Scaffolding
Scaffolding is the temporary support a teacher provides so a pupil can do something they could not yet do alone. The defining feature is that the support is faded over time.
- Subject
- Cross-curricular
- Key stage
- All
The scaffolding metaphor was introduced by Wood, Bruner, and Ross in 1976. It has been one of the most useful and most misused ideas in education ever since.
What it is
Temporary support that bridges the gap between what a pupil can do alone and what they can do with help. The support might be a sentence stem, a partly completed example, a vocabulary list, or a step-by-step procedure card.
The defining feature is the fading. If the support stays in place forever, it is not scaffolding. It is a permanent crutch, which usually does the pupil more harm than good.
Why it works
Scaffolds let pupils succeed at a task that would otherwise overwhelm their working memory. Success builds the schema. Once the schema is built, the working memory cost of the task drops, and the scaffold is no longer needed.
The EEF SEND guidance report recommends scaffolding over differentiation by task or by outcome, because it keeps the curriculum the same for all pupils. Rosenshine’s principles include “providing scaffolds for difficult tasks” as one of the ten.
How to use it
Plan three levels of support for the same task. The full scaffold is what a struggling pupil needs the first time. The faded scaffold removes some steps. The unscaffolded version is the target. Move pupils across the three levels at their own pace.
Common scaffolds: sentence stems, worked examples with steps shown, vocabulary banks, structured paragraph templates, partly completed diagrams.
When not to use it
Do not turn scaffolds into a permanent feature. Pupils who use the same support for two terms have not moved on. Either the task needs to change, or the support needs to fade.
Related Chalk tools
Worksheet Creator, Frayer Model, Graphic Organiser, and Lesson Plan all support scaffolded sequences.
Evidence
Scaffolding has decades of supporting evidence in instructional research. The EEF SEND guidance recommends scaffolding over differentiation-by-task. The mechanism (temporary cognitive load reduction, faded as schemas build) is consistent with the wider CLT and worked-examples evidence base.
Try this in Chalk
Related concepts
Questions teachers ask
What is the difference between scaffolding and differentiation?
How do I know when to fade the scaffolding?
Can a Frayer model be a scaffold?
Worksheet Creator
Printable worksheets with visual content, ready for classroom use.
Open Worksheet Creator