Jerome Bruner's Constructivist Theory: Spiral Curriculum

     As a continuation of my previous post last time, I will discuss on Jerome Bruner's concept that is really dominant in schools but unknown to many---Spiral Curriculum. Have you ever noticed the books of elementary pupils from grades 1-6? Have you observed that the topics are just being repeated right? Although there are some new topics, there are topics that are being repeated all over again. This is also true not only in elementary, but also in high school and up to college.

     Constructivist's view of learning tells us that learners must be given opportunities to recount and reflect on their experiences in order to have foundations for their future and new learning. Furthermore, teachers must also base what they teach on the level appropriate for the learners. Adding these two important ideas, we can now give meaning to what spiral curriculum really is.

     Forgive me but I will just quote Corpus and Lucas's definition. According to them, spiral curriculum is revisiting the curriculum by teaching the same content in different ways depending on students' developmental levels. Now, I hope this answers why topics are repeated all over again, but with a level, complexity and difficulty appropriate to the learners. Through these repeating, recounting or revisiting of topics, learners will have a clearer and progressive understanding thus enhances learning.

Constructivism: Jerome Bruner's Constructivist Theory

 
  Please forgive me if my posts are in chunks. You know, I update my blog using only my cellphone. I don't have any laptop or a pc of my own. I repeated this how many times and I will say this again. For those of you who have an old or surplus laptop or pc, I will appreciate it very much if you can give it to me...wehehehe(half joke-half truth)

     I would like to tackle about one of the constructivist psychologists whose works are actually utilized in schools but unknown to some. Since I lack character spaces on my previous post, I wasn't able to discuss that there are 2 views of constructivism:cognitive constructivism and social constructivism. I will just discuss these later as I discuss each constructivist psychologist and his works.

     Our man of the moment is Jerome Bruner. He is under the cognitive constructivism school of thought which stresses individual and inner construction of knowledge. He has given us important concepts about learning which I will just discuss one by one.

I. Stages of Knowledge Representation
According to Bruner, knowledge representation develops in 3 stages: Enactive, Iconic and Symbolic.
1. Enactive. The first stage in which learning is based on hands on experiences of physical objects together with the consequences that go after. Knowledge is represented through senses. You may have noticed this among children who learn about the world through touching and manipulating objects, smelling flowers, tasting a fruit, etc. However, this doesn't mean that this type of representation is only for babies or young children. This could also mean manipulative learning of objects such as learning how to use a microscope, to ride in a bicycle, or practicing how to dance, to do stunts, or to play a musical instrument.
2. Iconic. Knowledge can now be represented using models and pictures. Learners know how to make mental images of their world. This can be seen on books full of brightly colored pictures that are being used to teach children.
3. Symbolic. Learners can think in abstract. So abstract terms and symbol systems can be used to represent knowledge like numbers, mathematical symbols, letters and language. This is the reason why most of the books in college do not have so many pictures compared to books used in elementary.

Images of these topics and better and more credible (why? does this mean mine isn't? hehehe) discussions are found in this link http://brunerwiki.wikispaces.com/

LET Tips: Constructivism

Note: Please answer first before scrolling down. The correct answers are found at the bottom of the post. I will not discuss further the correct answers so if there are any reactions or questions, feel free to comment.

1. It is the revisiting of topics in the curriculum in line with the learners' cognitive level.
A. Direct Teaching
B. Programmed Instruction
C. Spiral Curriculum
D. Hidden Curriculum

2. Which material will best present the concept of numbers in a 6-year old child?
A. Flashcards
B. Pictures
C. Beans
D. Numerals

3. Teacher Lea is a constructivist. She sees learners as:
A. a blank slate
B. full of experiences
C. respond to stimulus
D. empty vessel

4. Which is the aid given by the teacher for the student to accomplish a task that the latter can't accomplish independently?
A. Spiral Curriculum
B. Fade Away Technique
C. Zone of Proximal Development
D. Scaffolding

5. "Learning is an interactive and interpersonal activity." Which psychologist could have said this?
A. Lev Vygotsky
B. Jean Piaget
C. Jerome Bruner
D. Ivan Pavlov

Answer Key: 1. C; 2. C; 3. B; 4. D; 5. A

Lev Vygotsky's Sociocultural Theory

         This is really it. My post about Lev Vygotsky. Hehehe... Lev Vygotsky is one of the social constructivists, who believe the importance of social interaction in learning. Learning is seen as an interactive and interpersonal activity. Development will not be fully understood if the social and cultural contexts are not considered, hence the name Sociocultural Theory.

Our handsome man of the moment...Lev Vygotsky...applause!!! Woohooo!!!

The Role of Social Interaction
          According to Vygotsky, learners learn through social interaction. Socially interacting especially with knowledgeable adults like parents, teachers, older peers, etc, gives them the opportunity to acquire learning. The people that surround the learner contribute to learning because they are the ones who explain, model, assist, give directions and promote feedback to enrich learning. They also are the media in which learners learn the ways of thinking and behavior that make up culture.

Language
          Language plays an important function especially in social interaction. However, it also has an important role in developing the thinking activities inside the mind of the learners. Language, as Vygotsky puts it, serves as a mediator between the learners' mind and their environment. As learners communicate or perform interpersonal dialogues, these dialogues will develop into intrapersonal dialogues in which will later become inner speech. Inner Speech is a form of self talk that guides the learner's thinking.

Zone of Proximal Development
          Vygotsky advocates learning by doing. However, he added that learning by doing, together with social interaction will result to a more effective learning. In relation to this, the Zone of Proximal Development was introduced. This is the level at which a child finds a task too difficult to accomplish alone, but which he/she can complete with the assistance of an adult or older peer. To achieve this, scaffolding can be used. Scaffolding is the aid or assistance than enables learners to complete certain tasks that they cannot do on their own. However, scaffolding is not doing the task for the learners, rather the adult/instructor only serves as a tool for that adjusts the amount of guidance to fit the learners current level of performance. Example, if a child doesn't know how to tie his/her shoes, an adult can do scaffolding by tying the shoes half-done, then letting the child finish it.

Photo credits courtesy of google image search..hehehe...sorry I wasn't able to copy-paste the exact web-site...I hope I don't violate netiquette(not sure about the spelling) hehhehe...