.g.
mountains with and without snow at the top)
3. Symbolic representation
 Learner has developed the ability to think in abstract terms. This uses symbol
system to encode knowledge. (Common symbol systems are language and
mathematical notation).

2. SPIRAL CURRICULUM
 Teaching should always lead to boosting cognitive development.
  Students will not understand the concept if teachers plan to teach it using only the
teacher’s level of understanding.
 Instruction needs to be anchored on the learners’ cognitive capabilities.
 The task of the instructor is to translate information to be learned into a format
appropriate to the leaner’s current state of understanding.
 Curriculum should be organized in a spiral manner so that the student continually
builds upon what they have already learned.
 Teachers must revisit the curriculum by teaching the same content in different ways
depending on students developmental levels.

K to 12 curriculum
 Spiral progression is a mandate Section Curriculum Development of RA. 10533, states
“The curriculum shall use the spiral progression approach to ensure mastery of
knowledge and skills after each level.”
 The teaching of concepts increases in depth and breadth across the Grade levels. (e.g.
Statistics concepts in Kindergarten are much simpler than those taught in Grade 10).
Concepts are revisited again and again as you go up the grades. This supports mastery
of concepts.

Principles of Instruction by Bruner:

1. Instruction must be concerned with the experiences and contexts that make the
student willing and able to learn (readiness)
2. Instruction must be structured so that it can be easily grasped by the student (spiral
organization).
3. Instruction should be designed to facilitate extrapolation and or fill in the gaps
(going beyond the information given).

[Link] LEARNING
Refers to obtaining knowledge for oneself.
 The teacher plans and arranges activities in such a way that students search,
manipulate, explore and investigate.
 Students learn new knowledge relevant to the domain and such general problem-
solving skills as formulating rules, testing and gathering information.
 Students require background preparation. Once students possess prerequisite
knowledge, careful structuring of material allows them to discover important
principles.
Classroom Example:
 Learning becomes more meaningful when students explore their learning
environment rather than listen passively to teachers.
 In elementary school - Teachers might use guided discovery to help children learn
animal groups (e.g. mammals, birds, reptiles).
 In high school - Using experimental process, students can learn about various
substances to certain chemicals and also how to determine the contents of
substance.
Bruner (1966) Theory of Instruction into four major aspects:
1. Predisposition to learn.
 "readiness for learning".
 Any subject could be taught at any stage of development in a way that fits the
child's cognitive abilities.
 Motivational, cultural, personal factors, social factors and early teacher's and
parents' influence on this.
 Learning and problem solving emerged out of exploration.
2. Structure of Knowledge.
 Refers to the ways in which a body of knowledge can be structured so that it can
be most readily grasped by the learner.
 Bruner emphasized the role of structure in learning and how it may be made
central in teaching.
 Structure refers to relationships among factual elements and techniques. This will
depend on different factors, and there will be many ways to structure a body of
knowledge and many preferences among learners.
Structuring Knowledge
1. Understanding the fundamental structure of a subject makes it more
comprehensible. Bruner viewed categorization as a fundamental process in the
structuring of knowledge.
2. To generate knowledge which is transferable to other contexts, fundamental,
principles or patterns are best suited.
3. The discrepancy between beginning and advanced knowledge in a subject area
is diminished when instruction centers on a structure and principles of orientation.
3. Effective sequencing.
 No one sequencing will fit every learner, but in general, the lesson can be
presented in increasing difficulty. Sequencing or lack of it, can make learning
easier or more difficult.
 Spiral curriculum refers to the idea of revisiting basic ideas over and over,
building upon them and elaborating to the level of full understanding and
mastery.
4. Reinforcement.
 Rewards and punishments should be selected and paced appropriately. He
investigated motivation for learning.
  He felt that ideally, interest in the subject matter is the best stimulus for
learning Bruner did not like external competitive goals such as grades or class
ranking.

[Link]
 Bruner gave much attention to categorization of information in the construction of
internal cognitive maps. He believed that perception, conceptualization, learning,
decision making and making inferences all involved categorization. Categories are
“rules” that specify four thing about objects. The four things are given below:

1. Criterial attributes required characteristics for inclusion of an object in a category.

(Example, for an object to be included in the category “car” it must have an engine, 4
wheels, and be a possible means of transportation.

2. The second rule prescribes how the criterial attributes are combined.

3. The third rule assigns weight to various properties. (Example, it could be a car even if
a tire was missing, and if it was used for hauling cargo it would be shifted to a
different category of “truck” or perhaps “van”).

4. The fourth rule sets acceptance limits on attributes. Some attributes can vary widely,
such as color. Others are fixed. (Example, a vehicle without an engine is not a car.
Likewise, a vehicle with only two wheels would not be included in “car”).

Kinds of Categories:

1. Identity categories - categories include objects based on their attributes or features.

2. Equivalent categories - (provide rules for combining categories). Equivalence can be

determined by affective criteria, which render objects equivalent by emotional
reactions, functional criteria, based on related functions (for example, “car”, “truck”,
“van” could all be combined in an inclusive category called “motor vehicle”), or by
formal criteria, for example by science, law or cultural agreement. For example, an
apple is still an apple whether it is green, ripe, dried, etc (identity). It is food
(functional), and it is a member of a botanical classification group(formal).

3. Coding systems - serve to recognize sensory input. They are major organizational
variables in higher cognitive functioning going beyond immediate sensory data
involves making inferences on the basis of related categories. Related categories form
a “coding system.” These are hierarchical arrangements of related categories. The
principles of Bruner launched the notion that people interpret the world mostly in
terms of similarities and differences. This is a valuable contribution to how
individuals construct their own models or view of the World.

Reporters:
Layza A. Casango-an
Cyril Y. Tizon
Milkee A. Ortega