Back to: Learning and Development B, ed Notes, M.A Notes, Graduation Notes
Jerome Bruner Social Constructivist Theory
One of the most significant and well-known educational psychologists of the 20th century is Jerome Bruner. He created the constructivist hypothesis, which contends that students build new knowledge based on what they already know.
Social Constructivist Theory
With the aid of prior information, social constructivism encourages the acquisition of new knowledge. To increase one’s knowledge, fresh information is combined with previously learned material. When a student can integrate new knowledge into the previously held knowledge, that learner is said to have succeeded. In social constructivism, a learner is always viewed as subjective since they will have diverse experiences and as a result, will form their own individual worldview.
He studied how children’s minds developed in 1966 and discovered three phases of representation: the enactive stage, the iconic stage, and the symbolic representation stage. Instead of rote memorising, he thought the main objective of education should be the intellectual growth of a student.
Jerome Bruner’s three modes of representation
Enactive Stage
Bruner’s initial step of representation is the enactive stage. It is defined by information encoding and storage. Direct manipulation of objects is used in place of internal representation. For instance, a youngster will rely on his or her prior experiences to determine what sound the rattle will produce when it is shaken.
Iconic Stage
The second level of representation is the iconic stage. From one to six years old, it starts. At this level, internal representations of external things take the shape of mental icons and pictures that have a visual quality. A youngster painting an automobile, for instance, typifies this period.
Symbolic Stage
The third stage of representation, known as the symbolic stage, begins when a child reaches the age of seven. Information is stored during this stage using symbols or codes, such as language. Each symbol stands for anything related to it. Mangoes, for instance, are a fruit kind represented symbolically.
According to Bruner, learning occurs in these three steps, with the first level being the direct manipulation of the item. According to the social constructivism learning theory, students must actively participate in tasks that foster creativity and self-organization.
