Scaffolding as a Teaching Method

With scaffolding, a teacher concentrates on developing student competencies. In the classroom, the teacher explains, step-by-step, how a decision was made or a conclusion reached. This explanation often takes the form of group discussion. The discussion is a stream-of-consciousness interaction with students and teacher. Later, the instructor shifts from teacher to coach as the students take over the particular skill. The performance of the student is coached until the mastery of the skill develops. At this stage, the student role resembles that of the apprentice, working under the guidance of the instructor. Gradually, the instructor reduces support, a process known as fading. Ultimately, support is no longer needed. Scaffolding is a highly individualized approach to teaching: "Almost all classroom teachers believe that instructional approaches which are attentive to the differences among individual learners will be superior to those schemes which are oblivious of such differences" (Popham and Baker, 1973, p. 27).

The objective of scaffolding is to give the student just enough support to help him or her achieve their current goal. Too much support can be stifling wh

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h scaffolding, students can learn at their own pace. The teacher is coach, facilitator, and tutor. After demonstrating and modeling a task to students, the teacher assigns the tasks, and offers feedback where necessary. Whereas when first taught, a skill might be meaningless to a student, by the time he or she has progressed through the integration of the skill in complex problems and in interaction with teachers and fellow students, an interpersonal connection results that enhances learning. The foundation of the scaffolding process is communication. Although the traditional focus has been personal interaction between student and teacher, the growing influence of computers in the classroom has extended scaffolding to electronic multimedia simulations as well. Scaffolding demands much from a teacher, and the incorporation of computers into the process can ease the instructional burden. As one teacher puts it, "The computer is an infinitely malleable tool, and it has the potential to enable us to teach things we were never able to teach before . . . " (Bollentin, 1998, p. 52). Thus many modern examples of scaffolding are often found in computerized instruction. Scaffolding is a teaching method based on the theoretical
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Some common words found in the essay are:
Jean Piaget, Acovelli Gamble, , Lev Vygotsky, Popham Baker, WJ Baker, Gamble March-April, Bollentin January/February, Campbell Sarah, Wiley Flavell, cognitive development, scaffolding process, vygotsky 1978, jean piaget, acovelli gamble, gamble 1997 46, students teacher, teacher coach, prior mindset, traditional method, adult guidance, scaffolding method helps, acovelli gamble 1997, zone proximal development,
Approximate Word count = 1493
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page)

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