J. Bruner論兒童的遊戲及其理解現實之道

J. Bruner on Children’s Play and Their Path to Understanding Reality

隨著兒童遊戲的重要性日漸得到大眾和學術界認可，圍繞這一主題的研究逐步增多。然而，布魯納對於兒童遊戲的深度探索和見解，儘管具有極高的研究價值和實踐意義，卻在教育學領域未獲得足夠的重視。在教育學界日益認識到兒童遊戲重要性之際，深入分析布魯納有關兒童遊戲的深刻洞見顯得尤為重要。首先，闡釋布魯納如何從靈長類動物遊戲研究中提煉出重要觀點，並成功將其轉化為兒童遊戲研究的核心內容，特別是遊戲如何作為一種低風險學習的手段，幫助兒童在安全環境中探索技能和適應社會規則；其次，深入討論布魯納的兒童遊戲理論，強調遊戲不僅是兒童認知、語言發展的核心要素，更是兒童接觸和理解現實世界的重要途徑，並展現遊戲在模擬日常生活、形成敘事能力及學習社會規範中的關鍵角色；繼而，關注布魯納在兒童遊戲因應作法這方面的教育主張，包括遊戲與學科內容的有機結合、成人與同儕適度參與的原則，以及透過遊戲激發創造力與問題解決能力的方法；最後，基於對布魯納兒童遊戲理論及貢獻的反思，本研究建議可針對標的兒童進行遊戲行為觀察，或是針對兒童遊戲回合的長度及遊戲的複雜性條件進行深入探討，使遊戲發揮其教育兒童的最大功能。

With the growing recognition of the importance of children’s play in both public and academic communities, research on this topic has steadily increased. However, Jerome J. Bruner’s comprehensive interpretation of children’s play remains underexplored within the field of education. By delving into J. Bruner’s original works and his academic contributions, this article seeks to highlight J. Bruner’s core perspectives and educational practices concerning children’s play. This article first traces J. Bruner’s academic trajectory, from his studies on primate play to his explorations of children’s play, elucidating how J. Bruner drew insights from animal play research and successfully applied them to the study of children’s play. Specifically, J. Bruner illustrated how play functions as a low-risk learning mechanism, enabling children to explore skills and adapt to social rules in a safe environment.
Subsequently, the article discusses J. Bruner’s theory of children’s play, emphasizing that play is not only a key medium for children’s cognitive and linguistic development, but also an essential avenue for them to engage with and understand the real world. Play serves a pivotal role in simulating daily life, fostering narrative skills and learning social norms. Furthermore, this article focuses on J. Bruner’s educational stance on practices in children’s play, including the integration of games with subject content, the principle of moderate participation by adults and peers, and approaches to stimulating creativity and problem-solving abilities through games. Finally, based on J. Bruner’s theory and the contribution of children’s play, this study recommends that the play behavior of target children should be further observed. The duration of children’s play rounds and the complexity of the play can be investigated in depth. In this way, the educational value of children’s play can be fully leveraged.