1. Jerome Seymar Bruner (1915-till today) Is an American psychologist and one of the pioneers of cognitive psychology movement in USA. He is called “the grand old man” of American learning and cognitive research and theory. He received his B.A in 1937 from Duke University, PH.D in 1941 from Harvard University. He acts as a researcher, developer and debater of learning and education. Bruner is currently a researcher at the New York school of Law. After the set up of the first satellite from Russia, Bruner was asked to fundamentally reconstruct the American school system. His books : “The Process of Education”, “Toward a Theory of Instruction”,“The Reference of Education” and “The Culture of Education” laid the groundwork of a science-centered curriculum and summarize the understanding of learning and education as a cultural developing process. (Illeris,2009 ;Wikipedia,2015)

2. KEY THEORY “A lesson can be taught effectively in any child, regardless of the stage of development. It is sufficient to use the “language” that he/she understands”.(Bruner,1960) He is one of the most important theorists of constructivism. His key theory comes to a conflict with Piaget’s theory. He agrees in a few points with Vygotsky.

3. Bruner’s educational ideas The child understands and explains the world with specific and characteristic way. The Spiral curriculum (Bruner,1971). Three stages in cognitive development: a)enactive representation :The child at this stage acquires perception of things through motor actions. (Similar to Piaget’s sensory motor stage) b)iconic representation : Representation of things through internal mental images and c)symbolic representation: The upper stage of cognitive development. The child can acknowledge, analyze and construct theories (Bruner, 1966). Learning should not be limited only to the learning of specific cognitive elements (ibid). Discovery learning (Bruner,1961). Scaffolding (Bruner,1978).

4. The three stages Enactive Representation Iconic Representation Symbolic Representation Representation of arithmetic 1 + 1 = 2 1+1=2 One plus one equals two

5. Spiral Curriculum The spiral curriculum is based on the development of theories and issues in various school levels. At the beginning the student learns something in a simple form and then returns to the same issue at a more advanced level. Fundamentals studied again and again with more complexity and deeper analysis.

6. Discovery Learning Gives opportunities for the student to solve problem situations. The student experiments. Private investigation. Pros: 1) The student increases his/her cognitive abilities, 2) increases the expectation level of success and 3) is able to think and develop cognitive strategies and creative thinking. Conclusion: The student remembers everything he/she learns because he/she has coded his/her learning in his/her own way. The student can solve real problems easier. (Bruner,1971)

7. The child's learning is influenced by many factors: learning readiness, motivation, general mental abilities, knowing strategies in problem solving and how are organized the information in cognitive structure of the individual.

9. Example Subject: Geography. Teacher: 1) Gives students maps that show the physical characteristics of a region (temperature, amount of rainfall, winds, areas of natural resources, water resources etc.) 2) Invites them to consider issues such as the most appropriate location for the capital, which may be the economic activities of the residents etc. 3) Gives them maps to the actual situation for comparison. Finally, it should be noted that the teacher’s role is: animator, facilitator and mentor.

10. Scaffolding Wood, Bruner and Ross were the first who used the term scaffolding.(Wood et al., 1976). They conducted a research and described how tutors interacted with preschoolers to help them solve a block reconstruction problem. Adults help students focus on the elements of the activity that could not discover and solve without help. Bruner (2006) highlights the playful side of the learning process, because that children feel free to make mistakes and actively involved in the problematic situation.

11. Bruner vs. Piaget Bruner disagrees with Piaget The stages of cognitive development interact The symbolic stage does not replace modes of the other stages Development is a continuous process Language is a cause not a consequence It is possible to speed up cognitive development The involvement with peers and with adult can make the difference Scaffolding Child understands every complex information at every stage Bruner agrees with Piaget Cognitive development Active participation of children in the learning process Their curiosity is natural Cognitive development in stages

12. Implications in a Macro-Level Conflict: Does the educational system promote effective learning and reinforce students to want to learn? Allows investigations?( Access and compare information). The answer to the conflict: The spiral curriculum as a theoretical model in teaching activities. The teacher should present the issues he wants to teach in a way that the student understands and sees the world. The school should contribute to the social and emotional education of child. He has influenced the educational system and the language teaching.

13. Implications in a Micro-Level Although many educators have attempted to apply the Bruner's views on teaching practice. Scaffolding: 1)the teachers acts as a model or simplifies the tasks(cognitive support), 2)teacher and pupils talking, 3)reminding and reinforce rehearsal,4) reinforce the active role of student Formats and Routines:1) Create a routine context in the classroom so as to develop language skills, 2) teachers reading stories to students, 3) real problem-solving situations.

14. Pros and Cons Pros: 1.Assimilate what they learn. 2.Students develop search skills and data processing. 3.Grown disposal for research and creative learning. 4.Learn necessary knowledge and discovering the relations connecting them. 5.Acquire discovery experience. 6.Acquire enthusiasm for discovery. Cons: Challenging the teaching ability of any course at any age. E.g. Can a student of first-graders learn differential meditation or understand philosophical concepts? The theory requires increased cognitive abilities (not suitable for all children especially for children with learning difficulties). Extensive preparation. Special materials. Time consuming. It can lead to wrong conclusions (Koliadis, 2007).

15. Conclusion Teachers should avoid teaching in dialectical form because students memorize information but do not understand the basic principles and thus not correlate with previous knowledge or apply them to new problem situations.

16. REFERENCES Bruner, J. (1960) The Process of Education. New York: Vintage Books. Bruner, J. (1961) The Art of Discovery. Harvard Educational Review, 31, Winter, pp.21-32. Bruner, J. (1966) Studies in Cognitive Growth. New York: Wiley, pp.1-34. Bruner, J. (1971) The Relevance of Education. New York: Norton. Bruner, J. (1978) The role of dialogue in language acquisition. New York: Springer- Verlag. Bruner, J. (2006) In search of pedagogy: The selected works of Jerome S.Bruner. Vol 2. London, New York: Routledge. Illeris, K. (2009) ‘Culture, mind, and education’, in Illeris, R. (ed.) Contemporary theories of learning, learning theorists…in their own words. London and New York: Routledge Taylor and Francis Group, pp.159-168. Koliadis, E. (2007) Theories of learning and educational practice.Athens: Koliadis Emmanuel. Wikipedia (2015) Jerome Bruner. Available at: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerome _Bruner (Accessed : 30 March 2015). Wood, D., Bruner, J. and Ross, G. (1976) The role of tutoring in problem solving. Journal of child psychiatry and psychology,17(2), pp.89-100.