Scaffolding: A Technique Fundamental to Learning
Lev Vygotsky was a Soviet psychologist known for his research on children’s development. In 1978, he coined the term Zone of Proximal Development which refers to the difference between what children can do on their own and what they can do with the help of an experienced guide. These spheres of knowing, can known, will know (see image below) also represent cognitive development. Students are at a certain level of development now which, with support, continues to expand. Vygotsky sustained that children cannot access this next level on their own. That is why the experienced guide is so important!
This concept is fundamental in ALB Tutoring’s work. Alessandra, Founder and President of ALB Tutoring, helps students access and learn knowledge that they are close to mastering but is just beyond their reach (hence the term proximal). With Alessandra’s support, students are able to reach this information, first with help, and then on their own. It’s like Alessandra sets up the step stool for students to access the learning they are trying to reach.
Better yet, Alessandra is like the training wheels the students, aka bikers, use when learning how to ride a bike. First, the biker feels comfortable riding with training wheels. Then, he or she tries with only one training wheel and, shortly thereafter, with none! This support, in psychology, is referred to as scaffolding; it literally holds the child up, building skills step by step. Developed in 1976 by American psychologist Jerome Bruner, scaffolding is “the best way to educate a child” and is what makes learning possible, so that children can continue to master new information, via the Zone of Proximal Development (The Scaffold Effect, Harold S. Koplewicz, MD). How quickly and effectively children learn when supported the right way!
How is this implemented?
When teaching students how to solve a problem or complete an assignment, Alessandra first guides them, hands-on, explaining the steps of solving the task at hand. She then cues students when solving a similar problem and, next, asks questions to challenge them to solve another problem. Finally, Alessandra watches as students - who often look to her for gratification, which she acknowledges with a smile and encouragement to keep going - talk the steps out loud and solve the problem on their own! Alessandra then makes them solve additional problems on their own so that this process becomes engrained in their minds. Students realize that it wasn’t chance, but that they really can do it!
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