Theory

Theory of scaffolding[edit]
Scaffolding theory was first introduced in the late 1950s by Jerome Bruner, a cognitiv e psychologist. He used the term to describe young children's oral language acquisitio n. Helped by their parents when they first start learning to speak, young children are p rovided with informal instructional formats within which their learning is facilitated.
A scaffolding format investigated by Bruner and his postdoctoral student Anat Ninio whose scaffolding processes are described in detail is joint picture-book reading (Nini o & Bruner, 1978). Bed-time stories and read alouds are additional examples of book-centered interaction (Daniels, 1994). Scaffolding is inspired by Lev Vygotsky's conce pt of an expert assisting a novice, or an apprentice. Scaffolding is changing the level o f support to suit the cognitive potential of the child. Over the course of a teaching sess ion, one can adjust the amount of guidance to fit the child's potential level of performa nce. More support is offered when a child is having difficulty with a particular task an d, over time, less support is provided as the child makes gains on the task. Ideally, sca ffolding works to maintain the child's potential level of development in the ZPD. An e ssential element to the ZPD and scaffolding is the acquisition of language. According to Vygotsky, language (and in particular, speech) is fundamental to children's cognitiv e growth because language provides purpose and intention so that behaviors can be be tter understood.[8] Through the use of speech, children are able to communicate to an d learn from others through dialogue, which is an important tool in the ZPD. In a dialo gue, a child's unsystematic, disorganized, and spontaneous concepts are met with the more systematic, logical and rational concepts of the skilled helper.[9] Empirical rese arch suggests that the benefits of scaffolding are not only useful during a task, but can extend beyond the immediate situation in order to influence future cognitive develop ment. For instance, a recent study recorded verbal scaffolding between mothers and th eir 3- and 4-year-old children as they played together. Then, when the children were si x years old, they underwent several measures of executive function, such as working memory and goal-directed play. The study found that the children's working memory and language skills at six years of age were related to the amount of verbal scaffoldin g provided by mothers at age three. In particular, scaffolding was most effective when mothers provided explicit conceptual links during play. Therefore, the results of this s tudy not only suggest that verbal scaffolding aids children's cognitive development, b ut that the quality of the scaffolding is also important for learning and development.[1 0]
Wood, Bruner, and Ross's (1976) idea of scaffolding parallels the work of Vygotsky. They described scaffolding as the support given to a younger learner by an older, mor e experienced adult. This concept has been further developed by Jesper Hoffmeyer as 'semiotic scaffolding'. Though the term was never used by Vygotsky, interactional sup port and the process by which adults mediate a child's attempts to take on new learnin g has come to be termed "scaffolding." Scaffolding represents the helpful interactions between adult and child that enable the child to do something beyond his or her indep endent efforts. A scaffold is a temporary framework that is put up for support and acc
ess to meaning and taken away as needed when the child secures control of success wi th a task.。