100th birthday of Jerome Bruner

2015-05-bruner

We are currently celebrating the 100th anniversary of one of the most prominent scholars who has always shown a deep concern on education and its topics. Leader of the cognitive revolution and, recently, the cultural revolution, Jerome Bruner (1915 – ) is a necessary voice who always we should take into account.

“Education is not and should not be devoted exclusively to the transmission of established knowledge. It should also dedicate itself to cultivating awareness of the human condition and to generating skill in understanding the nature and sources of knowledge. That is to say, education is not only about mastering content, but also about gaining insight into the nature of knowing and understanding. Yes, I am saying that we should cultivate an appropriate epistemological sensitivity in our school children, an awareness concerning the processes involved in learning and thinking and not just in the finished products that we call a curriculum. It is absurd to say that children are not capable of understanding such matters. Their spontaneous play activities are full of explorations of the possible, of what might be and why it sometimes is and sometimes isn’t. I strongly urge that we cultivate that sense of the possible in our educational practices.” (Bruner, 2012, p. 12)

Bruner, J. (2012). What Psychology Should Study. International Journal of Educational Psychology, 1(1), 5-13. doi: 10.4471/ijep.2012.01

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Tags