BRUNER'S LEARNING THEORY

Bruner - 1 This is an excerpt from my forthcoming book, Essential Learning Theories and Their Applications, published by Rowman and Littlefield. BRUNER’S LEARNING THEORY Andrew P. Johnson, Ph.D. Minnesota State University, Mankato www.Readocity.com Jerome Bruner’s learning theory posits that learning is an active process in which learners construct new knowledge based on their current knowledge. A closer look at some of the basic elements of Bruner’s ideas related to teaching and learning are included below. Some of the Basic Elements • Natural inclination. Humans have a natural desire to make sense out of their environment (Bruner, 1977). Learning experiences should be based on this natural inclination. • Categories and concepts. When humans experience reality, the human brain naturally seeks to induce order on a field by creating categories based on reoccurring patterns (Bruner, 1966). The term for this specific cognitive operation is inductive analysis (see below). A category is a classification of objectives based on common properties. A concept is a mental representation of items within a category. A concept has defining attributes which clearly describe the elements necessary for a thing to be a concept. • Basic structure. Grasping the basic structure of concepts being taught is essential for meaningful learning. This enables learners to see the relationships between related concepts and it makes conceptual knowledge more easily retained and transferred. Also, understanding the basic structure of a concept enables students to understand them at higher levels of complexity later. Thus, the initial instruction should enable students to easily see the basic structure of what is to be learned (Bigge & Shermis, 1992). • Simple-to-complex. Both skills and concepts should be taught in their simplest form first. This provides a platform upon which to attach more sophisticated or complex skills and concepts later. • Whole-to-part instruction. When teaching skills and concepts, whole-to-part instruction enables students to see how the individual parts relate to the whole. In other words, providing the big picture first gives students a context for learning the individual parts. This is like showing the picture of the complete jigsaw puzzle first so that students know where the individual pieces go. The opposite would be to present the individual pieces and expect students to put them together in order to see the big picture. As an example of whole-to-part instruction, Ms. Lee was teaching her middle school students how to write. She first created writing activities and assignments that asked her students to use writing to describe their ideas (whole). Then, skills related to grammar and punctuation were taught in the context of students’ own writing (parts). The opposite of this (part-to-whole instruction) would be trying to teach writing by teaching just grammar and punctuation in isolation apart from students’ own writing. This approach has not been shown to be very effective (Johnson, 2016; Weaver, 2009). • All levels. The basic foundations of any subject can be taught in some intellectually honest form to any child and any stage of development if it is broken down at the appropriate © Andrew P. Johnson, Ph.D. Bruner - 2 level (Morris, 1978). Even the most complex subjects can be taught at the early primary grades if they are structured and presented in their most basic forms. An example, Mr. Brady was teaching a geology unit to his first grade students. At this level, it served little purpose to go into details about the types of rocks, their names and composition, and how they were formed. Instead, Mr. Brady taught his students some basic geological concepts along with the rudimentary skills of a geologist. He taught them that there are different types of rocks and that geologists put them in groups based on how they look. Then he gave his students sets of rocks and asked them to put them into groups based on what they look like (inductive analysis). Lists were created to describe the attributes of the rocks (literacy). They created graphs to describe the numbers of rocks in each category (math). Students were given a map of the playground and asked to look for rocks and mark where they found rocks (mapping). Simple lab reports were written in large group to describe the process and what they found (science and literacy). These activities provided the basic conceptual knowledge and skills related to geology as well as from different subject areas (math, literacy science, and social studies). Mr. Brady’s elementary school used spiral curriculum (below). Thus, his students would revisit and built upon these skill and concepts in successive years. Spiral curriculum. A curriculum is systematic plan for instruction for each subject area that describes the specific knowledge and skills to be taught at each grade level. According to Bruner, curriculums should be designed to revisit basic ideas, building upon them over time until students have full understanding of them (Bruner, 1977). This is the essence of a spiral curriculum. Here, key concepts and skills of academic disciplines are taught in the early grades. These same concepts and skills are revisited and learned at successively higher levels with more depth and breadth as students move through the grade levels. • Inductive reasoning. Inductive analysis (above) should be used in the teaching of skills and concepts. This is a specific cognitive operation that uses inductive reasoning. Inductive reasoning is a type of thinking where broad generalizations are made based on specific observations. In other words, data are observed and then generalized conclusions are drawn from the data. Deductive reasoning is a complimentary cognitive process where specific conclusions are made based on a broad set of data. Whereas, deductive reasoning proceeds step-by-step along a predetermined path to teach new concepts, inductive reasoning enables students to quickly to perceive reoccurring patterns and construct a big conceptual picture. Learning based on this type of thinking tends to be more meaningful and promotes greater transfer. As well, learning using inductive reasoning often goes beyond what is presented (LeFrancois, 2006). Discovery learning (below) is a pedagogical strategy that utilizes inductive reasoning. • Disciplined inquiry. Bruner wanted students to understand the principles that lead to the creation of the various academic disciplines. Disciplined inquiry can be used toward this end. This is when teachers use the tools and processes of the specific discipline to enable students construct knowledge. For example, Mr. Brady (above) had his 1st grade students using some of the tools of a geologist to discover the basic principles of that discipline. DISCOVERY LEARNING Discovery learning is a pedagogical strategy in which students are not presented with subject matter in its final form at the beginning of the lesson; rather, they are first exposed to some sort of structured experience in order for them to discover defining attributes, concepts, principles, or process inductively (Johnson, 2017). Explicit instruction is provided along the way © Andrew P. Johnson, Ph.D. Bruner - 3 as necessary. Discovery learning comes in a variety of forms with varying degrees of structure, all of which require careful planning. Bruner believed that this type of learning facilitates transfer and retention, increases problem-solving, develops reasoning process, and facilitates motivation (LeFrancois, 2006). There are two types of discovery learning: open discovery learning and guided discovery learning (Johnson, 2017). Open Discovery Learning. Open discovery learning is seldom used in its purest form. Here students make all decisions related to all aspects of learning with little or no input from the teacher. There are few situations where this level of unstructured, open-discovery learning would be effective. Examples of open discovery learning would include: • Research paper. In writing a research paper, students choose their topic, gather data, organize data, describe the data, and make a conclusion based on the data. • Independent study. In conducting an independent study, inquiry, or investigation, students first ask a question and then use surveys, interviews, observations, secondary sources, or an experiment to collect data to answer the question. Guided Discovery Learning Guided discovery learning enables students to construct their understanding of a concept or skill with the guidance of a teacher. This guidance comes in the form of questions, hints, modeling, and short bits of instruction. Learning here contains elements of open-endedness in that students often discover things beyond the lesson purpose or objective. However, it is also explicit and defined in that there are specific skills or concepts that the teacher wants students to possess as a result of the learning experience. With guided discovery learning the teacher acts as a coach to correct misinformation, to supply necessary missing information, and to make sure students get to the right conceptual place. Examples of guided discovery are described below. • 3-E: Events, examples, or experiences. Here, the teacher has one or more events, examples, or experiences related to concepts or skills being taught. Students are asked to identify salient elements during and after. • Flipping. Flipping is a form of guided discovery learning where the established order of things is reversed or flipped. Here students first have exposure to the new material through reading, lecture videos, or an experience outside of class. Then, class time is used to assimilate the knowledge learned using strategies like problem solving, discussion, small group speeches, debate, or other activities. • Guided discovery for skills instruction. Here students are first immersed in an experience or activity in which they need one or more skills. Individual skills are taught as students are ready for them or as they discover a need. Students should be given plenty of time and materials for experimenting. You will often see teachers asking students, “What have you discovered about ...?”, and then listing students’ ideas on the board. Discovering a Concept Much of Bruner’s work involve teaching concepts. As described above, a concept is a mental abstraction of a category. Examples of concepts include the following: freedom, empathy, interdependence, fairness, triangle, verbs, religion, region, paragraphs, government, justice, democracy, wants and needs, economic system, virtues, values, country, state, values, or environment. Items within a concept share a set of essential characteristics or defining attributes. Defining attributes are the features that make the thing a concept. For example, the defining © Andrew P. Johnson, Ph.D. Bruner - 4 attributes of a country are (a) it has recognized boundaries or boarders, (b) it has a government that runs the country and provides certain public services such as education and police, (c) it has some sort of economy or system of money, and (d) it has sovereignty or makes decisions from within the country. Concept learning is being able to recognize valid examples of the concept. That is, students can discriminate between valid and non-valid examples. In teaching concepts using guided discovery, students are asked to use inductive reasoning to determine the principles or defining attributes of a concept. The basic steps are presented here: 1. Provide students with several examples of the concept. Ask them if they can perceive any similarities or common attributes. 2. Provided non-examples and ask students to compare to examples in order to note differences. 3. Ask students to identify the defining attributes of the concept. 4. Presents the name and definition of the concept. 5. Makes corrections or additions to students’ list of defining attributes. 6. As a form of guided practice, asked students to identify other examples and nonexamples of the concept. They should be able to summarize principles or main concepts at this point. 7. Create a concept map or graphic organizer at the end of the lesson to describe the concept and the ordinate, superordinate, and subordinate relationships within that concept. FINAL THOUGHTS This chapter provided an overview of some of Jerome Bruner’s big ideas. He is probably best known for discovery learning, the spiral curriculum, and teaching the basic elements of concepts and subject matter. One last thing about discovery learning is that it is sometimes referred to as a theory that describes how children learn. It certainly could be a theory, as it posits that discovery learning using inductive analysis is a more powerful and lasting way of learning. However, it is best thought of as a pedagogic al strategy, one of many strategies that teachers should have in their teaching toolboxes. REFERENCES Bigge, M.L., & Shermis, S.S. (1992). Learning theories for teachers (5th ed.). New York, NY: HarperCollins. Bruner, J. (1966). Toward the theory of instruction. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press Bruner, J. (1977). The process of education. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Johnson, A. (2016). 10 essential instructional elements for students with reading difficulties: A brain-friendly approach. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Johnson, A. (2017). Teaching strategies for all teachers. Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield. LeFrancois, G.R. (2006). Theories of learning (5/e). Belmont, CA: Thompson/Wadsworth. Morris, J. (1978). Psychology and teaching: A humanistic view. New York, NY: Random House Weaver, C. (2009). Reading process. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann. © Andrew P. Johnson, Ph.D. Bruner - 5 RELATED VIDEOS Discovery Learning Basics Discovery Learning Lesson Plan Direct Instruction: A Tool and Not an Approach Direct Instruction © Andrew P. Johnson, Ph.D.