1. Vygotsky’s ideas were developed by Bruner

2. Bruner's Approach to Cognitive Development
Learning – same if researcher, or child & toys
Cognitive development made up of distinct ways of representing the world
Modes of Representation
(enactive, iconic, symbolic)

3. Modes of Representation
Enactive – world represented through action – appropriate motor responses (building bricks, riding bikes)
Iconic – 2-6 yrs – represent world through images - allows to use language
Symbolic – about 7 yrs - most important – frees child from immediate & allows them to symbolise (Bruner, 1966). Can go beyond given information & represent world symbolically – depends on language & is the heart of the ability to think abstractly

4. How does the child understand the information?
This happens through the ‘Modes of Representation’
The modes are as follows:
Enactive (0-1 years)
Iconic (1-6 years)
Symbolic (7 years onwards)

5. The Enactive Mode (0-1 years)
This mode is dominant in babies who first represent or understand the world through their actions.
Have you ever given road directions and noticed how your arms and hands move uncontrollably?
This is because knowledge – a representation of a route- has been acquired through an action I.e. walking or driving the route.

6. The Iconic Mode (1- 6 years)
This mode represent knowledge through visual or auditory likeness, images or icons.
For Example:
Ask a child at this age ‘How many windows do you have in your house?’
They could visualise their house, the image could then be used to ask other questions about the house.
However, a child at this age may be able to visualise their own bed, but cannot visualise the category this falls under I.e furniture.

7. The Symbolic Mode (7 years onwards)
In this mode, thinking and a representation of the world are gained through language.
Children are now able to group and categorise info.
This enables intellectual development to go beyond physical images.
For Example
The word ‘furniture’ allows us to think about and discuss the concept of this category I.e. tables, chairs, sofas

8. How do you teach a child?
Now that we understand how the child understand the information we must now understand how to teach the child new information.
A/c to Buner we must scaffold a child’s learning.
To be effective the scaffolding can only be constructed a bit at a time.
If it is done correctly, the child will not be put off by the task.

9. Concrete-Semiconcrete-Abstract Instructional Sequence (C-S-A)
Bruner’s structure-oriented theory of learning:
Enactive mode (e.g., the “doing” phase” - using concrete objects to represent problems - concrete representations)
Iconic mode (e.g., the “seeing phase” visualizing representations of the problem - semiconcrete representations)
Symbolic mode (e.g., using abstract symbols to represent the problem - abstract representations)

10. C-S-A:
Empirical studies have validated CSA use with students with high incidence disabilities for:
Whole number operations
Word problems
Place value
Introductory algebra skills

11. C-S-A:
Implications:
It is recommended (Gagnon & Maccini, 2001) to provide instruction using the graduated instructional sequence on a daily/weekly basis when introducing new math concepts and advancing to more abstract ideas.
Resources: (Handout)
Gagnon, J. C., & Maccini, P. (2001). Preparing students with disabilities for algebra: Kindergarten through secondary school. TEACHING Exceptional Children, 33(2), 8-15.