Scaffolding Students’ Learning

Where now Where could they get to with guidance and support of someone else who already knows and can do what is required

zone of proximal development(Vygostsky)

thoughtful guiding and supporting =

scaffolding

OUR STUDENTS

Knowing and checking out where students ‘are at’

e.g.

• Checking what they already know/can do for sure

• Checking their uncertainties and don’t knows

• Understanding the implications of their novice to expert status

• Understanding their information-handling constraints/capabilities

(e.g. 7+/- 2; visual memory)

• Considering how students handle being unsure and not knowing

Ask the question now and be a fool for a moment - don’t ask the question

now and be a fool for the rest of your life!

Ways of thoughtfully scaffolding

• Make hoped-for-outcomes clear and precise – and‘reasonable’.

• Talk about what will/could be involved in getting there – and why.

• Help students take realistic/incremental steps towards outcomes

• Express confidence that they can progress.

• Take into account the language aspects of the learning.

• Ask students to help scaffold one another’s learning.

Make hoped-for-outcomes clear and precise – and ‘reasonable’.

• State outcomes clearly - and check understanding

• Explain why outcomes are relevant, important, worthwhile

• Tell stories - your own everyday use of this knowledge

• Experienced/expert practitioners tell the same stories

• Talk about/illustrate assessment criteria and standards- check understanding

• Acknowledge possible complexity, difficulty, novelty of the learning

Make hoped-for-outcomes clear and precise - and seem ‘reasonable’.

• Demonstrate a capability

• Break into ‘bits’

• Slow motion

• Describe and explain as go

• Talk thoughts (what thinking about) aloud

• Ask students to identify knowledge and skills required

• Check what noticed

Talk about what will/could be involved in getting there – and why.

• Describe and explain what you will ask them to do.

• Describe and explain what you will be doing.

• Involve students in planning how to get there.

• Mutually taking stock and fine-tune learning and teaching plans on the way.

Help students take realistic/incremental steps towards outcomes

Break learning into realistic, manageable steps (whose view re size?)

Select from options – vs coming up with answer

Completion – fill in, flesh out, finish off vs the full answer

Prediction, speculation about what comes next

Giving explicit prompts, hints, clues

Steer students towards sources for ideas and information (not telling answers)

Help students take realistic/incremental steps towards outcomes

Use visual representations (hearing is one thing, seeing is another)

Relate to students’ personal experiences,

Relate to what students already know and can do

Give ‘informative/constructive’ feedback (good because ....; - if add this, ...)

Provide thinking/reading guides (questions to ask yourself)

Express confidence that they can progress

Recognize possible ‘fear of failure’ – low ‘self-efficacy’

Say that you are confident thay will learn (teacher expectancy research)

Provide constructive feedback for small steps

• Identify new vocabulary students will encounter

• Consider when selecting reading materials (Kirkness & Neill, 2009)

• Consider when talking to/with students

• Teach new vocabulary at the start and/or on the way

• Ask students to tell you when words are unfamiliar

• Talk about the different purposes, formats and ‘styles’ of writing they will be

doing

Take into account the language aspects/needs of the learning

Ask students to help scaffold one another’s learning.

• Students share what they know about and can do (learning from one another)

• Students talk about how they are going about learning

- offer mutual advice/suggestions (de-brief sessions)

• Encourage peer/group learning

Note: Students may have insights into helpful scaffolding for one another

References:

Kirkness, A. & Neill, L. (2009). Choosing texts for today’s students: Do they understand the language. Journal of Hospitality, Leisure, Sport andTourism. 8, 4 – 16.