JEROME BRUNER

THEORY
 JEROME
SEYMOUR
BRUNER
American Psychologist
and Educator
Biography
Academic and Career

General Background

Published Works
 General
WHOA!
Background
● Born October 1, 1915, New York, New York, U.S.
● Died June 5, 2016, New York, New York
● American psychologist and educator
● Developed theories on perception, learning, memory, and other aspects of cognition in young
children
● Had a strong influence on the American educational system and helped launch the field of
cognitive psychology.
● Bruner’s father, a watch manufacturer, died when he was 12 years old.
 Academic and
WHOA!
Career
● Duke University in Durham, North Carolina (B.A., 1937).
● Harvard University, doctorate in psychology in 1941.
● Served as an expert on psychological warfare for the U.S. Army during World War II
● Returned to Harvard in 1945, becoming professor of psychology there (1952).
● From 1960 to 1972 he also directed the university’s Center for Cognitive Studies.
● Left Harvard to become professor of experimental psychology at the University of Oxford
(1972–80).
● Later taught at the New School for Social Research, New York City, and at the New York
University School of Law.
 Published
Works

● The Process of Education (1960)

● Mandate from the People (1944)
● A Study of Thinking (1956, with Jacqueline J. Goodnow and George A. Austin)
● On Knowing: Essays for the Left Hand (1962)
● Toward a Theory of Instruction (1966)
● Processes of Cognitive Growth: Infancy (1968)
● The Relevance of Education (1971), Communication as Language (1982)
● Child’s Talk (1983)
● Etc
 Most Famous Work
The Process of Education (1960)

● A powerful stimulus to the curriculum-reform movement of the period.

● In it he argued that any subject can be taught to any child at any stage of development, if it
is presented in the proper manner.

● All children have natural curiosity and a desire to become competent at various learning
tasks; when a task as presented to them is too difficult

● However, they become bored. A teacher must, therefore, present schoolwork at a level that
challenges but does not overwhelm the child’s current developmental stage.

● The task is best presented within a framework of structured interaction between teacher
and child, one that makes use of and builds upon skills that the child has already acquired.
Brune
r
Model
Discovery Learning

A learning situation in which the principal content of what is to be learned is not given,
but must be independently discovered by the learner, making the student an active
participant in his learning.

● Cognitive development
● Modes of representation
● Language
● Culture
Cognitive Development

● Bruner was influenced by Piaget’s ideas about cognitive development in children.

● He presented the point of view that children are active problem-solvers and capable of
exploring “difficult subjects”
● He believes the child has to learn by itself by making sense of its own environment.
● He rejected the idea of stages as popularized by Piaget and to a lesser extent Vygotsky;
he concentrated more on how knowledge is represented and organized as the child
develops.
Modes of
Representation
Iconic

Enactive

Symbolic
 Enactive

Similar to the first half of Piaget’s sensori-motor stage of development.

A person learns about the world through actions on physical objects and the outcomes of
these actions.

● From child’s birth to 3 years old.

● Children perceive the environment through actions that they initiate.
● Showing and modeling have more learning value than telling.
 Iconic

Similar to the second half of Piaget’s sensori-motor and preoperational stages of

development.
It is where learning can be obtained through using models and pictures.

● From age 3 to about age 8.

● Children can remember and use information through imagery.
● Visual memory increases.
● Decisions are still made on the basis of perceptions.
 Symbolic

Similar to Piaget’s concrete operational stage of development.

The learner develops the capacity to think in abstract terms.

● Children began to use symbols to represent people, things, etc.

● They have the ability to think and talk about things in abstract terms.
● They can better understand mathematical principles and use symbolic idioms.
 Language

● Like Vygotsky, Bruner thinks language accommodates cognitive development.

● Bruner suggests language training as a way of speeding up the cognitive
development of the child.
● Bruner however, believes we possess a LASS (Language acquisition Social System)

Culture

● According to Bruner our culture determines the sort of person we become. There
‘cannot be a self independent of one’s culture’
● Bruner adopted the point of view that culture shapes the mind and provides the
raw material with which we constrict our world and our self-conception.
KEY
ELEMENT
Main Key Elements

1. Instruction must be concerned with the experiences and contexts that make
the student willing and able to learn .
2. Instruction must be structured so that it can be easily grasped by the
student.
3. Instruction should be designed to facilitate extrapolation and or fill in the
gaps.
 Scaffolding

● The process of scaffolding implies six interdependent elements:

1. The engagement of the subject in the task of learning
2. Reducing the difficulties
3. Maintaining the focus on the objectives
4. Signaling the determined characteristics
5. Controlling frustration – in order to prevent the errors the child makes
from becoming a feeling of failure and resignation
6. Demonstrating or presenting models.
 Modes of Mental
Representation
● Enactive Representation (Action based)
● Iconic Representation (Image based)
● Symbolic Representation (Language based)
Enactive Representation
(Action Based)

● This mode is used within the first year of life. Thinking is based entirely
on physical actions, and infants learn by doing, rather than by internal
representation (or thinking).
● It involves encoding physical action based information and storing it in our
memory. For example, in the form of movement as a muscle memory, a baby
might remember the action of shaking a rattle.
● Many adults can perform a variety of motor tasks (typing, sewing a shirt,
operating a lawn mower) that they would find difficult to describe in iconic
(picture) or symbolic (word) form.
 Iconic Representation
(Image Based)

● Information is stored as sensory images (icons), usually visual ones, like

pictures in the mind. For some, this is conscious; others say they don’t
experience it.
● When we are learning a new subject, it is often helpful to have diagrams or
illustrations to accompany the verbal information.
● Thinking is also based on the use other mental images (icons), such as hearing,
smell or touch.
Symbolic Representation
(Language Based)
● Knowledge is stored primarily as words, mathematical symbols, or in other
sociocultural symbol systems, such as music.
● Equilibrium occurs when a child’s schemas can deal with most new
information through assimilation. However, an unpleasant state of
disequilibrium occurs when new information cannot be fitted into existing
schemas (assimilation).
● Equilibration is the force which drives the learning process as we do not like to
be frustrated and will seek to restore balance by mastering the new challenge
(accommodation). Once the new information is acquired the process of
assimilation with the new schema will continue until the next time we need to
make an adjustment to it.
 Implementation
1. Instruction must be appropriate to the level of the learners
2. The teachers must revisit the material to enhance knowledge. Building on pre-
taught ideas to grasp the full formal concept is of paramount importance
according to Bruner
3. The material must be presented in a sequence giving the learners the
opportunity to:
a. acquire and construct knowledge,
b. transform and transfer his learning.
4. Students should be involved in using their prior experiences and structures to
learn new knowledge.
5. Help students to categorize new information to able to see similarities and
differences between items.
6. Teachers should assist learners in building their knowledge.
7. Teachers should provide feedback that is directed toward intrinsic motivation.
WATCH A VIDEO

https://youtu.be/rZfAsbhfL_Y
 Bruner’s Theory
Agree

● Children are innately PRE-ADAPTED to learning

● Children have a NATURAL CURIOSITY
● Children’s COGNITIVE STRUCTURES develop over time
● Children are ACTIVE participants in the learning process
● Cognitive development entails the acquisition of SYMBOLS
 Bruner’s Theory
Disagree

● Social factors, particularly language, were important for cognitive growth.

These underpin the concept of ‘scaffolding’.
● The development of LANGUAGE is a cause not a consequence of cognitive
development
● You can SPEED-UP cognitive development. You don’t have to wait for the
child to be ready
● The involvement of ADULTS and MORE KNOWLEDGEABLE PEERS
makes a big difference
Advantages of Bruner’s Theory

● Emphasis independent students.

● Visual learners have better advantage.
● Strengthen students’ cognitive skills
● Suitable for children.
● Improve children’s instinct.
 Conclusion

● 3 Modes of Representation: Enactive(Action based), Iconic(Image based),

Symbolic(Language based)

Takeaway Line

Bruner developed a model for the way children turn experiences into knowledge.
THAN
K YOU