Scaffolding Curriculum

In scaffolding instruction a more knowledgeable person provides scaffolds or supports to facilitate the learner’s development. The scaffolds facilitate a student’s ability to build on prior knowledge and internalize new information. The activities provided in scaffolding instruction are just beyond the level of what the learner can do alone (Olson & Pratt, 2000). The more capable other provides the scaffolds so that the learner can accomplish (with assistance) the tasks that he or she could otherwise not complete, thus helping the learner through the ZPD (Bransford, Brown, & Cocking, 2000).

Most scaffolds provided are activities and tasks that:
-Motivate or enlist the child’s interest related to the task
-Simplify the task to make it more manageable and achievable for a child
-Provide some direction in order to help the child focus on achieving the goal
-Clearly indicate differences between the child’s work and the standard or desired solution
-Reduce frustration and riskModel and clearly define the expectations of the activity to be performed

This is what authentic engagement should look like, so that no matter what level the student is on, they are able to learn using this method.