Personal background
Jerome Seymour
Bruner was born on October 1, 1915, to Polish immigrant parents, Herman and
Rose (Gluckmann) Bruner. He was born blind and did not achieve sight until
after two operations while he was still an infant. He attended public
schools, graduating from high school in 1933, and entered Duke University where
he majored in psychology, earning the AB degree in 1937. Bruner then pursued
graduate study at Harvard University, receiving the MA in 1939 and the P.H.D in
1941. During World War II, he served under General Eisenhower in the
Psychological Warfare Division of Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary
Force Europe. After the war he joined the faculty at Harvard University in
1945.
Career History
In 1960 Bruner published The Process of Education. This was a landmark book which led to much experimentation and a broad range of educational programs in the 1960's. Howard Gardner and other young researchers worked under Bruner and were much-influenced by his work. In the early 70's Bruner left Harvard to teach at University of Oxford for several years (1972 - 1979). He returned to Harvard in 1979. Later he joined the New York University of Law, where he is a senior research fellow (at the age of 93).
Theory
Bruner was one of the founding fathers of constructivist theory. Bruner's theoretical framework is based on the theme that learners construct new ideas or concepts based upon existing knowledge. Learning is an active process. Facets of the process include selection and transformation of information, decision making, generating hypotheses, and making meaning from information and experiences. Bruner's theories emphasize the significance of categorization in learning. "To perceive is to categorize, to conceptualize is to categorize, to learn is to form categories, to make decisions is to categorize." Interpreting information and experiences by similarities and differences is a key concept.
Bruner was
influenced by Piaget's ideas about cognitive development in children. During
the 1940's his early work focused on the impact of needs, motivations, &
expectations (“mental sets”) and their influence on perception. He also looked
at the role of strategies in the process of human categorization, and
development of human cognition. Bruner emphasized the role of structure in
learning and how it may be made central in teaching.
Eventually Bruner was strongly influenced by Vygotsky's writings and began to turn away from the intrapersonal focus he had had for learning, and began to adopt a social and political view of learning. Bruner argued that aspects of cognitive performance are facilitated by language. He stressed the importance of the social setting in the acquisition of language. His views are similar to those of piaget. but he places more emphasis on the social influences on development.
Cognitive growth involves an
interaction between basic human capabilities and "culturally invented
technologies that serve as amplifiers of these capabilities." These
culturally invented technologies include not just obvious things such as
computers and television, but also more abstract notions such as the way a
culture categorizes phenomena, and language itself. Bruner would likely agree
with Vygotsky that language serves to mediate between environmental stimuli and
the individual's response.
Bruner's research on the cognitive development of children (1966) he proposed three modes of representation. they are:
- Inactive representation (base on action)
- Iconic representation (based on image)
- Symbolic representation (based on language)
Enactive (0 - 1 years)
This appears first. It involves encoding 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 (1 - 6 years)
This is where information is stored
visually in the form of images (a mental picture in the mind’s eye). For some,
this is conscious; others say they don’t experience it. This may explain why,
when we are learning a new subject, it is often helpful to have diagrams or
illustrations to accompany verbal information.
Symbolic (7 years onwards)
This develops last. This is where
information is stored in the form of a code or symbol, such as language. This
is the most adaptable form of representation, for actions & images have a
fixed relation to that which they represent. Dog is a symbolic representation
of a single class.
Symbols are flexible in that they
can be manipulated, ordered, classified etc., so the user isn’t constrained by
actions or images. In the symbolic stage, knowledge is stored primarily as
words, mathematical symbols, or in other symbol systems.
Bruner's constructivist theory
suggests it is effective when faced with new material to follow a progression
from enactive to iconic to symbolic representation; this holds true even for
adult learners. A true instructional designer, Bruner's work also suggests that
a learner even of a very young age is capable of learning any material so long
as the instruction is organized appropriately, in sharp contrast to the beliefs
of Piaget and other stage theorists.
Bruner and vygotsky
Both bruner and vygotsky emphasise a child's environment,
especially the social environment, more than Piaget did. Both agree that adults
should play an active role in assisting the child's learning. Bruner, like
Vygotksy, emphasised the social nature of learning, citing that other people
should help a child develop skills through the process of scaffolding. The term
scaffolding first appeared in the literature when Wood, Bruner and Ross
described how tutors' interacted with pre-schooler to help them solve a block
reconstruction problem.
The concept of scaffolding is very
similar to Vygotsky's notion of the zone of proximal development, and it not
uncommon for the terms to be used interchangeably. Scaffolding involves
helpful, structured interaction between an adult and a child with the aim of
helping the child achieve a specific goal.
Bruner and Piaget
Obviously there are similarities
between Piaget and Bruner, but an important difference is that Bruner’s modes
are not related in terms of which presuppose the one that precedes it. Whilst sometimes
one mode may dominate in usage, they co-exist. Bruner states that what
determines the level of intellectual development is the extent to which the
child has been given appropriate instruction together with practice or
experience. So - the right way of presentation and the right explanation will
enable a child to grasp a concept usually only understood by an adult. His
theory stresses the role of education and the adult.
Although Bruner proposes stages of
cognitive development, he doesn’t see them as representing different separate
modes of thought at different points of development like Piaget. Instead, he
sees a gradual development of cognitive skills and techniques into more
integrated “adult” cognitive techniques.
Bruner, J.S. (1957). Going
beyond the information given. New York: Norton.
Bruner, J. S. (1960). The
process of education. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University press.
Bruner, J, S. (1966). Toward
a theory of instruction. Cambridge, Mass.: Belkapp press.
Bruner, J.S. (1973).The relevance of education. New York:
Norton.
Bruner, J.S. (1983). Child’s talk: learning to use language.
New York: Norton.
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