Bruner was a constructivist theorist who believed that “as far as
instruction is concerned, the instructor should try and encourage students
to discover principles by themselves. The instructor and student should
engage in an active dialog (i.e., socratic learning). The task of the
instructor is to translate information to be learned into a format
appropriate to the learner’s current state of understanding. Curriculum
should be organized in a spiral manner so that the student continually
builds upon what they have already learned.” (Culatta, 2021)
In order for learners to build on their learning, units of work needed to
be developed. Bruner (1965) stated that a unit consists of the elements of
which the course is made. He declared that a unit is a body of materials
and exercises that may occupy as much as several days of class time or
as little as half a class period. The sections of a unit which he believed
were important in the structure of the unit are:
1. Talks to teachers
2. Queries and contrasts
3. Devices
4. Model exercises
5. Documentaries
6. Supplementary materials
These terms used by Bruner would likely not be ones that are shared
around the coffee machine in schools these days. However, the core
understanding of what they are continues to exist within the substance of
a unit of study. In order to understand whether the parts are still prevalent
within classrooms today, the best way forward is to ‘translate’ the terms
and bring them into the ‘modern’ terminology used by educators.
‘Talks to teachers’ refers to the understanding of the importance of a
unit of work. Coming from an International Baccalaureate (IB) background,
I would equate this to the Central Idea of a unit. Basically, what is the key
conceptual learning that teachers want the children to take away from a
unit of study.
‘Queries and contrasts’ could be equated to deep inquiry questions
which help to provoke learners. Within a Primary Years Program (PYP)
these can be related to the lines of inquiry or key teacher questions.
These are always very important parts of unit planning and, subsequently,
engaging the children into a unit of work.
‘Devices’ quite simply, can be the visual tools or hands on engagements
which help learners deep dive into a unit of work. The breadth of these
tools will help all learners to begin their thinking about a unit of work.
Also, by having a range of tools, equipment and engagements - teachers
will support children with different learning styles.
This study source was downloaded by 100000861168648 from CourseHero.com on 04-03-2023 12:47:49 GMT -05:00
https://www.coursehero.com/file/113206515/educ-5220-discussion-5-1docx/
instruction is concerned, the instructor should try and encourage students
to discover principles by themselves. The instructor and student should
engage in an active dialog (i.e., socratic learning). The task of the
instructor is to translate information to be learned into a format
appropriate to the learner’s current state of understanding. Curriculum
should be organized in a spiral manner so that the student continually
builds upon what they have already learned.” (Culatta, 2021)
In order for learners to build on their learning, units of work needed to
be developed. Bruner (1965) stated that a unit consists of the elements of
which the course is made. He declared that a unit is a body of materials
and exercises that may occupy as much as several days of class time or
as little as half a class period. The sections of a unit which he believed
were important in the structure of the unit are:
1. Talks to teachers
2. Queries and contrasts
3. Devices
4. Model exercises
5. Documentaries
6. Supplementary materials
These terms used by Bruner would likely not be ones that are shared
around the coffee machine in schools these days. However, the core
understanding of what they are continues to exist within the substance of
a unit of study. In order to understand whether the parts are still prevalent
within classrooms today, the best way forward is to ‘translate’ the terms
and bring them into the ‘modern’ terminology used by educators.
‘Talks to teachers’ refers to the understanding of the importance of a
unit of work. Coming from an International Baccalaureate (IB) background,
I would equate this to the Central Idea of a unit. Basically, what is the key
conceptual learning that teachers want the children to take away from a
unit of study.
‘Queries and contrasts’ could be equated to deep inquiry questions
which help to provoke learners. Within a Primary Years Program (PYP)
these can be related to the lines of inquiry or key teacher questions.
These are always very important parts of unit planning and, subsequently,
engaging the children into a unit of work.
‘Devices’ quite simply, can be the visual tools or hands on engagements
which help learners deep dive into a unit of work. The breadth of these
tools will help all learners to begin their thinking about a unit of work.
Also, by having a range of tools, equipment and engagements - teachers
will support children with different learning styles.
This study source was downloaded by 100000861168648 from CourseHero.com on 04-03-2023 12:47:49 GMT -05:00
https://www.coursehero.com/file/113206515/educ-5220-discussion-5-1docx/
