What Is Scaffolding?

Do you want to improve your teaching? Are your students achieving their learning goals? Do you want to know some tips to achieve an effective learning?

1. SCAFFOLDING'S CONCEPT

The concept of scaffolding (Bruner, 1975) is based on the work of Vygotsky, who proposed that with an adult's assistance, children could accomplish tasks that they ordinarily could not perform independently. Scaffolded instruction is "the systematic sequencing of prompted content, materials, tasks, and teacher and peer support to optimize learning" (Dickson, Chard, & Simmons, 1993). Scaffolding is a process in which students are given support until they can apply new skills and strategies independently (Rosenshine & Meister, 1992).

Carol Read says in her article: “Scaffolding children’s talk and learning”: “Scaffolding is the metaphorical concept used to describe the interactive verbal support provided by adults to guide a child through the ZPD and enable them to carry out a task that they would be unable to do without help.” “Scaffolding refers to the particular kind of help, assistance and support that enables a child to do a task which they cannot quite manage on their own and which brings them closer to a state of competence that will enable them to carry out other similar tasks independently in the future.”

2. SOME BENEFITS OF USING SCAFFOLDING

Some features of scaffolding are:

-          Scaffolding helps the teacher to motivate their students, taking into account their needs.

-          Scaffolding can be used at any level of education and in any discipline, but it requires detailed planning on the part of the teacher.

-          An effective scaffolding has the following features; Creating children’s interest in the task; simplifying the task; reminding them the goal; pointing out key things to do; showing the child other ways of doing; controlling the child’s frustration; demonstrating an idealised way of doing the task.

-          As the result of the scaffolding which has taken place, the child has achieved a greater level of competence and independent functioning.


3. UNDERSTANDING THE NOTION OF SCAFFOLDING

 

4. DO YOU WANT TO KNOW MORE ABOUT SCAFFOLDING?

-         http://www.ehow.com/facts_5162695_scaffolding-teaching.html

-         http://www.carolread.com/articles/s%20talk%20and%20learning.pdf

-         http://www.niu.edu/taconnections/2008/fall/scaffolding.shtml

-         http://www.cec.sped.org/AM/Template.cfm?Section=Scaffolding&Template=/TaggedPage/TaggedPageDisplay.cfm&TPLID=24&ContentID=4703

-         http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w715UYLOvCk