Bruner

Bruner

Studying more into Piaget and Vygotsky has made me want to explore into Bruner as well. Bruner was born in 1915. He was engrossed in how different educational approaches can encourage the development of children’s thinking. According to Bruner there are four major components of instructional theory.

1    .  The child’s predisposition towards learning

2    .  The way in which body of knowledge can be structured so that it can be readily grasped by the child.

3   .   The most effective sequence in which to present the material.

4   .   The role of success and failure and nature of reward and punishment.

Bruner then went into research three modes of thinking.

      Ø Enactive Stage

      Ø  Iconic Stage

      Ø  Symbolic Stage

As stated when I was discussing Vygotsky, Bruner took over the ‘ZPD’ with ‘Scaffolding’ as Vygotsky died without final explanation of how children work in the ZPD.

The term ‘scaffolding’ was adapted to define the social role of the social role of the adult in supporting the child’s learning.

What does Scaffolding Provide?

-       -  Provides support

-       - Functions as a tool

-       - It extends the range of the worker

-       - It allows the learner to accomplish a task otherwise impossible

-       -   It is only used selectively, when needed.

Scaffolding is a great opportunity for children to outshine in education and shape their self-confidence. Children, I believe can accomplish whatever they want in life, but with help of the teacher/leader to direct them in the right way. I find it fascinating researching into Piaget, Vygotsky and Bruner and has opened my eyes to the way children learn! 

References

http://www.uky.edu/~eushe2/quotations/bruner.html