Focus
Modeling a concept to understand its constituent elements, its structure, and how it developsPrincipal Metaphors
The notion of “schema” is embraced across a broad range of learning theories. In particular, it is prominently invoked in both Cognitivism and Non-Trivial Constructivisms. The latter are more prominent in the field of education – and the cluster of associated metaphors can be readily tweaked to fit with the brain-as-computer lens applied by Cognitivism and other Brain-as-Computer Discourses.- Knowledge is … already-established-but-always-evolving construals
- Knowing is … personal sense derived from individual experience
- Learner is … a meaning-maker (individual)
- Learning is … construing associations among experiences
- Teaching is … supporting sense-making
Originated
1930sSynopsis
Schema Theory describes how personal knowledge is elaborated and structured. A schema (pl. schemata) is the network of associations that
- Percept – a conscious noticing
- Concept – an integrated network of associations, abstracted from a class of Percepts, that is useful for making sense of and acting upon that class
- Schema – the subjective network of associations that constitutes a Concept (see above) for someone
- Assimilation – applying prior learnings to new information (e.g., referring to all farm buildings as “houses”), and so learning with no modification to a schema
- Accommodation – revising prior learnings to deal with new information (e.g., upon learning that non-human animals live in barns and wheat is stored in granaries, distinguishing among “farm buildings”), and so significantly modifying a schema
- Restructuring – forming new schemata
- Tuning – modifying schemata
- Conceptual Change (Susan Carey, 1980s) –Subject to varied interpretations in the education literature, understandings of Conceptual Change converge around the point that it has to do with restructuring, problematizing, or replacing an existing conception to give way to a new one.
- Schema-Based Instruction (various, 1990s) – Most often associated with problem-solving and inquiry settings, Schema-Based Instruction encourages learners to attend to the structure of an assigned task – with a view toward summoning relevant memories of previous engagements with similarly structured tasks. In the process, the intention is to develop a schema that might render that class of tasks more familiar and manageable.
- Schema-Based Learning (Schema-Oriented Learning) (Jerome Bruner, 1960s) – a teaching approach oriented by an expert-generated schema, in which well-designed examples, tasks, or problems are used to promote conceptual understanding through processes of homing in on key elements, generalizing, and abstracting
- Constructive Perception Theory (Constructive Theory of Perception) – a rejection of the popular assumption that perception involves “taking in” information, suggesting instead that perception is more a matter of projecting expectations distilled from prior experience (i.e., established and evolving schemata) onto sensory experience
- Conceptual-Act Model of Emotion (Theory of Constructed Emotion; Constructivist Theory of Emotion) (Lisa Feldman Barrett, 2000s) – the hypothesis that emotions are formed and manifest in very much the same way as schemata – that is, emotions are not biologically hardwired, but “emotion concepts” that are distilled from past experience and that render current sensations meaningful
Commentary
The most common and persistent criticism of Schema Theory is that the notion is vague. It is not clear what does and does not count as a schema. This point is underscored by the fact that incompatible perspectives (e.g., Cognitivism and most Non-Trivial Constructivisms) embrace the notion.Authors and/or Prominent Influences
Frederic Bartlett; Jean Piaget; Richard AndersonStatus as a Theory of Learning
Schema Theory can be considered a theory of learning in its own right, but it is more often encountered as a component of other learning theories.Status as a Theory of Teaching
Schema Theory is not a theory of teaching, but it does underscore the vital insight that the most important influence on what one will learn is what one already knows.Status as a Scientific Theory
Because the notion of “schema” is sometimes vague and often contested, it is difficult to argue that Schema Theory fulfills our criteria for a scientific theory. We, however, classify it as such for the meanings applied in Non-Trivial Constructivisms associated with Embodiment Discourses (which is where we locate the perspective on our map, and which generally meet our criteria).Subdiscourses:
- Accommodation
- Assimilation
- Concept
- Conceptual-Act Model of Emotion (Theory of Constructed Emotion; Constructivist Theory of Emotion)
- Constructive Perception Theory (Constructive Theory of Perception)
- Percept
- Restructuring
- Schema
- Schema-Based Instruction
- Schema-Based Learning (Schema-Oriented Learning)
- Tuning
Map Location

Please cite this article as:
Davis, B., & Francis, K. (2022). “Schema Theory” in Discourses on Learning in Education. https://learningdiscourses.com.
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