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Dr.
Bruner was born in New York City in 1915, and
earned his Ph.D. in psychology in 1941. It
was there that he pioneered the cognitive psychology
movement in the United States. He studied how the mind perceives and
functions. He
later used his findings to answer the question: how do
we learn? One
of Dr. Bruner’s first experiments found that how children perceive the size of
coins is
directly related to how valuable they perceive them to be. This
study is named: “Value and Need as
Organizing Values in Perception.”
In
1957, the Russians launched the first man made object into space; The Sputnik satellite. Americans were desperate to keep up in the technology race and turned to education reforms. For Dr. Bruner, this was a great opportunity and this set the course for much of his career. In the early 1960s, Dr. Bruner participated in committees addressing education reform. His studies in psychology gave him a unique perspective.
In 1963, he published his first
book titled
“The Process of Education.” His unique perspective on the human mind allowed
him to construct lesson plans around how we learn. The main argument of the book is that
learning is an active process not an inactive one.
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From 1965 to present day, Dr. Bruner has continued his research. He has written several more books dedicated to education and has participated in many studies. Dr. Bruner helped to start programs such as Title One and Head Start which are intended to help less fortunate children. He also continues his work in the field of developmental psychology, and in the 1980s, he wrote a book regarding how children learn complex language.
Recently, president Barrack Obama has proclaimed that the nation has reached another “Sputnik moment.” Perhaps, Dr. Bruner, or his work, is again to play a role in the advancement of the educational process.
"Education must, be not only a transmission of culture but also a provider of alternative views of the world and a strengthener of the will to explore them."- Dr. Jerome Bruner
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