Bruner's Spiral Continuum

A theory of learning, by Jerome Bruner, which emphasises the need to provide a clear and well-structured approach to gradually building up levels of complexity from a simple starting point.

There are 3 stages to representing and thinking about information to aid learning in a progressive manner.

• The first stage is Enactive, which is action based, with a learner carrying out a particular task to develop practical skills and understand how features interact.
• The second stage is Iconic, which is a visual imagery, to aid comprehension of a subject, which may involve a learner representing their understanding in the form of an image.
• The third stage is Symbolic, which is the effective use of language (i.e. words and code) to express meaning and is particular helpful in developing complex and abstract ideas.

Learning is reinforced and developed in levels or steps by revisiting each stage, building on prior learning, and adding further complexity and context to each level or step, always progressing towards the desired outcome, which might range from a few to many levels or steps.