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Reconfiguring Bruner: Compressing the Spiral Curriculum

Brian C. Gibbs
Phi Delta Kappan 2014 95: 41
DOI: 10.1177/003172171409500710

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Reconfiguring Bruner:

Compressing
the spiral
curriculum At base, the “spiral
curriculum” is the best
way to design learning,
but we’ve gone wrong in
its implementation.

By Brian C. Gibbs

I
t was a cloudy Tuesday, a rarity in Los Angeles,
reminiscent of the “marine layer” that friends lucky
enough to live near the beach complain about. The
gray matched our mood. We were in the exhausted,
overwhelmed, nerves-frayed-to-their-nubs time of
year — the week before final exams and final grades. Bruner’s conception of
spiral curriculum delivery
We all had harried looks, circles beneath our eyes and
is accurate from a broad
stacks of papers to grade. Essays, quizzes, and the perspective, but its
like weighed heavily on us. We were meeting in the implementation needs to be
more compressed.
“penthouse,” named not for its extravagant beauty,
thread count, or gravitas but because of the view. It
was by far the best view in East Los Angeles. It was
a meeting of the schoolwide, cross-discipline literacy
cadre, and none of us wanted to be there.

BRIAN C. GIBBS ([email protected]) is a graduate student in curriculum and instruction in the School of Education,
University of Wisconsin-Madison.

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 We went because we said we would and had col- erful idea, one that has been so embedded in how
lectively agreed to this date weeks earlier. Seated in policy makers and educators think about curricu-
a circle, we did a quick check-in. “I’m exhausted, but lum and pedagogy that it’s largely second nature,
my students are working on final exhibitions,” said unexamined, and unrecognized. Examples abound.
one, while another said, “I’m so far behind, I’m go- The California State Content Standards puts 4th-
ing to have to cut and mend.” grade students into their first encounter with cells
— naming, knowing, and being able to identify its
component parts — protons, electrons, neutrons,
The spiral curriculum is a profound and and the like. In 10th grade, or perhaps an acceler-
ated 9th-grade biology class, students engage the cell
powerful idea that has been so embedded
again, examining it in much more of its complex-
in how we think about curriculum and ity and using that information to better understand
pedagogy that it’s largely second nature. other aspects of living organisms. In mathematics,
high school students study Algebra I, then Geom-
etry, then Algebra II, etc. in a building sequence.
Then we got to the woman seated beside me. In social studies, again looking at California State
She’d been teaching English for a while, had a solid Content Standards, students study American history
reputation, was on several schoolwide committees, from American colonial times to the late 1800s in
and was known for her passion and toughness. When 8th grade, then pick it up again in 11th grade with
it was her turn, she initially said nothing, then spoke an examination of 20th-century American history.
in a low whisper but began coughing mid-sentence. In the Brunerian spiral, curriculum and content
By this time, everyone was watching as one tear build upon one another, supposedly in skill growth as
slowly slid left then right then left toward her chin. well as content complexity and depth. The problem
“My students . . . they couldn’t do it,” she said. is — as I realized that day in the penthouse — that the
We all stared intently until she continued. “They spiral doesn’t happen fast enough or with the inten-
are seniors. I assigned them an essay to write on their
own, and none of them could do it. They all failed.
I don’t know what to do.”
In that moment, I realized that Bruner was wrong, Descaffolding speech/
and he was completely right.
testimony project
Assessing the spiral curriculum
In order to have students deliver a memorized two-
Jerome Bruner, a famed psychologist of educa- page speech or testimony by course end:
tion at Harvard University, is very responsible for
how we conceive of education and learning today. In 1. Students read testimony.
1959, Bruner brought together scholars from many 2. Students deliver testimony, can look at it four
academic disciplines — all content experts but no times.
professional educators — at a 10-day conference to
focus on redesigning curriculum and thereby rede- 3. Students deliver testimony, can look at it three
signing the foundation of American schools. The times.
work took a largely discipline-based approach due 4. Students deliver testimony, can look at it twice.
to those invited and the philosophical stance of the
conveners. 5. Students deliver testimony, can look at it one
Soon after the conference, Bruner intoned one of time.
his most famous phrases and thoughts on learning: 6. Students deliver testimony, can hold it in their
“We begin with the hypothesis that any subject can hands.
be taught in some intellectually honest form to any
child at any stage of development” (1960, p. 30). In 7. Students deliver testimony, can have it on the
The Process of Education (Harvard University Press, desk in front of them.
1960), Bruner details his idea commonly referred to 8. Students turn in testimony before delivery,
as the “spiral curriculum.” In short, students revisit deliver it memorized.
a topic, theme, or subject several times throughout
their schooling, where the complexity of the topic is 9. Students turn in testimony the moment they
increased with each visit so the new learning is con- arrive at class, deliver it memorized.
nected to the old learning.
The spiral curriculum is a profound and pow-
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tion needed. The assumption that teachers at least
one year apart will engage the curriculum with the
same intent or plan or begin where students left off
Descaffolding timed writing (example)
is incorrect. It’s not that with a vertical strategic plan
it couldn’t happen, but it would need to be a site or First timed writing
small learning community decision committed to ex- DAY 1: Introduce timed writing, read through prompt; analyze criteria
tensive meeting time and professional development. chart; alone or in teams, have students create a fact sheet or list of all
This, however, is beside the point. Bruner was the specific factual information that students will need to complete the
correct in concept but wrong in scope. The spiral writing.
curriculum works well if narrowed. Rather than
DAY 2: Alone or in teams, have students create a prewrite, map, or
aligning the curriculum to be sequentially built upon
outline of the timed writing based on the prompt, criteria chart, and fact
itself for the entire K-12 education of children, the
sheet.
curriculum should be built around the growth of
intellectual and academic skills and processes and DAY 3: Create rough draft based upon prewrite, criteria chart, prompt,
and fact sheet.

DAY 4: With partners or instructor, spend time going over all the
Keeping in mind Bruner’s dictum “any student information and work thus far; organize it into a usable format.
content can be taught to any student,” DAY 5: With prompt, criteria chart, fact sheet, prewrite, and rough draft,
descaffolding becomes the key. students have 60 minutes to complete their timed writing. Students are
graded on every portion of the process, not just the final timed writing
piece, though the final piece is, of course, graded most heavily.
ever-increasing content complexity in each semester
and year of each subject. Imagine if a history teacher Second timed writing
stood before her students at the beginning of the year DAY 1: Introduce timed writing, read through prompt. Analyze criteria
and said, “By year’s end, you will not only be able to chart alone or in teams; create a fact sheet or list of all the specific facts
engage very difficult and complex content, but you’ll that students will need to complete writing.
also be able to write a five-paragraph essay in 15 min-
utes earning at least a B, deliver a two-page speech DAY 2: Alone or in teams, students create a prewrite, map, or outline of
without notes, defend a position formally and in- their timed writing based on the prompt, criteria chart, and fact sheet.
formally under pressure, participate in discussion in DAY 3: Have students organize their information into a usable format;
multiple forms, including Socratic Seminar, teacher- no rough draft.
directed discussion, and small-team discussion, ap-
ply information and skills/processes into wholly new DAY 4: Complete timed writing in 50 minutes.
contexts, and exhibit wholly original solutions to
essential questions and problems in written, visual, Third timed writing
and oral formats, including a question session from DAY 1: Introduce timed writing, read through prompt; analyze criteria
a critical audience.” chart.
Sequential growth DAY 2: Students organize information in preparation for their timed
In this way, the curriculum, assignments, and as- writing.
sessments systemically and sequentially grow upon DAY 3: Students complete timed writing in 40 minutes with prompt
one another, or spiral — but in a much more fo- and criteria chart.
cused and intentional way. This doesn’t mean teach-
ers don’t introduce difficult and complex content,
Fourth timed writing
skills, or processes in the beginning of the year. But
teachers would scaffold the instruction as much as DAY 1: Introduce timed writing, read through prompt; analyze criteria
necessary for success and then descaffold it as needed. chart.
Keeping in mind Bruner’s dictum — “any content DAY 2: Students complete timed writing in 30 minutes with prompt only.
can be taught to any student” — descaffolding be-
comes the key. Teachers introduce important and Fifth timed writing
difficult skills, processes, and content from the be-
ginning, but they provide specific support or scaf- DAY 1: Introduce timed writing and criteria chart. Have students write
folding to ensure student success. In each succes- timed writing in 35 minutes (15 minutes to create prewrite outline/20
sive unit, teachers descaffold skills, processes, and minutes to write.)
content to make them more complex and difficult.
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 An example from social studies will help solidify use history as an example again, issues of race, class,
this conception. In order for skills/processes to be power, gender, war, terrorism, in other words, dif-
descaffolded, they must be attached to assignments, ficult and complex content, should be engaged with
which are used in each successive unit. If we take from the beginning with the anticipation of student
delivering a speech as an example (see sidebar on struggle. Scaffolding such as shorter readings, more
Descaffolding Speech), we can see how intellectual narrow interpretations and more teacher talk can
academic skills grow. Initial success is crucial, so stu- help students manage. Over time as the course pro-
dents can just read it. Quickly thereafter, in the suc- ceeds, students will be able to wrestle with more
ceeding units, students deliver the speech, looking complex and complicated content, wading their
at it four times, then three, then two, then they can way through. For example, a unit on apartheid in
hold the speech, then they must deliver it without South Africa may be scheduled last so students can
the speech on hand. For it to become a learned skill, truly wrestle with the question first of how to resist
students will need to deliver a memorized speech apartheid and then of how to heal in the aftermath of
several times. apartheid. Both are complex and difficult questions
In order to guarantee student success, advanced that force students to engage deeply in a difficult
planning is necessary. Similarly, timed writings are and disturbing history, and while students should
taught from the first unit, but the expectation is that have engaged in an examination of race, class, and
there will be struggle. Knowing this and knowing power before this, they will also need to build up to
that there will be one in each of the following in- the complexities of South Africa.
structional units, the teacher can offer specific sup-
port, loosening it, lessening it, and then releasing Descaffolding
this support throughout the year. Returning to my group in the penthouse on
The first will take part of five days of instruction that dreary day, descaffolding didn’t happen in
time (see sidebar on Timed Writing), but it will even- my friend’s classroom or in any of our classrooms.
tually be whittled down to 35 minutes on the day of There was no focus and no specific goal identified
the writing, 15 minutes to write a prewrite, and 20 to be met by year’s end. If she had wanted students
minutes to write a “cold essay,” or one that students to be able to write an essay all on their own, she had
have not seen until they entered the classroom. Ad- to begin descaffolding from the beginning, slowly
vanced planning is necessary for this; teachers will taking herself out of the equation so students would
need to know how many units of instruction they’ll be ready to stand and write on their own. Instead,
have in the semester and year to ensure enough she had firmly entrenched herself in their writing,
growth time. having students show her or others in class their
Content similarly needs to be descaffolded. To thesis sentence, their outline, their first draft, sec-
ond draft, etc., building a capacity of dependency
on her or others for help with writing. When she
took it away instantly, students were ill-prepared,
and their work demonstrated this.
Bruner was right, but his scale was wrong. His
conception of spiral curriculum delivery is accu-
rate from a broad perspective, but its implementa-
tion needs to be more compressed. It can be and is
much more powerful when scaled down to fit the
individual classroom or grade level. An individual
teacher choosing the intellectual and academic
skills that are of most value to students affords a
much more potent implementation of the spiral
curriculum. Reimagining Bruner’s spiral this way
not only allows students and teachers to witness
powerful change over time but, in fact, is much
closer to Bruner’s intent that learning is connected,
builds upon itself, and grows.K

Reference

“So you can read the sports page. That’s why you have to Bruner, J. (1960). Process of education. Cambridge, MA:
learn the alphabet.” Harvard University Press.

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