(Special Issue) A Theoretical Inquiry Into Bruner’s Conception of the Child: On Children’s Cognitive Development and Cultural Construction
Author: Yuan Sun (Center for Teacher Education, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China. School of Education, Suzhou University of Science and Technology, Suzhou, China)
Vol.&No.：Vol. 71, No. 1
Date：March 2026
Pages：129-156
DOI：https://doi.org/10.6209/JORIES.202603_71(1).0005
Abstract：
Research Motivation and Purpose
Since the early twentieth century, research on children within psychology and education has expanded rapidly. Yet much of this work has remained confined to empirical investigations of cognition and behavior, neglecting the humanistic dimension that views the child as a creator of culture and meaning. Jerome Bruner, through his critical reflections on behaviorism and information-processing theory, sought to reconstruct psychology as a holistic discipline that integrates philosophy, anthropology, and linguistics. His central concern was to explore the factual conditions, developmental possibilities, and normative values of the child’s mind. In doing so, Bruner crossed the conventional boundary between psychology and educational philosophy, opening a theoretical pathway that moves from the facts of the child toward the meanings of the child.
This study aims to elucidate the internal logic that connects the development of the child’s cognition with the formation of the cultural world, thereby revealing Bruner’s integral conception of childhood as a mode of being. More specifically, it addresses four interrelated questions: (1) the possibilities of children’s cognitive development; (2) the goals of such development; (3) the modes or processes by which it unfolds; and (4) the educational conditions that support it. Ultimately, this paper seeks to reconstruct the theoretical architecture underlying Bruner’s conception of the child.
Literature Review
Previous studies on Bruner have primarily focused on his cognitive theory, curriculum design, and narrative thought. However, few have systematically examined how he understood the fundamental questions of who the child is and how the child becomes human. Bruner’s intellectual trajectory reveals his effort to transcend disciplinary limitations by situating psychology within a comprehensive framework of culture and meaning. He argued that learning is not a mere sequence of stimuli and responses, but a culturally mediated process of meaning construction.
Adopting a hermeneutic approach, this paper interprets Bruner’s conception of the child through close analysis of his major works (1960-2006), together with autobiographical and biographical sources, in order to reveal the coherence and transformation of his thought across different periods.
Research Methodology
The study employs a hermeneutic method, adopting a retrospective strategy– interpreting Bruner’s early theories through the lens of his later writings– to trace the continuity and transformation of his ideas. The research combines close textual reading, conceptual analysis, and contextual interpretation within the intellectual history of twentieth-century psychology and education.
Based on these methods, the study constructs a four-layered analytical framework encompassing: (1) cognitive possibilities, (2) developmental goals, (3) modes of learning, and (4) educational supports. This framework enables a holistic understanding that integrates cognitive development with cultural construction, while also engaging critically with existing theoretical paradigms.
Finding 1: The Possibility of Cognitive Development
Bruner viewed the child not only as a learner of disciplinary knowledge and structure, endowed with the innate ability to encode experience, but also as a constructor of culture and meaning. He identified four congenital cognitive predispositions that make this possible: (1) means–ends readiness, (2) social interactivity, (3) systematicity, and (4) abstractness. These predispositions form the basis for both the discovery of knowledge structures and the creation of shared meaning within cultural contexts.
Finding 2: Cultural Positioning and the Formation of Citizenship
The development of the child’s cognition unfolds within cultural contexts. For Bruner, the goal of education is to promote well-balanced development– a dynamic equilibrium between reason and emotion, individuality and community. The child is simultaneously a newcomer to the cultural world and a co-creator in the negotiation of meaning. Education, therefore, should not merely transmit culture but engage children as participants in its continual reconstruction.
Learning, in this sense, constitutes the fundamental mode through which children both enter into and contribute to the making of the cultural world. Bruner distinguished two complementary modes of learning: discovery learning and narrative learning. The former leads to the formation of knowledge structures, while the latter produces cultural meaning. Through the personalization of knowledge and narrative practice, children transform experience into cultural understanding, engaging in a dialogical process between self and world. Learning, thus conceived, stands at the intersection of epistemology and hermeneutics– knowing becomes an act of interpreting and re-storying the world.
Finding 3: Play as the Core of Cognitive and Cultural Construction
Bruner viewed play as the central mode through which children construct mind and culture, not merely a pastime or teaching aid. Play is a “safe” space for exploration, enabling children to experiment, err, and imagine freely while shifting among enactive, iconic, and symbolic representations– from doing to thinking to speaking. It fuses freedom and structure, serving as the arena for tentative thinking and hypothesis testing. This playfulness also infuses discovery and narrative learning: discovery learning embodies exploratory, open-ended inquiry, while narrative creates “possible worlds” where children reconfigure experience through storytelling. Across these forms, play expresses a spirit of freedom, curiosity, and creativity through which children generate meaning, integrate imagination with reality, and participate in the making of culture.
Finding 4: Educational Support and Mediation
From his early ideas of scaffolding and the spiral curriculum to his later emphasis on learning communities and cultural reform, Bruner consistently regarded education as a mediating mechanism linking cognitive development with cultural construction. Education must both unfold the potential of cognition and foster cultural understanding, enabling children to find balance between learning to understand and learning to coexist.
Conclusion and Suggestions for Future Research
Bruner’s conception of the child bridges psychology and philosophy, fact and value, cognition and culture. His work reveals that cognitive development is inseparable from the creation of meaning, and that education serves as the mediating field between individual becoming and collective renewal. Yet the tensions within his thought– between logic and story, reason and emotion, unity and diversity– invite ongoing reinterpretation. To carry Bruner’s vision forward, educational theory must move toward a more relational, pluralistic, and narrative understanding of human development– one that recognizes the child not merely as a learner of knowledge, but as a creator of culture and meaning in an ever-evolving world.
Building on these insights and limitations, future research can extend Bruner’s ideas in three directions: (1) Integrating an ethics of care– emphasizing the affective and relational dimensions of children’s development, and recognizing empathy and interdependence as central to learning. (2) Developing plural forms of subjectivity– reconceptualizing education as a space of coexistent difference, where cultural diversity and personal agency mutually affirm one another. (3) Expanding narrative thinking in the digital age– exploring narrative education and cultural co-creation in new media environments, where meaning-making becomes multimodal, participatory, and trans-cultural.
Keywords：Bruner, cognitive development, cultural construction, conception of the child
《Full Text》
References：李鵬程、羅媛（2024）。心理學與人類學的再聯結─布魯納文化心理學中的人類學經驗。心理學探新，44（1），3-10。
【Li, P.-C., & Luo, Y. (2024). Reconnecting psychology and anthropology– The anthropological experience in Jerome S. Bruner’s cultural psychology. Psychological Exploration, 44(1), 3-10.】
范曉燕（2012）。世界著名教育家：布魯納。北京師範大學。
【Fan, X. (2012). World-famous educators: Bruner. Beijing Normal University Press.】
孫圓（2017）。兒童觀的演進及其教育學考察。中國教育學刊，1，29-34。
【Sun, Y. (2017). The evolution on the view of children and it in perspective of pedagogy. Journal of the Chinese Society of Education, 1, 29-34.】
高博銓（2025）。J. Bruner的心智研究與認知革命。教育學刊，64，39-73。https://doi.org/10. 53106/156335272025060064002
【Kao, P.-C. (2025). J. Bruner’s mind research and cognitive revolution. Educational Review, 64, 39-73. https://doi.org/10.53106/156335272025060064002】
單文經、高博銓（2024）。釋《Bruner教育論著自選集》中1960年代八篇論文所揭示的課程與教學主張。教育研究集刊，70（1），103-142。https://doi.org/10.6384/CIQ.202410_27(4).0004
【Shan, W.-J., & Kao, P.-C. (2024). Explanation of the curriculum and instructional thoughts revealed in eight essays from the 1960s in “In search of Pedagogy: The selected works of Jerome. S. Bruner”. Bulletin of Educational Research, 70(1), 103-142. https://doi.org/10.6384/CIQ.202410_27(4).0004】
» More
一、中文文獻
李鵬程、羅媛（2024）。心理學與人類學的再聯結─布魯納文化心理學中的人類學經驗。心理學探新，44（1），3-10。
【Li, P.-C., & Luo, Y. (2024). Reconnecting psychology and anthropology– The anthropological experience in Jerome S. Bruner’s cultural psychology. Psychological Exploration, 44(1), 3-10.】
范曉燕（2012）。世界著名教育家：布魯納。北京師範大學。
【Fan, X. (2012). World-famous educators: Bruner. Beijing Normal University Press.】
孫圓（2017）。兒童觀的演進及其教育學考察。中國教育學刊，1，29-34。
【Sun, Y. (2017). The evolution on the view of children and it in perspective of pedagogy. Journal of the Chinese Society of Education, 1, 29-34.】
高博銓（2025）。J. Bruner的心智研究與認知革命。教育學刊，64，39-73。https://doi.org/10. 53106/156335272025060064002
【Kao, P.-C. (2025). J. Bruner’s mind research and cognitive revolution. Educational Review, 64, 39-73. https://doi.org/10.53106/156335272025060064002】
單文經、高博銓（2024）。釋《Bruner教育論著自選集》中1960年代八篇論文所揭示的課程與教學主張。教育研究集刊，70（1），103-142。https://doi.org/10.6384/CIQ.202410_27(4).0004
【Shan, W.-J., & Kao, P.-C. (2024). Explanation of the curriculum and instructional thoughts revealed in eight essays from the 1960s in “In search of Pedagogy: The selected works of Jerome. S. Bruner”. Bulletin of Educational Research, 70(1), 103-142. https://doi.org/10.6384/CIQ.202410_27(4).0004】
單文經、蔣美霞（2024）。綜述Bruner等人執行的兩項鷹架研究並探討其教學意涵。教育科學研究期刊，69（3），227-258。https://doi.org/10.6209/JORIES.202409_69(3).0008
【Shan, W.-J., & Jiang, M.-X. (2024). An overview of two studies on scaffolding in learning conducted by Bruner et al. and an exploration of their pedagogical implications. Journal of Educational Science Research, 69(3), 227-258. https://doi.org/10.6209/JORIES.202409_69(3).0008】
蔣美霞、羅逸平（2024）。J. Bruner論兒童的遊戲及其理解現實之道。教育實踐與研究，37（3），125-154。
【Jiang, M.-X., & Lo, Y.-P. (2024). J. Bruner on children’s play and their path to understanding reality. Journal of Educational Practice & Research, 37(3), 125-154.】
Aries, P.（2013）。兒童的世紀：舊制度下的兒童和家庭生活（沈堅、朱曉罕，譯）。北京大學出版社。（原著出版於1960年）
【Aries, P. (2013). Centuries of childhood: A social history of family life (J. Shen & X. Zhu, Trans.). Peking University Press. (Original work published 1960)】
Bruner, J. S.（2011）。教育文化（宋文里，譯）。載於布魯納教育文化觀（頁87-340）。首都師範大學出版社。（原著出版於1996年）
【Bruner, J. S. (2011). The culture of education (W. Song, Trans.). In Bruner’s view of education and culture (pp. 87-340). Capital Normal University Press. (Original work published 1996)】
Bruner, J. S.（2018）。教育的適合性（邵瑞珍，譯）。載於布魯納教育論著選（頁251-406）。人民教育。（原著出版於1973年）
【Bruner, J. S. (2018). The relevance of education (R. Shao, Trans.). In Selected educational writings of Jerome S. Bruner (pp. 251-406). People’s Education Press. (Original work published 1973)】
Bruner, J. S.（2018）。教育過程（邵瑞珍，譯）。載於布魯納教育論著選（頁1-82）。人民教育。（原著出版於1960年）
【Bruner, J. S. (2018). The process of education (R. Shao, Trans.). In Selected educational writings of Jerome S. Bruner (pp. 1-82). People’s Education Press. (Original work published 1960)】
Bruner, J. S.（2018）。教學論探討（張渭城等，譯）。載於布魯納教育論著選（頁83-249）。人民教育。（原著出版於1966年）
【Bruner, J. S. (2018). Toward a theory of instruction (W. Zhang et al., Trans.). In selected educational writings of Jerome S. Bruner (pp. 83-249). People’s Education Press. (Original work published 1966)】
Bruner, J. S.（2004）。論左手性思維：直覺能力、情感和自發性（彭正梅，譯）。上海人民。（原著出版於1962年）
【Bruner, J. S. (2004). On knowing: Essays for the left hand (Z. Peng, Trans.). Shanghai People. (Original work published 1962)】
Bruner, J. S.（2006）。故事的形成：法律、文學、生活（孫枚璐，譯）。教育科學。（原著出版於2002年）
【Bruner, J. S. (2006). Making stories: Law, literature, life (M. Sun, Trans.). Educational Science Press. (Original work published 2002)】
Bruner, J. S.（2008）。有意義的行為（魏志敏，譯）。吉林人民。（原著出版於1990年）
【Bruner, J. S. (2008). Acts of meaning (Z. Wei, Trans.). Jilin People. (Original work published 1990)】
Lancy, D. F.（2023）。童年人類學（李昕，譯）。北京師範大學出版社。（原著出版於2015年）
【Lancy, D. F. (2023). The anthropology of childhood (X. Li, Trans.). Beijing Normal University Press. (Original work published 2015)】
Olson, D.（2017）。羅傑姆˙布魯納（袁錫江、李慧明，譯）。黑龍江教育。（原著出版於2007年）
【Olson, D. R. (2017). Jerome J. Bruner (X. J. Yuan & H. M. Li, Trans.). Heilongjiang Education Press. (Original work published 2007)】
二、外文文獻
Bruner, J. S. (1980). Intellectual autobiography. In G. Lindzey (Ed.), A history of psychology in autobiography (Vol. VII, pp. 75-151). Freeman & Co.
Bruner, J. S. (1983a). Child’s talk: Learning to use language. W. W. Norton & Company.
Bruner, J. S. (1983b). In search of mind: Essays in autobiography. Harper & Row.
Bruner, J. S. (2006a). In search of pedagogy: The selected works of Jerome S. Bruner (Vol. 1). Routledge.
Bruner, J. S. (2006b). In search of pedagogy: The selected works of Jerome Bruner (Vol. 2). Routledge.
Foucault, M. (1972). The archaeology of knowledge (A. M. Sheridan Smith, Trans.). Pantheon Books.
James, A., & Prout, A. (1997). A new paradigm for the sociology of childhood? Provenance, promise and problems. In A. James & A. Prout (Eds.), Constructing and reconstructing childhood: Contemporary issues in the sociological study of childhood (2nd ed., pp. 1-32). Falmer Press.
Noddings, N. (2002). Starting at home: Caring and social policy. University of California Press.
Takaya, K. (2008). Jerome Bruner’s theory of education: From early Bruner to later Bruner. Interchange, 39, 1-19. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10780-008-9039-2
Takaya, K. (2013). Jerome Bruner: Developing a sense of the possible. Springer.