James Churchill

Scaffolding

Scaffolding is an instructional strategy introduced by Jerome Bruner, who was inspired

by Vgotskys concept of people who are more experienced in a subject matter assisting the
learning of one less experienced: the novice. Scaffolding, at its core, is the idea that one learns
incrementally and must master relatively basic concepts before moving onto those comparably
more difficult. Scaffolding can be used at literally any stage of teaching since you, as a teacher,
are assisting the learning of your students. Implementing scaffolding is not difficult in itself, but
knowing some of the basic concepts helps to make it easier to understand.
According to scaffolding, students can successfully do certain tasks up to a certain point
in complexity. From there, theres another threshold of what students can do with assistance of
some kind, and past that there is a threshold where students really just cant do whatever is
being asked.
The middle zone, where students can succeed with assistance, is referred to as the
zone of proximal development. As students get the hang of the concept being presented to
them, their level of what they can do alone overtakes what they previously needed assistance
on. Because of this, students can (with some assistance) work on newer, more complex tasks.

For students with LDs scaffolding can be incredibly beneficial. Scaffolds do not have to
come directly from the teacher, pairing two students with similar skill levels creates a pairing
where the students scaffold each other during the activity. Alternatively, computer programs or
videos may help scaffold a students learning. It all depends on the needs of the student and the
skill being taught. Scaffolding is all about the students actually improving on the material being
taught, so its good to leave some room for the student to stumble a bit before totally getting
everything. Wikipedia actually had a very good four-step treatsie on effective scaffolding.
Effective scaffolding

For scaffolding to be effective teachers need to pay attention to the following:

1.

The selection of the learning task: The task should ensure that learners use the

developing skills that need to be mastered.[4] The task should also be engaging and
interesting to keep learners involved.[5]
2. The anticipation of errors: After choosing the task, the teacher needs to anticipate
errors the learners are likely to commit when working on the task. Anticipation of errors
enables the scaffolder to properly guide the learners away from ineffective directions. [6]
3. The application of scaffolds during the learning task: Scaffolds could be
organized in simple skill acquisition or they may be dynamic and generative. [6]
4. The consideration of emotive or affective factors: Scaffolding is not limited to a
cognitive skill but it also relates to emotive and affect factors. During the task the
scaffolder (expert) might need to manage and control for frustration and loss of interest
that could be experienced by the learner.[4] Encouragement is also an important
scaffolding strategy.[7]

The research I reviewed covered Learning Disabilities and hyperlexia, but that is
absolutely not the extent of how far the concept of scaffolding can reach. One can scaffold
behavior difficulties, classroom expectations, and pretty much any lesson. All learning builds off
itself, and scaffolding is just teaching the material in a creative order or manner so students
learn the concepts.
References:
Instructional scaffolding. (n.d.). Retrieved April 07, 2016, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Instructional_scaffolding
Noel Kok Hwee Chia1, k., & Norman Kiak Nam Kee1, k. (2013). Effectiveness of Scaffolding Interrogatives Method:
Teaching Reading Comprehension to Young Children with Hyperlexia in Singapore. Journal Of
The
International Association Of Special Education, 14(1), 67-78.

Shamir, A., & Lazerovitz, T. (2007). Peer Mediation Intervention for Scaffolding Self-Regulated Learning among
Children with Learning Disabilities. European Journal Of Special Needs Education, 22(3), 255-273.

Turner, A. (1999). Scaffolding the story-telling abilities of a group of pupils with learning difficulties using computers: A
case study. British Journal Of Learning Disabilities, 27(3), 105-109. doi:10.1111/j.14683156.1999.tb00098.x