What is spiral resume?

The spiral curriculum is based on the teaching methodology proposed by the Singapore Mathematical Method. Its objective is for students to deepen their knowledge in a progressive way. But how can you achieve all this?

The Singapore Mathematical Method is a methodology designed by the INE of Singapore which intended for students to learn mathematics without the need to memorize. It focuses on why and how, with the idea that the answers help improve understanding of knowledge, facilitating memorization.

Well this method It has a lot to do with the spiral resume. It was discovered by Jerome Bruner, a psychologist who made important contributions to the field of teaching and learning. Among them, this methodological proposal that we will discover below.

Jerome Bruner

Spiral curriculum: from broad to deep

The spiral curriculum approaches learning in a way in which students can go from general knowledge to specialized knowledge. The way he achieves this is due to a continuous learning that prevents concepts from being easily forgotten.

To achieve this, you start with very simple concepts that will become more complicated as the students progress in learning. This is achieved since The spiral curriculum adapts to the possibilities that the students have. This way, everyone can advance and better understand the concepts of the subject.

However, something essential for the spiral curriculum to work is that, on a recurring basis, the students return to the same general topics from the beginning, that is, broadly speaking. What is this trying to achieve? That when they return to the depths, they will be able to make analyzes and representations that are different from what they had previously analyzed.

What Bruner intended with this curriculum was for students to have food for their curiosity. Inspiration to expand your knowledge, returning – with another look – to what you have already acquired. So, they themselves could reason/revise the conclusions they had previously reached.

Mistakes and dead ends

Jerome Bruner cared very little about errors. In fact, he considered them a good way for students to learn. Therefore, in the spiral resume, both errors and dead ends are welcome.

It doesn’t matter how long it takes to learn a concept. For Bruner interest and satisfaction of stimulating hypotheses prevail of each student.

Understand that making mistakes should not cause shame, but rather being a way to reorient hypotheses and continue investigating is an important learning that promotes the spiral curriculum. Without a doubt, a different way of teaching students, but one that yields very positive results.

Spiral resume example

Now that we know more about the spiral curriculum, let’s give a brief example of how learning would be carried out. We can start with a very simple objective aimed at young children, such as recognize and classify animals.

The first point would be to classify the animals and analyze the similarities or differences what is in each one. Later, students could begin to become familiar with the habitats where each animal is and their behavior. Finally, the anatomy or physiology of animals would be studied.

This is very easy. As you progress with the habitats, you will return to the concepts already learned so that students can relate what they previously knew with what they just understood. So, they can really understand what they are studying and they will feel more curious to know more.

In the end, the spiral curriculum allows you to work in a way where the student is allowed to think for himself, to draw conclusions and repair errors. A way in which research, understanding and the temptation to learn concepts by heart is put aside -without understanding them- to pass an exam. Do you think it would be possible to implement it in the current educational model?

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