Storyboard for Jerome Bruner
By: Camille Lutz-Gorick
“To instruct someone . . . is not a matter of
getting him to commit results to mind.
Rather, it is to teach him to participate in the
process that makes possible the establishment
of knowledge. We teach a subject not to
produce little living libraries on that subject,
but rather to get a student to think
mathematically for himself, to consider
matters as an historian does, to take part in
the knowledge-getting. Knowing is a process
not a product.” (Jerome Bruner)
Jerome Bruner is one of few major theorists
still alive today. He was born in New York in
1915 and earned his bachelor’s degree in
psychology in 1937 from Duke University.
Both his master’s and doctorate degrees in
psychology were earned through Harvard
University in 1939 and 1941, respectively.
Later, Bruner received honorary doctorates
from Yale and Columbia, as well as colleges
and universities in Sorbonne, Berlin, and
Rome.
Although there are conflicting timelines,
according to one reading, Bruner served on
the faculty in the Department of Psychology at
Harvard from 1952-1972.
Prior to his employment at Harvard, Bruner
served on the Psychological Warfare Division
of the Supreme Headquarters of the Allied
Expeditory Force Europe committee during
World War II. He explored propaganda, public
opinion, and social attitudes for U.S. Army
intelligence as a social psychologist (Smith,
2002).
From 1972-1979 Bruner taught at University
Oxford, but returned to Harvard in 1979.
Bruner is still teaching students today as a
Senior Research Fellow at the New York
University of Law.
According to his homepage through NYU, he
received the Balzan Prize in 1987 for
“contributions to our understanding of the
human mind,” a CIBA Gold Medal in 1974 “for
outstanding and original research,” and he is a
Fellow in the American Academy of Arts and
Sciences.
In addition, Bruner is affiliated with the
American Psychology Association, Law and
Society Association, and the Society for
Research in Child Development.
As one of the founding fathers of
constructivist theory, Bruner’s framework is
built on the idea that learners construct new
thoughts or concepts based on their
background knowledge and learning is an
active process for each student. (Jerome
Bruner: Constructivism & Discovery Learning)
According to Smith (2002), Bruner is thought
to be one of the key figures in the ‘cognitive
revolution.’ His most famous book on
education and cognitive psychology, The
Process of Education (written in 1960), viewed
children as active problem-solvers.
Four key themes emerged from his first book:
*The role of structure in learning (the teacher
is a facilitator not a guide)
*Readiness to learn (spiral curriculum)
*Intuitive and analytical thinking (active
learning)
*Motives to learn (interest)
Based on his theoretical constructs, Bruner
stressed four characteristics of successful
instruction:
1. Instruction should relate to learners’
predisposition, and encourage interest toward
learning
2. Content should be structured so it can be
most easily grasped by the learner
3. Sequencing is important for presentation of
material
4. Rewards and punishments should be used
sparingly (Jerome Bruner: Constructivism &
Discovery Learning)
In 1966 Bruner penned another book titled,
Toward a Theory of Instruction, he discussed
three forms of representation which he feels
helps people to understand the world around
them. “To live in the world, people must
somehow construct a facsimile of their actual
experiences and it is the job of the teachers to
aid the student in interpreting and sketching a
picture of these real experiences” (Presno,
1997, p. 112).
“Bruner argued that a theory of development
must be connected to a theory of knowledge
and to an effective theory of instruction which
for him is based on the three forms of
representation” (Presno, 1997, p. 113)
previously listed.
In the late 1950’s and 1960’s America was in
need of improving its schools and curriculum.
Many American psychologists were growing
frustrated with behavior theory and its
methods, Russia had just launched its first
artificial satellite, Sputnik, in late 1957 and
Americans were left rushing to catch up in the
field of science and math (Takaya, 2008).
However, according to Takaya (2008), “the
blame was largely placed on the inadequate
educational principles and practice based on
progressive experiential education whose
theoretical origin was John Dewey’s
philosophy of education” (p.5).
John Dewey (1859-1952) believed that
learning was active and schooling
unnecessarily long and restrictive (Neill,
2005.) He believed that students should be
actively involved in real-life tasks and
challenges.
Some critics assumed that, under Dewey's
system, students would fail to acquire basic
academic skills and knowledge. Others
believed that classroom order and the
teacher's authority would disappear.
Early in my teaching career, my teaching and
classroom management techniques followed
the work of B.F. Skinner and Behaviorism.
Looking back I assume it is because my
undergraduate degree was in special
education. According to Bruning, Schraw, &
Norby (2011), “Particularly in special
education settings, behavioral principles have
provided possibilities for instruction that did
not exist before” (p. 4), and, looking back, I
believe my professors were proponents of
Behaviorism.
My connection to cognitive psychology came
during my master’s degree. At that time my
teaching shifted from students with emotional
and behavioral disorders to students with
specific learning disabilities and I was studying
to become a reading specialist.
Today, my classes consist of active dialogue
between staff and students alike; students are
often expected to work in small groups to
problem-solve. My students know the term
schema (which it is believed that Bruner
coined that term) and we use it in our daily
language in our classroom. I am a facilitator of
my students’ learning and they are given the
tools to construct their own
knowledge/meaning.
In addition, my students understand the term
metacognition and are constantly improving
their self-awareness and self-regulation when
it comes to reading, and it is a constant goal of
mine to find ways to motivate students to
read and/or use literacy skills in all of their
classes. While not every strategy works for
every student, I have found a lot of great ways
to motivate my students (both intrinsically and
extrinsically).
Just this week I received an email from one of
my students. In it he said “Hey mrs lutz I've
been thinking about next year and how I've
gone up and how proud I am about how I've
achived such a goal and how you helped. I
don't know if any of the other kids have tried
emailing you but I wanted to thank you and
you probably are busy making plans on how to
help them, next year freshman on how to
become better so....thanks. I hope they know
how lucky they are to be taught by such a
great teacher. There is a method behind the
madness :) and I'm happy I was able to meet
such a great teacher. can't wait to see you
next year in the halls hopefully. Bye and thank
you mrs. Lutz.” To me, this is just one way my
students are showing me that my belief in
cognitive theory is a positive approach in the
classroom.
In his book, Fifty Modern Thinkers on
Education, Howard Gardner said, “Jerome
Bruner is not merely one of the foremost
educational thinkers of the era; he is also an
inspired learner and teacher. His infectious
curiosity inspires all who are not completely
jaded” (2001, p. 94).
Reference
Bruning, R. H., Schraw, G. J. & Norby, M. M. (2011). Cognitive psychology and instruction.
Boston, MA: Pearson.
Gardner, H. (2001). ‘Jerome S. Bruner’ in J.A. Palmer (ed.) Fifty modern thinkers of education,
From Piaget to the present. London: Routledge
Neill, J. (2005). John Dewey. Philosophy of education. Retrieved from
http://wilderdom.com/experiential/JohnDeweyPhilosophyEducation.html
Presno, C. (1997). Bruner’s three forms of representation revisited: Action, pictures and words
for effective computer instruction. Journal of Instructional Psychology, 24:2, 112-118.
Smith, M.K. (2002). ‘Jerome S. Bruner and process of education’, The encyclopedia of informal
education. Retrieved from http://www.infed.org/thinkers/bruner.htm
Takaya, K. (2008). Jerome Bruner’s theory of education: From early Bruner to later Bruner.
Interchange, 39:1, 1-19.
Jerome Bruner: Constructivism & discovery learning. Retrieved from
http://www.lifecircles-inc.com/Learningtheories/constructivism/bruner.html