Bruner's Spiral Curriculum

"Being able to "go beyond the information" given to "figure things out" is one of the few untarnishable joys of life. One of the great triumphs of learning (and of teaching) is to get things organized in your head in a way that permits you to know more than you "ought" to. And this takes reflection, brooding about what it is that you know. The enemy of reflection is the breakneck pace - the thousand pictures." (Bruner, 1996)

What is Spiral Curriculum?

The idea was rooted in constructivism and inspired by the constructive learning established by Jean Piaget. The spiral curriculum was described first by Jerome Bruner (1960) that the method is more inquiry-based instructions. The learners will be able to discover by themselves to build new understanding from past experiences by using their own knowledge, creativity, intuition, and imagination. Bruner also suggests that learners from the early stages are capable to learn on their own if the instructions are organized appropriately.

Bruner (1960,p.62) states that learners must "experience success and failure, not as reward or punishment but information".

In his research, Bruner proposed 3 different modes of representation of human cognition:

1. Enactive (action-based); from 0-1 year;  thinking is based on action or physical action. Most young learners learn by doing than by thinking, for example; learners who remember types of animals from their walking action or learners who learn to ride a bike by doing it.
2. Iconic (image-based); from 1 - 6 years; thinking is based on images. All information is stored as sensory images, for example; when we learn about different fruits, it will be helpful if we can see the pictures that go along with verbal information.
3. Symbolic (language-based); 7 years onward; all information is stored in the form of codes, symbols, and languages that are flexible and can be manipulated, ordered, or classified.

Bruner's modes of representation provide an explanation of development cognitive growth, which young learners start to learn by doing some physical actions patterns to represent knowledge around them, then develop their thinking based on images and finally discover experiences into symbol systems that possible to leads to inquiry and problem-solving. 

Furthermore, I will use one of the visible thinking routine strategies, which is; connect, extend, and challenge to reflect on Bruner's Spiral Curriculum classroom practices.

Connect:

The idea of discovery learning is to utilize the prior knowledge of learners and each of them might gain a different level of knowledge in the classroom practices. Discovery learning gives learners the opportunity to discover, construct knowledge, and learn new things. By implementing Bruner's theory, learners will be more actively engaged, be more responsible, develop problem-solving skills, and be more motivated to learn something. Bruner believes that classroom learning should include an inductive approach by using some specific examples. By giving examples, learners will eventually discover and learn.  

How to implement Bruner's theory n the classroom:

1. Present both examples and non-examples of the concepts
2. Help students to see the connection among concepts
3. Ask questions
4. Encourage students to make intuitive guesses

Extend:

The role of the teachers in applying Bruner's theory is to design learning that promotes discovery that is in accordance with their cognitive skills. Hence by knowing the learner's learning modes, the teacher will be able to provide appropriate learning materials for instructions according to the learner's level. Then, teachers should provide feedback that is directed to motivation.

Furthermore, some of the benefits of applying the spiral curriculum as discovery learning are:

• encourages motivation and active learning
• motivates creativity
• promotes independence
• learning result is more contextual
• creates lifelong learning

Challenges:

Discovery learning seems ideal for classroom practices, but actually some of the challenges that might occur in implementing Bruner's theory:

• It will be hard to be implemented if the system and condition are not supportive
• Requires special materials and resources 
• Leaners should have a strong mental preparation in order to explore and discover all the things around them
• Time consume
• Teachers should know how to design an effective environment for applying Bruner's theory

References:

Bruner, Jerome. (2006). In Search of Pedagogy Volume 1 - The selected works of Jerome Bruner. New York: Routledge

Bruner, Jerome. (1996). The Culture of Education. Harvard University Press

Mc.Lead, Saul. (2019). Learning Theory in Education. Simply Psychology. https://www. simplpsychology.org, accessed on Tuesday 2 November 2021

R.M. Harden. (1999). What is a spiral curriculum?, Medical Teacher, 21:2, 141-143, DOI: 10.1080/01421599979752