Schema Theory

            The concept of schema theory was firstly introduced by Jean Piaget in 1926. It was again discussed in 1932 through the work of British psychologist Sir Frederic Bartlett and was further developed in 1970s by American educational psychologist Richard Anderson. Schema theory describes how knowledge is acquired, processed and organized.

            The starting assumption of this theory is that: all knowledge is organised into units. The organized set of units or schemata is known as knowledge. According to David Rumelhart, “We have schemata to represent all levels of our experience, at all levels of abstraction. Our schemata are our knowledge.” In other words, schema theory is a generalized description or a conceptual system for understanding the process of knowledge construction.

            Schemata also expand and change in time, due to acquisition of new information. When new information is retrieved, if possible, it will be assimilated into existing schema(ta) or related schema(ta) will be changed (accommodated) in order to integrate the new information. Deeply installed schemata are inert and slow in changing. This could provide an explanation to why some people live with incorrect or inconsistent beliefs rather than changing them.

Schemata may be stored in the form of

• Content schema - prior knowledge about the topic of the text
• Formal schema - awareness of the structure of the text, and
• Language schema - knowledge of the vocabulary and relationships of the words in text

            When reading a text, the meaning is formed by the information and cultural and emotional context the reader brings through his schemata more than by the text itself. Text comprehension and retention therefore depend mostly on the schemata the reader possesses, among which the content schema should be one of most important. Simply speaking the learner’s previous knowledge regarding the text, structure of the text and vocabulary and syntax determine his level of comprehension of a text.

What is the practical meaning of schema theory?

• Schema theory emphasizes importance of general knowledge and concepts that will help form schemata.
• In educational process the task of teachers would be to help learners to develop new schemata and establish connections between them.
• Also, due to the importance of prior knowledge, teachers should make sure that students have it.
• “The schemata a person already possesses are a principal determiner of what will be learned from a new text.”