Scaffolding learning

It has long been recognised that most learners require guidance to support their learning. Bruner (2006a and 2006b) and Wood, Bruner and Ross (1976) were early theorists of this concept that they referred to as “a kind of ‘scaffolding’” (Wood

et al, 1976, p90). Benson (1997, in Lipscomb Swanson and West, 2004, p3)

asserted that “if scaffolding is properly administered, it will act as an enabler”. Whilst Lipscomb Swanson and West, (2004, p4) talk about scaffold being that which supports “the move from what is known to what needs to be known”, with reference to Vygotsky’s zone of proximal development (ZPD). Scaffolding within the ZPD to support learning is referred to by Brill, Kim and Galloway (2001, p10) who describe scaffolding as:

“a structure that supports students while they work at a level higher than their ability allows without assistance.”

Kaider, Henschke, Richardson and Kelly, (2009, p497) state that

“novices and advanced beginners require more learning support and scaffolding which decreases as they become more expert.”

Scaffolded learning is also one of the ten principles of effective pedagogy (Brown 2009; David, 2009; and TLRP, no date b), the explanatory note (to the principle) recommends that “when these supports are removed the learning

and Fly, 1993, p168) also recognises that a scaffold can be replaced, once it has served its use, with a “new structure for more elaborate construction”.

Some writers see Bruner’s concept of instructional scaffolding as rigid and one- directional (i.e. teacher to student) and argue that Vygotsky’s ZPD concept was more dynamic, requiring interaction between the teacher and the student (DiPardo and Freedman, 1988, and Dyson, 1990, both cited in Smagorinksy and Fly, 1993, p170) and that what is needed is an alternative instructional approach that provides students “the means of interpretation through a constructive

interaction”. Hence effective scaffolding for learning needs to be multi-

directional and flexible.

Rourke and Coleman (2009) discuss the use of scaffolding to support a

constructivist approach to learning and put forward the concept of procedural scaffolding.

Lipscomb Swanson and West (2004, p7) present a five stage approach to instructional scaffold that will “develop self-regulation and independence”: modelling desired behaviours, offering explanations, inviting participation, verifying and clarifying understandings and inviting contributions from students. Scaffolding’s use to develop critical thinking is recommended by Wass, Harland and Mercer (2011) and the existence of informal scaffolding, such as peer support, and peer-tutor conversations, are identified. Saye and Brush (2002 cited in Lipscomb Swanson and West, 2004, p10) refer to soft scaffolding (dynamic) and hard scaffolding (static and specific).

Yelland and Masters (2007) use the term technical scaffolding “in which

computers replace teachers” whilst Lai and Law (2006) look at how educational

software provides scaffolding for learning. James and Pollard (2011, p291) also recognise the potential role of computer programmes to provide scaffolding in situations where there is limited, or no, access to the ‘more expert other’ but with the caveat that any technology is chosen and used appropriately. Becta (2007, p5) recognise that e-portfolio software contains “structured processes

and organisational tools” that scaffold learning and that will support the

learners until they are confident enough to work independently.

It has also been recognised that scaffolding is needed for work-based learners (Gray, 2001, p319) and that it can also be used to support learners to transfer

learning to and from HE and work by providing the “attention to initial

learning” to facilitate transfer (Mestre, 2002, p4).

One example of scaffolding in the design of learning can be seen in Gagné’s “The Conditions of Learning”, published in 1965, in which he identified the mental conditions for learning which he presented as nine events:

1. Gain attention

2. Inform learner of objectives 3. Stimulate recall of prior learning 4. Present stimulus material

5. Provide learner guidance 6. Elicit performance 7. Provide feedback 8. Assess performance

9. Enhance retention and transfer

(Source Ryerson University, no date) These events provide a scaffold around which learning activity can be

developed.

All of these writers recognise that scaffolding provides a structure, or a framework, that supports learners and that it can be used to help them construct their knowledge and understanding and so enable meaning-making. Scaffolding can be seen to be transitory: it helps a learner move forward at a particular point in a learning journey, it adapts as the learner starts to understand and it is no longer needed once the learner achieves a particular learning goal. However, a new form of scaffold will be needed to support the next part of the journey. The writers I have quoted also suggest that scaffolding takes on different forms: some at different stages in the learning journey others for different aspects of that journey; instructional scaffolding, scaffold to develop critical thinking, procedural scaffolding and informal scaffolding. Other writers quoted posit the role of technology to provide scaffolding which is an important idea for my project in that my pedagogy is based within a technology and the learners will be on-line and thus the technology will need to be used to replace, or at least significantly supplement, the tutor.

With my background in the construction industry, scaffolding is a term, and indeed a technology, with which I am very familiar. Scaffolds, in the

construction industry, are “temporary working platforms, erected around the

perimeter of a building or structure to provide a safe working place at a convenient height” (Chudley and Greeno, 2008, p126) and “temporary

structures, constructed to support a number of platforms at different heights to enable operatives to reach their work and to permit the raising of materials”

(Foster, Harington, Greeno, 2007, p343). Scaffolds take on a variety of forms at different stages in a building’s construction. Initially they are likely to be external to the building, as indicated in the definitions quoted, and provide a framework that encloses the building to allow the external walls to be erected (a dependent constructor’s scaffold). Other, more specialist scaffolds, such as cantilever scaffolds or truss-out scaffolds provide access to more complex structures. Once the building envelope is complete a birdcage scaffold might be needed within the building to provide a platform for the erection of lighting, heating and ceilings. At a later stage a smaller, more mobile scaffold, often on wheels, may be required to access individual parts of a ceiling. To access walls for decorating a fixed, working platform might be provided and later still a simple scaffold, in the form of a ladder or a set of steps, will normally provide an adequate framework to access the work area.

Thus I see an analogy between the way that scaffolds provide a framework to allow a builder safe access so she can construct a building and in the way that scaffolded learning provides a framework to allow a learner to access and so construct her learning. As the building becomes more stable and begins to take shape the type of scaffolding can be altered to suit the changing need in the same way that the scaffolding needs of a learner will change as she moves along a learning journey.

Returning again to the writers on scaffolding in the context of my e-portfolio based pedagogy project, I can summarise that what they have in common is the recognition that learning, particularly about new ideas and concepts, needs to be supported through “designing a structure to provide trigger questions” (Felce and Purnell, 2011, p38), or other tools and techniques to help bridge the gap between what students already know and what they need to learn. My assertion in proposing the e-portfolio based pedagogy is that “e-portfolios are well suited