Definition
Jerome Bruner (1915–2016) was an American psychologist whose work on cognitive learning theory influenced modern instructional design. He proposed that learners construct new knowledge by building on what they already know, and he introduced the concept of the spiral curriculum — the idea that subjects should be revisited at progressively deeper levels as the learner matures. He also identified three modes of representing knowledge: enactive (learning by doing), iconic (learning through images), and symbolic (learning through language and abstract symbols).
Plain English
A well-known psychologist whose ideas shaped how instructors teach. He argued that students learn best by actively building on what they already know, by being shown things, and by returning to the same topic repeatedly at deeper levels.
Context Anchor
Seen in the Aviation Instructor’s Handbook in discussions of cognitive theory and how flight instructors help students form real understanding instead of only memorizing facts.
Why Pilots Care
Bruner's ideas underlie the way flight training is structured — the same maneuvers and concepts are revisited at deeper levels throughout training, and instructors deliberately combine doing, seeing, and explaining to help students learn.
Example Sentence 1
The instructor's lesson plan reflected Jerome Bruner's spiral approach by revisiting stalls at progressively deeper levels of understanding throughout the syllabus.
Example Sentence 2
Instructors apply Jerome Bruner’s approach by guiding students to discover aircraft systems through structured questions rather than lectures alone.