BRUNER’S AND GARDNER’S

THEORIES OF CHILDHOOD

By: Dedy Apriyadi and

Evi Marfianti

WHO IS JAROME BRUNER?

Jerome Bruner was born on October 1,

1915 in New York, to Heman and Rose

Bruner, who immigrated from Poland. He

received a bachelor's degree in psychology,

in 1937 from Duke University. Bruner went

on to earn a master's degree in psychology

in 1939 and then a doctorate in psychology

in 1941 from Harvard University.

Bruner is one of the pioneers of the

cognitive psychology movement in the

United States.

BRUNER THEORIESAccording to Bruner, the child’s cognitive structures mature with age as a result of which the child can think and organize material in increasingly complex ways. 

Children are also seen as naturally inquisitive, thirsty for knowledge and understanding.  The child naturally adapts to its environment and abstract thinking develops through action.

1. ENACTIVE (FIRST YEAR) The child has little in the way

of mental faculties so ‘thinking

is a physical action.’ 

Knowledge is what the child

can manipulate or do with

movements, for example tying

knots, pointing etc.  In later life

the enactive mode will allow

riding a bike, swimming,

driving a car and so on.

2. ICONIC (SECOND YEAR)For the first time the child has

mental images that allow it to

retain pictures after the stimulus

has gone.  Drawing is now

possible. 

These icons or images are built

up from past experience and

based on a number of exposures

to similar objects and events.

3. SYMBOLIC (SIX OR SEVEN YEARS ONWARDS)

For Bruner, symbols include words

(language), music, numbers and so on. 

Anything we use to symbolize something

else. 

The precise timing of this one depends

on the child, particularly its language

ability.  For the first time the child can

categorise, think logically and solve

problems.

WHO IS HOWARD GARDNER?

Howard Earl Gardner (born July 11, 1943) is an

American developmental psychologist who is the John

H. and Elisabeth A. Hobbs Professor of Cognition and

Education at the Harvard Graduate School of

Education at Harvard University, Senior Director of

Harvard Project Zero and author of over twenty books

translated into thirty languages. Since 1995, he has

been the co-director of the Good Work Project. He is

best known for his theory of multiple intelligences, as

outlined in his book Frames of Mind: The Theory of

Multiple Intelligences (1983). He received the Prince of

Asturias Award 2011 in Social Sciences for the

development of this theory.

WHO IS HOWARD GARDNER?

Gardner's theory of multiple

intelligences states not only do

human beings have several different

ways of learning and processing

information, but these methods are

relatively independent of one another:

leading to multiple "intelligences" as

opposed to a general intelligence

factor among correlated abilities.

GARDNER’S THEORIES

GARDNER’S THEORIES

1. Linguistic intelligence involves sensitivity to

spoken and written language, the ability to learn

languages, and the capacity to use language to

accomplish certain goals. This intelligence

includes the ability to effectively use language to

express oneself rhetorically or poetically; and

language as a means to remember information.

Writers, poets, lawyers and speakers are among

those that Howard Gardner sees as having high

linguistic intelligence.

GARDNER’S THEORIES

2. Logical-mathematical

intelligence consists of the capacity to

analyze problems logically, carry out

mathematical operations, and investigate

issues scientifically. In Howard Gardner's

words, it entails the ability to detect patterns,

reason deductively and think logically. This

intelligence is most often associated with

scientific and mathematical thinking.

GARDNER’S THEORIES

3. Musical intelligence involves skill in the

performance, composition, and

appreciation of musical patterns. It

encompasses the capacity to recognize

and compose musical pitches, tones, and

rhythms. According to Howard Gardner

musical intelligence runs in an almost

structural parallel to linguistic intelligence.

GARDNER’S THEORIES

4. Bodily-kinesthetic

intelligence entails the potential of

using one's whole body or parts of the

body to solve problems. It is the ability

to use mental abilities to coordinate

bodily movements. Howard Gardner

sees mental and physical activity as

related.

GARDNER’S THEORIES

5. Spatial intelligence involves the potential to

recognize and use the patterns of wide space and

more confined areas.

6. Interpersonal intelligence is concerned with

the capacity to understand the intentions,

motivations and desires of other people. It allows

people to work effectively with others. Educators,

salespeople, religious and political leaders and

counsellors all need a well-developed

interpersonal intelligence.

GARDNER’S THEORIES

7. Intrapersonal intelligence entails

the capacity to understand oneself, to

appreciate one's feelings, fears and

motivations. In Howard Gardner's view it

involves having an effective working

model of ourselves, and to be able to

use such information to regulate our

lives.

GARDNERS’S THEORIES

ARE THERE

ADDITIO

NAL

INTELL

IGENCES?

ADDITIONAL INTELLIGENCES

1. Naturalist intelligence enables

human beings to recognize, categorize

and draw upon certain features of the

environment. It 'combines a description

of the core ability with a

characterization of the role that many

cultures value.

ADDITIONAL INTELLIGENCES

2. The case for inclusion of naturalist intelligence

appears pretty straight forward, the position with

regard to SPIRITUAL INTELLIGENCE is far more

complex. According to Howard Gardner there are

problems, for example, around the 'content' of

spiritual intelligence, its privileged but

unsubstantiated claims with regard to truth

value, 'and the need for it to be partially

identified through its effect on other people'.

ADDITIONAL INTELLIGENCES

3. Existential intelligence, a concern with

'ultimate issues', is, thus, the next

possibility that Howard Gardner considers -

and he argues that it 'scores reasonably

well on the criteria. However, empirical

evidence is sparse - and although a ninth

intelligence might be attractive, Howard

Gardner is not disposed to add it to the list.

ADDITIONAL INTELLIGENCES

4. The final, and obvious, candidate for

inclusion in Howard Gardner's list

is moral intelligence. In his

exploration, he begins by asking

whether it is possible to delineate the

'moral domain

CONCLUSION

Writer didn’t try to find which one the right

theories of them. But writer just compared

two of both famous theories and enrich

knowledge about human psychology to help

our designing course in English learning

especially for the young learners. In short,

this paper might help us to make the

strategies and resolve problems of learning

and teaching English for the young learners.

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