Cognitive Construction

Dr. Bruner's work is somewhat unique in its breadth and effect. Branching from cognitive psychology to educational theory and practice, he had a profound effect not only on theoretical advances in those fields, but also set the foundation for many of today's educational policies and practices. On a general level, you have to admire his ability to integrate cognitive science with the motivational factors that influence learning, as well as the educational processes that best foster it. From theory to practice to policy … truly completing the intellectual cycle.

If I had to distill his work to a favorite (and practical) concept, I might hone in on his concept of a spiral curriculum. Brunner believed in building knowledge in learners by revisiting concepts at predetermined intervals, and allowing the learner to apply existing knowledge to challenging new dilemmas. He suggested, "A curriculum as it develops should revisit this basic ideas repeatedly, building upon them until the student has grasped the full formal apparatus that goes with them."

I'm guessing all teachers have experienced the blank stares from their students when you uttered the phrase, "You'll recall from your class last year with …."; so blank you'd think they hadn't even attended the same school! I believe that problem is, in part, a natural outgrowth of teaching a concept at its appointed "level," washing our hands of it, and considering it cognitive mission accomplished. In contrast, Bruner believed that learners were able to grasp certain elements of complex concepts much earlier in their education. After that, instructors should circle back to the earlier concept, refresh it and allow the student to apply the concept to the new learning event. In that way, the original concept is refreshed at intervals and used to build even more complex learning structures.

Thought of this way, a spiral curricula suggests one of the concepts Bruner is most known for, scaffolding. In this approach, the learner develops new skills and knowledge with the help and active support of the instructor or another adult. As the learner develops comfort with new knowledge, and becomes more independent in their ability to deploy that knowledge, support of the instructor/adult can be gradually reduced.

From a practical standpoint, a spiral curricula places an integrative burden on departments. Instead of thinking of a concept as "covered in 9th grade," the department needs to think of the concept as organic, needing to be "fully developed by the time they graduate." Crucial learning outcomes need first to be deconstructed into elemental phases. Then, the appropriate learning activities need to be developed and loosely sequenced to help the student experience repeated and increasingly complex applications of the previous learning outcomes. In the end, for Bruner, learning via spiraling will lead to a more profound ability to deploy robust knowledge structures when solving complex problems.

"Learning becomes an anytime, anywhere activity."

The term ubiquitous learning has been attached to the work of Nicholas Burbules, referring to the intersection of mobile technology and teaching/learning activities. In essence, the burgeoning access to mobile technology has begun to decouple data access and learning activities from the traditional classroom, giving rise to a kind of school on wi-fi metaphor.

The immediate implication of Prof. Burbules views is that the formal school as we know it may need to be rethought. Do we need bricks and mortar to "deliver" learning, or is a school better thought of as a knowledge organizer and developer, whose product is the delivery of a curated online educational interaction.

On another level, his view of ubiquitous learning suggests that learning is an ongoing and portable experience. No longer bound by the 32 chairs in a classroom, educators need to realize that mobile technology allows learning to be situate and restated continuously. This means that teachers have access to boundless situations within which to embed educational opportunity. infinitely expanding upon Lave's conception of situated learning.

Burbles has put his finger on the means by which the physical aspect of education is changing … technology allows learning to occur anytime, anywhere. But that also means that we can teach anytime, anywhere. Ubiquity presents a challenge to us as teachers, but also a boundless opportunity. Prof. Burbules' concept of ubiquitous learning is that rarity, a concept that shifts a paradigm.

Freire is a true champion of the view that education is an activity that blossoms within and acts to change the very social setting within which it occurs. From this duality, Freire gave voice to the concept of critical pedagogy, the notion that learners necessarily construct knowledge from their own social reality, but also bear the responsibility of directing that new knowledge to constructive change of their social reality. Participants in knowledge creation must, as he says, "link knowledge to action."

Freire's Pedagogy of the Oppressed remains his most recognizable contribution to educational literature. IN this text, Freire offers a metaphor of the "banking" approach to education, i.e. treating students as bank accounts to which teachers deposit information for later withdrawl. Rather, Friere posits that knowledge seekers benefit from active engagement with others in problem posing and problem solving. In this manner, Freire believes learners socially construct knowledge that frees them from the oppression of institutional information banking.

Freire is just a wonder in his ability to weave social consciousness, political theory, ethical action, and educational theory into a dense and articulate fabric. If you want (and you should!), you can listen to the man himself here.

"While the trainer focuses only on the trainee’s performance, the teacher must be concerned with what goes on in the student’s head. The teacher must listen to the student, interpret what the student does and says, and try to build up a “model” of the student’s conceptual structures."

Without question, von Glasersfeld is best known for developing the construct of "Radical Constructivism." At its heart, Radical Constructivism brings two critical elements to the study of constructivism. First, learning does not arise simply through an individual's interaction with their environment (which includes others in their environment). Rather, knowledge is constructed from an individual's attempt to find a viable solution to a problem or situation posed by their interaction. That is to say, knowledge is constructed as a vehicle for, and developed from, an attempt to adapt to one's environment.

Secondly, von Glaserstfeld postulates that while on can memorize the existence of facts or objects, knowledge is not objective in the sense that one gains cognitive appreciation of an object or fact. As he states, "one can no longer maintain that the cognizing activity should or could produce a true representation of an objective world." For von Glasersfeld, knowledge comprises the individual's subjective representation of an experience and the construction of an individuals perception of a viable adaptation to his environmental experience … "what goes on in the student's head."

von Glasersfeld's work suggests to me the need to always remember that there can be more than one way to reach a given outcome. If we posit that knowledge is built by the active interaction of the learner with her environment, we must also recognize that each individual experiences environments in different ways. Even two learners working together need to first apprehend the environment they face, and then apprehend the way in which they communicate with one another about that environment. If the environment is differentially perceived, and communication is subject to differential interpretation, two individuals can be seen to arrive at a common adaptation to a problem even if they construct that solution with differing cognitive structures. So, if you want your students to show you their work at arriving at a desired answer, don't forget that their approach may be different than yours, but just as efficacious. Asses whether their cognitive approach is viable, not just that it matches yours.

You ay be interested to see von Glasersfeld discuss how he views Radical Constructivism and teaching practices. You'll find a 10-minute video here, although it is a bit light on the Radical Constructivism part. Still, it is always helpful to hear profound words from the speaker himself.

When determining Knowles' signature contribution to my views on teaching, I am torn between his views on self-directed learning and his efforts to fully developing the concept of andragogy. In the end, my experiences with teaching MBAs led me to hone in on andragogy, principally because of the flexibility it calls for when teaching mixed-experienced classes.

Knowles' foundation for andragogy is based upon five foundational views of the difference between adult learners and non-adult learners. These differences can be summarized as follows:

1. individuals become more self-directed as they mature
2. as a person matures, they develop a tool-box of experiences that provide more resources for learning
3. adult learners become more oriented toward learning associated with their professional and social roles
4. mature learners are more oriented toward immediate application of specific learning as opposed to delayed application of general knowledge
5. the motivation to learn becomes internalized as the learner matures

Knowles' views , and their impact on teaching strategy, were brought home to me when teaching a class on Quality Management ("QM") to a group of MBAs. Nearly ⅔ of the class were recent undergrads, all of whom lacked any general managerial experience, and certainly any experience with QM techniques. A handful of the class had meaningful management experience, but little in the way of QM. Then there were the three students who were all certified at various levels in Six Sigma, a particular form of QM.

It became apparent that a general approach to teaching QM, along with a set of undifferentiated outcomes, just wouldn't work for the class. The three Six Sigma experts needed little guidance in that field, but could use help extending their knowledge into other branches of QM. In addition, they were far more knowledgeable than me in the application of technique, and so could become a great learning resource for the rest of the class. The handful of experienced managers clearly wanted to learn the aspects of QM that they could take back to their jobs, echoing Knowles' view of adult learners being more oriented toward their social roles. Finally, the balance of the class was open to any and all knowledge of QM, with varying degrees of interest and aptitude. Lacking most of the characteristics of Knowles' adult learners, they were, for all intents and purposes, not adult learners.

We ripped up the syllabus, set up some teams comprising inexperienced and experienced MBAs, established a "mentorship" role for the three Six Sigma experts, and reoriented the work toward hands-on practical situations. It worked out great, and really put Knowles' view of andragogy and the distinction between adult and non-adult learners into perspective.

The side note: it reminded me of why I try never to write a complete syllabus until I get to know something about the students. Different stages of life … different needs … different learning approaches.

I consider Lave's principal contribution to learning theories to be her challenge to the idea that learning must occur in a traditional setting, i.e. classroom. Lave considers learning to grow as an exchange of experience situated in context, culture, and social activity. In keeping with mainstream constructivists, Lave believes that meaning does arise from social interaction, but that it is best constructed when activity and interaction is situated in a relevant setting, i.e, situated learning.

Many of Lave's views stem from her ethnographic research on a community of tailors in West Africa. Grounded in her observation of the interaction among master and apprentice workers in that community, she suggests that learners advance in communities of activity, first as newcomers on the periphery of the community. As they progress and engage in a given domain, they develop deeper understanding of the domain, moving toward becoming an expert in that area of knowledge. This process has been described by Lave as "legitimate peripheral participation."

Lave's contribution offers us insight into the process by which learners blossom in a community of interaction. We see that as teachers, we best help learners by encouraging social structures that allow progress toward expertise through meaningful social interaction in relevant situations, or "embodied practice." That can be done in a classroom, but the classroom does not always provide the best situation for learning.

You can see Lave describe her view of learning theory here. The video is 57 minutes long, but chock full of theoretical magic.

Lindeman's critical contribution to education revolves around his view of education as evolutionary in nature. While he subscribes to the notion that education is continuous and lifelong, he identifies a critical concept of an inflection point in the process. That inflection point coincides with a person transitioning from being educated about the world to being educated within the situations and experiences they enjoy by virtue of their adult interaction within the world.

In a sense, Lindeman gave voice to the idea that a more formal classroom approach to education did not serve adult learners well. Rather, they needed to be better attuned to the specific situations of their lives. In this vein, they needed to develop knowledge more attuned to the pattern of their specific lives and roles, "situations not subjects." Borrowing a term first used by the German educator, Eugene Rosenstock, Lindeman suggested that the traditional mode of teacher-led formal instruction, pedagogy, did not map well against the life-needs-driven educational imperatives of adult learners, or androgogy.

We can see some foreshadowing of Jean Lave's work in Lindeman's focus on the importance of experience and life situations in adult learning. Indeed, the notion that adult learners best develop knowledge in life-relevant situations is voiced again in Lave's conceptualization of situational learning.

In addition, Burbles' concept of ubiquitous learning suggests a more efficient path to learning may be available to adult learners in a multitude of real-life situations at the very point of the learner's lived experience. As technology allows more access to data, information, and learning applications, those of us who teach adult learners will be able to help the learner construct real-life, lived-situation learning on an ad-hoc and as needed basis. Lineman's view of andragogy will become even more critical as adult learners struggle to adapt to a new world of rapidly changing and globalized living experience.

Take your pick … Montessori's contributions to the field of education are legion. For me, though, her emphasis (or focus) on the environment of learning is paramount. Her classrooms were literally "constructed" to allow for free movement, exploration, and interaction among both students and artifacts.In this manner, Montessori was the first to demonstrate that the environment of learning can actually contribute to the depth of learning.; that “children use the environment to improve themselves.”

One stream of organizational resource, known as "resource dependency," suggests that organizations that control resources in their environment are more likely to prosper than those that lack access to critical resources. Organizations that are dependent upon another's control of the environment/resources are at a critical disadvantage. As such, the environment is a key determinant of an organization's ability to survive and prosper.

Montessori grasped the importance of the learning environment to the learner's potential to grow. She developed the idea of a Prepared Environment, focused on six critical aspects of cognitive growth: freedom of movement, structure and order, exposure to reality and nature, aesthetics and atmosphere, specific materials, and development of community interaction. "She considered a natural environment for the child to be one where everything is suitable for his age and growth, where possible obstacles to his development are removed, and where he is provided with the means to exercise his growing faculties.”

I think Morin's concept of complex thought resonates most with me. Much of my teaching revolves around analyses of decision making and strategy, so critical thinking is of paramount importance to my students. The idea that knowledge and learning is both informed by context and the interconnection of others' knowledge and schemata is a critical element of organizational decision making.

Morin also colors interconnectedness with the complexity of his dialogical principle. This principle holds that elements of a system or environment can at once be contradictory and complementary. Take, for instance, the concept of a cultural melting pot. Certain cultures may hold beliefs that are fundamentally at opposition with one another, yet manage to blend those differences into a unique cultural manifestation that builds from these differences.

I am also drawn to Morin's fondness for systems and system analysis. His unique contribution is the idea that the components of a system bring with them not only their own character, but the context from which they arise. Thus, knowledge systems that borrow from two distinct subsystems (or disciplines) can be greater that the sum of the individual parts because of the nuances that each field attaches to its own knowledge structures … a kind of cognitive synergy.

Finally, Morin's disdain for compartmentalization of knowledge is spot on. I find that students often have a hard time approaching problems from perspectives they have not "learned." This may be sufficient for a specialized application. However, such an approach is dangerous when confronted with a multi-faceted problem. Learning that benefits from the views of different, yet interconnected, fields can often provide a learner with a more robust solution to a given problem. And, this develops more complex knowledge structures that are applicable to more diverse learning, or experiential, environments.

“Papert's Principle: Some of the most crucial steps in mental growth are based not simply on acquiring new skills, but on acquiring new administrative ways to use what one already knows.”
Marvin Minsky, Society of Mind (1998)

It seems a safe bet that Papert's most recognizable contribution relates to the foundations Constructivism. A student/colleague of Piaget, Papert was a true constructivist, comfortable in the view of learning as building knowledge structures. However, he thought that knowledge that helped on know about something was insufficient; true knowledge arose from knowing what to do with that knowledge. Papers describes his view in the introduction to his classic Mindstorms. Children, Computers and Powerful Ideas:

“Piaget's work gave me a new framework for looking at the gears of my childhood. The gear can be used to illustrate many powerful "advanced" mathematical ideas, such as groups or relative motion. But it does more than this. As well as connecting with the formal knowledge of mathematics, it also connects with the "body knowledge," the sensorimotor schemata of a child. You can be the gear, you can understand how it turns by projecting yourself into its place and turning with it. It is this double relationship--both abstract and sensory--that gives the gear the power to carry powerful mathematics into the mind. In a terminology I shall develop in later chapters, the gear acts here as a transitional object."

There are a few interesting ideas to unpack in this quote. First, Papert alludes to the idea that advanced concepts can be known through the gear. For Papert, he flips Paiget a bit on his head. Constructivists believe that the construction of abstract knowledge represents learning. For Papert, abstract knowledge helps understand the gear; the abstract precedes our knowledge of the concrete, and allowing "powerful mathematics into the mind." Secondly, Papert alludes to the child grasping advanced mathematical ideas through the manipulation of a concrete item, a gear. Like Bruner, Papert believes that children are capable of much and at nearly age. He also hints at Bruner's concept of a spiral curriculum, suggesting that knowledge of the gear carries into the mind, connecting the learning to higher order concepts, which can be used to understand the "body knowledge." Thus, the learner can be brought into increasingly complex learning situations through repeated updating of schemata.

The final idea to unpack is the key idea, I think. Papert refers in this quote to "transitional objects." It is the object that allows the learner to connect abstract to concrete, to carry knowledge into the mind. Knowledge structures for Papert are manifest not in mental abstraction, but in the form of constructions, or objects. He described these objects as public entities. These public entities were described by Kafai and Resnick (1996) as the "making some type of artifact - be it a robot, a poem, a sand castle, or a computer program - which they can reflect upon and share with others". Herein lies the transitional object from constructivism to constructionism … knowledge structures represent schemata manifest in the production of an artifact by the learner. For Papert, then, "The simplest definition of constructionism evokes the idea of learning-by-making."

It is difficult to pick a single contribution from the works of such a broad life of scholarship. I'm tempted by Rosenstock-Huessy's vibrant depiction of linguistics being more than speech; that speech is in essence the characteristic of knowledge. I mean, this is just magical: “We try by speaking to communicate our experience of the universe to our fellow men; by listening, reading, learning, we try to get hold of their experience of the universe. To speak means to reenact cosmic processes so that these processes may reach others.”

As teacher of adults, though, I think his greatest contribution has to be providing the framework to support Kapp's foundation of andragogy. Rosenstock-Huessy viewed learning as action … for it to matter, it had to allow the learner to act or do that which was required. His experience with adult learners is that framework. Adult learners need to find their way in society. Thus, learning that matters for an adult is the production of knowledge necessary to accomplish societal tasks. And this, I think, separates pedagogy, the building of conceptaual schemas, from andragogy, the construction of deployable knowledge relevant in an individual's societal activity.

Clearly, Vygotsky's contributions rest upon the foundation of the role social interaction plays in the construction of knowledge. For me, his crowning achievement was not just the identification of the importance of social interaction, but the articulation of how a particular form of social interaction strengthens the structure of knowledge creation … proximal development.

Vygotsky's concept of the Zone of Proximal Development ("ZPD") provides an outline of the field within which the game of knowledge construction is to be played. Vygotsky describes ZPD as: "the distance between the actual developmental level as determined by independent problem solving and the level of potential development as determined through problem-solving under adult guidance, or in collaboration with more capable peers."

This reliance upon more capable peers really turns the relationship between teacher and learner on its head. Traditionally, one thinks of the teacher as the resident expert, and thus the more capable person, if not peer, in the classroom. However, is Vygotsky is right, the teacher may be able to amplify learning by aligning students with direct peers that can share knowledge in a way that boosts the learning of the "less knowledgeable" peer. Or, consider the use of technology to bring other experts into the learning episode by way of the internet. Connectivism revolves around the idea that the learner's environment is not bound by the classroom or the individuals in close proximity. A marriage of Vygotsky's Zone of Proximal Development with a connected learning environment opens the door to a literal virtual world of more knowledgeable others, magnifying the opportunity to learn by way of virtual social interaction.