University of the West Indies

Cave Hill | Open Campus

MSc. Instructional Design & Technology

EDID 6503 – Instructional Design Theories, Models and Strategies

Assignment 2 – Theorist Paper

Title: A brief look at the life and work of Learning Theorist in the area of Constructivism

– Jerome Bruner

Student Name: Kara Lord

Student ID#: 406003336

Course Facilitator: Dr. Laura Gray

Due Date: 26th February, 2016

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Table of Contents

Pg. #

Introduction ………………………………………………………….. 3

Biography …………………………………………………………. 4-5

Education & Academic Career …………………………………………………………. 5-6

Aspirations/ Achievements …………………………………………………………. 6-7

Publications …………………………………………………………. 7-9

Reflection Piece …………………………………………………………. 9

Photographs …………………………………………………………. 10

References ………………………………………………………. 11-12

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Introduction

Jerome Seymour Bruner is an American psychologist who has made his mark in the areas

of cognitive psychology, educational psychology and language development. While one may be

interested to learn of his theoretical perspectives, it is also interesting to understand what makes

the man so to speak. This is simply because the understanding of a person can lead to further

understanding of their work.

The paper speaks to a brief historical look at the life of Jerome Bruner which spans a

century and still continues to this day. How the impressive nature of a rather over simplified life

has lead to innovative thoughts and perspectives in the area of psychology will forever be

remembered with a place in History as Dr. Bruner has secured his spot in the books.

Interestingly, he has been recorded in a 2002 Survey as the 28th most cited psychologist of the

20th century.

A young, boyish Jeromr Bruner. Photos taken during his undergraduate years of study.
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Biography

A rebellious and autonomous Jerome Bruner was born on October, 1st 1915 to parents

Herman and Rose Bruner. Although he was not always independent as no one in born in this

nature; he shares his beliefs that this was the legacy that his mother has instilled in him (Crace,

2007). Bruner’s parents were originally from Poland, but had migrated to the United States of

America where he was raised on the south shore of Long Island, New York.

Interestingly, Bruner was born blind and did not find his sight until after receiving

surgery at the age of two (2) which removed the cataracts that plagued his vision (Crace, 2007).

The tremendous effect that this can have on any human being is not something that may be

outrightly understood. According to Bruner (2007), he saw it two ways: it must have been

difficult, given the attachments made during infancy, but it is not a time that he remembers and

envisions it to be a period which was used to construct his own thinking of what his parents must

have been like (Bruner, 1977).

Needless to say, while the deprivation of sight is something that leaves one without the

sensory perception of seeing the natural environment, however, it does not limit one from

interaction within said environment. As is recorded in this biography, it is credible evidence to

support that even while faced with obstacles in early development, one can still strive towards

successes, achievements and a fruitful life depending on a personal definition and description of

the same, since these ideas can be perceived as more subjective in nature rather than objective.

Bruner describes himself as a shy, geeky boy growing up and recalls his fondness for the

sea as he spent days sailing which is a pass time that he enjoys immensely (Crace, 2007).

Although he had a sister named Alice, she was married very young and he always found her to
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be much more outgoing and confident in her interactions in comparison to him. As a young man,

now entering the teenage years (at the age of 12) Bruner lost his father to liver cancer which had

a devastating impact on the family.

Speaking of family, while much is not explicitly stated about his personal

accomplishments, it may be interesting to note that Bruner has been married trice (3 times) and

fathered two (2) children. His writing contributions are numerous as covered later in the

publications sections, but he has expressly stated his dislike for filling in tax returns (Crace,

2007). Perhaps, this is one dislike that many can relate to as a cumbersome, technical and tedious

task.

Education & Academic Career

With a Bachelors of Arts degree in psychology from Duke University (1937), a Masters

degree in psychology (1939) and a Doctoral degree (Phd.) in psychology in 1941 from Harvard

University, Bruner was well on his way to acquiring a different way of thinking. This distinct

way of thinking has since lead to research that has helped to shape the way of thinking about

learning. This seems destined as one of Bruner’s more popular quotes state: “Thinking about

thinking has to be a principle ingredient of any empowering practice of education”.

During the 1930s, much focus was heavily placed on the behavourist approach to

learning, but little on the cognitive or mental representations that played a role in interpreting

information with regard to stimulus-response. At Duke University during his undergraduate

years, Bruner was taught by Bristist Psychologist William McDougal (1871-1938), who

encouraged him to think of learning as more than a simple matter of stimulus-response, but

instead to consider that many mental processes are at work for learning to occur, for example:

the role of perception in thinking and understanding. As a result, new ideas had to be imagined
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about how mental processes could be studied, evaluated and understood and Jerome Bruner rose

to this challenge to envision and create the foundation that lead to a more holistic approach to

learning (Bruner, 1966; Bruner & Sherwood, 1976; Bruner, 1977).

Bruner has served as a member of the faculty at Harvard University from 1952 to 1972;

he then went on to teach at the University of Oxford from 1972 to 1979 and perhaps was the only

person who ever took up a teaching position at Oxford after traveling on his personal sailboat to

the UK to fill his post. After several years at Oxford, however, he returned to his alma matter in

1979. This by no means indicates his dissatisfactions with his time at Oxford University since he

has expressed this period to be one of the most productive periods of his life (Crace, 2007). It is

no understatement that Jerome Bruner has lived a full life as he still teaches today at New York

University, where he took up employ in 1991 as an adjunct professor in the School of Law where

he has taken an interest in how psychology affects legal practice.

Aspirations & Achievements

In his rebellious nature Bruner sought on more than one occasion to play an active role in

the wars that took place in the 20th century. As a young man growing up, he tried to sign up for

the Republicans in the Spanish Civil War as well as attempted to enlist in the Sixth Army

through the Chinese Consulate in their fight against Japan, but was told that the Chinese have no

need for extra manpower since they have sufficient support in this area. Similarly, he was turned

down when he tried to join the United States military due to his poor eyesight (Crace, 2007).

Some may see the failed nature of these exploits to have had a significant positive end result as

these may have resulted in an altogether different and perhaps less notable contribution to

humanity on the part of Bruner.

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As previously mentioned, much was assumed about education and its importance during

the early 20th century. For example, a notion that education at the tertiary/university level was of

significant value and importance; this placed a high cost on investment made in this educational

tier. Ultimately, this saw to it that many lower class citizens based on economic status had a

much harder time securing higher learning education for their children which perpetuated

intelligence among the middle and upper class. However, Bruner argued that education at the

early childhood level was just as significant, if not more valuable and important than what was

being placed on later learning years. As a result, he was recognized by then President John F.

Kennedy, who invited him to lead on a scientific advisory board which saw much success in the

reallocation of monies to be invested in higher education funneled into the area of pre-school

learning.

Needless to mention, Jerome Bruner has over the years received a number of honorary

doctorates from Universities and Colleges such as Yale and Columbia as well as Institutions in

Rome and Berlin.

Publications

As the author of a number of books, Jerome Bruner published his first in 1956 titled “A

Study of Thinking”. However, this was not his first time publishing as he in 1947 published a

study, sharing his early research on sensation and perception with regard to its role in learning.

He argued in this 1947 piece titled: “Value and Need as Organizing Factors in Perception” that

sensation and perception plays and active rather than passive role in learning. In this research

piece, Bruner evaluated children's perceptions as it relates to their estimation of value for objects

of a similar size such as coins or wooden disks. Results indicate that the value of coins of
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different sizes were greatly over estimated by children from poor and rich families and argued

that this was as a result of their perception of the object (Bruner, 1947).

Notably, much work has been done by Bruner, who is considered to be a pioneer in the

area of cognitive psychology. Taking a cue from his appreciation of Jean Piaget’s work in

cognitive psychology; Bruner developed a model of learning known today as discovery learning

(Hergenhahn & Olson, 2005). Discovery learning supports the use of previous knowledge and

the integration of an interactive, hands on method to learning (greatly used in the science

disciplines, for example: chemistry and physics, but is not limited in its application to this field)

which causes individuals to construct their own knowledge by doing (Slavin, 2015).

In his advocacy for discovery learning Bruner (1966) states “we teach a subject not to

produce little living libraries on that subject, but rather to get a student to think… for himself, to

consider matters as an historian does, to take part in the process of knowledge-getting. Knowing

a process, not a product” (1966, p. 72). As a result, the discovery learning approach has been

designed to get students to actively engage in the learning of principles, processes and concepts.

The emphasis here is on guiding and facilitating learning instead of giving or telling students the

information, let them experience it for themselves in order to construct their own understanding.

The writings of Dr. Bruner cover a span of years from 1956 to 2006. A list of some of his

published books can be found below and are still available for purchasing online and in book

stores:

- The Process of Education, 1960

- Studies of Cognitive Growth, 1966

- Towards a Theory of Instruction, 1966

- Child’s Talk: Learning to Use Language, 1983

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- Actual Minds, Possible Worlds, 1985

- The culture of Education, 1996

- Making Stories: Law, Literature, Life, 2003

Reflection Piece

The choice of Jerome Bruner came as a result of a personal interest in the area of

constructivism and discovery learning as it is highly regarded to be a method of teaching which

allows for successful learning. It has been an incredible personal experience of discovery to learn

about the many contributions that have been made by Bruner over his century long life span.

Initially, information being gathered for peripheral reading lead to specific reference of his work

instead of his life which proved frustrating to some extent. This was because, while personal

interest rested on a deeper understanding of discovery learning specifically, the task at hand

required a deeper look at the life, work and contributions of the theorist. However, it was

pleasing to stumble across an interview which was published and had been done as recently as

2007 since it was quite informative and interesting on a more personal level with regard to

Bruner’s life.

A look at the life of Jerome Bruner has served as a personal nudge of inspiration with

regard to academia, research and career. While he may not have had a great deal of success with

regard to his personal life, his professional achievements have greatly contributed to our

understanding of learning, language, development, cognitive and educational psychology. In the

same way, it is necessary to reflect on one’s life to ensure that although mistakes are inevitable,

learning must occur and furthermore, it is not a life worth living if contributions are not made to

the benefit of others.

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Photos

A more mature and professional yet somewhat comical/pleasant look at Jerome Bruner

Jerome Bruner in Action.

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References

Alexander, G. M. (2002). Review of General Psychology. Published by the American

Psychological Association. http://www.apa.org/pubs/journals/gpr/index.aspx

Bruner, J. S. & Goodman, C. C. (1947). Value and need as organizing factors in

perception. Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 42, 33-44. Available online at the

Classics in the History of Psychology archive.

Bruner, J. S. & Postman, L. (1949). On the perception of incongruity: A paradigm. Journal of

Personality, 18, 206-223. Available online at the Classics in the History of Psychology

archive.

Bruner, J. S. (1966). Toward a Theory of Instruction. New York, NY: Norton.

Bruner, J. S., and Sherwood, V. (1976). Early rule structure: The case of peekaboo. In J. S.

Bruner, A. Jolly, and K. Sylva (Eds.), Play: Its Role in Evolution and Development.

London: Penguin Books.

Bruner, J. S. (1977). Early social interaction and language acquisition. In H.R. Schaffer, Studies

in Mother-infant Interaction (pp. 271–289). London: Academic Press.

Bruner, J. S. (1978). The role of dialogue in language acquisition. In A. Sinclair, R.J. Jarvella,

and W. J. M. Levelt, The Child’s Conception of Language (pp. 241–256). New York:

Springer-Verlag.
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Crace, J. (2007). The Lesson of the Story. Published on 27th March, 2007 by The Guardian.

Retrieved from

http://www.theguardian.com/education/2007/mar/27/academicexperts.highereducationpr

ofile

Hergenhahn, B. R. & Olson, M. H. (2005). An Introduction to Theories of Learning (7th Ed.) NJ:

Pearson Education, Inc.

Slavin, R. (2015). Educational Psychology: Theory and Practice (11th Ed.) NJ: Pearson

Education, Inc.