After the so-called ‘cognitive revolution’ in the 1950s, and the rise of the social sciences, the idea of learning became central to the study of human development. Jerome Bruner, who worked closely with Jean Piaget, suggested that the child develops both in isolation (from birth) and in social contexts. Bruner, however, disagreed that there were distinct stages of intellectual development, instead highlighting the importance of culture and history in guiding development.
In contrast to traditional textbooks, where learning proceeds linearly through an ordered sequence of topics, Bruner believed that learners acquire knowledge through a scaffolding process. He proposed that children begin with simple concepts and move on to more complex ones, building on prior knowledge until they reach higher levels of understanding. This means that children do not necessarily start at the beginning of a topic, nor must they understand every concept immediately. They may work backward in order to make sense of new concepts and integrate them into existing knowledge. For example, if a child learns about the properties of triangles, she may then apply those ideas to the more complicated shapes such as circles or squares. By returning to foundational principles before moving on to more complex topics, Bruner hoped that children would develop a deep understanding of the subject matter, rather than being taught superficial facts.
