Susan C. Lawson Dr. Richard Clark Wilkes University ED 530 Spring 2010

o Born in New York, New York to Herman and Rose (Gluckmann) Bruner. o The youngest of four children, Dr. Bruner was born blind until receiving two cataract surgeries while still an infant. o Received B.A. from Duke in 1937 o Received Ph.D. From Harvard in 1941 o Worked with Leo Postman, during 1940s, studying effects of motivation, needs and expectations on perception. Referred to as groundbreaking research known as the “New Look” in psychology. o Worked with U.S. Army Intelligence during World War II as a social psychologist at General Dwight D. Eisenhower’s headquarters in France.

o A psychologist, U. S. Schooling became point of interest for Dr. Bruner during the late 1950s and went on to contribute greatly to cognitive psychology, cognitive learning theory in educational psychology. o Opened the Center for Cognitive Studies at Harvard in 1960, with George Miller. o Dr. Bruner left Harvard in 1972 to teach at Oxford University. o In 1979 returned to Harvard as a visiting professor. o During 1981 Dr. Bruner joined the new School of Social Research in New York City. o Currently is a senior research fellow at the New York University School of Law.

o Published first book, The Process of Education in o Akin to Piaget’s fundamental beliefs of development, Bruner’s research led him to a contrasting belief of how and when children learn. o Constructivist Learning Theory – the belief that learners construct knowledge themselves. New ideas and concepts are based on current and past knowledge of the learner.

In 1966 Bruner determined that instruction should address four major aspects: Predisposition towards learning Structure for learning being easily grasped Effective sequence of material Nature and pace of rewards and punishments Eventually these four aspects became known as following three major principles: The instruction must appeal to the student’s willingness and ability to learn by coinciding with experiences and contexts the student has, this is readiness. Instruction must be organized and structured to be easily grasped (spiral organization) Instruction needs to be designed in order to facilitate an atmosphere where learning beyond current information given is created.

The teacher is to present information in a logical and interesting way while the student is to be allowed the opportunity to learn for themselves. Having the new information taken in, generated and understood by the learner to his or her own interpretation and understanding. The teacher is available for helping the student intermittently and reinforcement of understanding.

In 1966 Bruner proposed three modes of learning: Enactive or action-based Iconic or image-based Symbolic or language-based Each mode of learning is integrated and interact with one another. Unlike Piaget, with his definitive beliefs on when a learner has the ability to learn new instruction, Bruner contends that a learner can learn any new material if present in an appropriately organized way for the learner at any age. Similar to Bloom's Taxonomy, Bruner believes a system of coding is developed by the learner, where a hierarchy is developed, while being categorized.

Each new level of learning revisits the previously learned lessons and is built upon, allowing the learner to expand his or her knowledge to form their own interpretation of the material presented. The drawing represents learning being built upon and expanded.

o Similar to Vygotsky’s Zone of Proximal Development, Bruner teaches us that while developmental stages can not be rushed, they can be helped to progress by a knowledgeable adult. o The learner constructs his or her own meaning to the material learned. o Learning starts at infancy and continues through experiences, including, perhaps most importantly for children, through play. o The best way to learn is to experience. The focus is on environmental and experiential factors for each learner’s own learning pattern to develop. o Jerome Bruner argues the cognitive revolution, with its current fixation on mind as "information processor," has led psychology away from the deeper objective of understanding mind as a creator of meanings. Only by breaking out of the limitations imposed by a computational model of mind can we grasp the special interaction through which mind both constitutes and is constituted by culture. (Review of Harvard University Press)

The video clip directly involves a student of Dr. Bruner’s briefly discussing a program called Squeakers. The clip offers a small glimpse of Dr. Bruner’s personal beliefs on learning in his own words.

References of Dr. Bruner’s Work To look up at your discretion, here is a list of some of Dr. Bruner’s Published works: Bruner, J. (1960). The Process of Education. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Bruner, J. (1966). Toward a Theory of Instruction. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Bruner, J. (1973). Going Beyond the Information Given. New York: Norton. Bruner, J. (1983). Child's Talk: Learning to Use Language. New York: Norton. Bruner, J. (1986). Actual Minds, Possible Worlds. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Bruner, J. (1990). Acts of Meaning. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Bruner, J. (1996). The Culture of Education, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Bruner, J., Goodnow, J., & Austin, A. (1956). A Study of Thinking. New York: Wiley.

Review of Harvard University Press. Bruner, Jerome. "Acts of Meaning." Harvard University Press unknown: 1. Web. 12 Feb "Jerome Bruner." Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Wikipedia, Web. 13 Feb "Jerome Bruner." Zalfonada Lee. Web. 13 Feb "Health Care Industry, Bruner, Jerome S.." Health Care Industry Health Care Industry, Web. 17 Feb "Jerome Bruner." FutureU Bookstore. Web. 13 Feb "Jerome Bruner." Gardner Writes. Web. 13 Feb "Jerome Bruner." Youtube - Jerome Bruner. Web. 14 Feb