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Reflective Essay: Scaffolding
Ariana B. Cedeño
Facultad de filosofía, letras y ciencias de la educación
Pedagogía de los idiomas nacionales y extranjeros
Universidad de Guayaquil
PIN-S-NO-5-2
Mr. José Miguel Campuzano
January 14th, 2023
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Scaffolding
The term ‘scaffolding’ has been interpreted by Rasmussen (2001) as a “form of support
for the development and learning of children and young people"; this support given during the
learning process has to be adapted to the learner's needs with the intention of helping the
learner to achieve their learning objective. “Support is valuable to students only when it leads to
development, and ultimately, to student autonomy” (Wilson & Devereux, 2014).
One of the purposes of this educational approach is to develop the appropriate support
for each process and that the student becomes the protagonist of their own learning and the
teacher is established as a guide who offers the students the necessary tools.
Although the definition of scaffolding continues to be a bit unwieldy, we can conclude
that this teaching method enables students, through assistance and support, to solve problems
or carry out activities in order to achieve the educational objectives they have set for
themselves. This is of great significance for a language teacher and learner.
Knowing this methodology helps me, as a teacher, to interact with the student and be
able to have a synchronized relationship to facilitate this whole process in which the student's
knowledge is sought, considering that I must not only present a new content but also offer
everything necessary to understand this content, respecting the limit of their capabilities.
In addition, knowing all this, a teacher can develop a good role as an educator learning
to teach; knowing the environment in which he/she is, using linguistic, communicative and
intellectual cognitive tools to be able to carry out a meaningful practice, where the interests and
needs of the subject can be considered.
On the other hand, as a student, by understanding this whole concept, I will be able to
communicate to my teacher if the methodology is being helpful in my learning.
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“It is important for teachers to provide opportunities for children to constantly learn new
things. Some of those may be highly complex and will require support of a very focused kind.
Teachers need to be aware of the developmental state of each of the children in their care, and
should provide scaffolding that is appropriate.” (Wheeler, n.d.)
Or, if on the contrary, my educator is not offering me the necessary resources that
should be provided to me, I would explain my case so that they can take action on the matter.
We can conclude that approaching this topic both as teachers and as students lets us
know that scaffolding is not simply about helping the student by giving the answer, but
facilitating and providing a support that serves those students who need it to achieve the
learning objective and that they feel they are in an environment where they can feel
comfortable.
References
Rasmussen, J. (2001). The importance of communication in teaching: A systems-theory approach to the
scaffolding metaphor. Curriculum Studies, 570.
Wheeler, S. (n.d.). Learning Theories: Jerome Bruner On The Scaffolding Of Learning. Retrieved from
TeachThought: https://www.teachthought.com/learning/jerome-bruner/
Wilson, K., & Devereux, L. (2014, September 7). Scaffolding theory: High challenge, high support in
Academic Language and Learning (ALL) contexts. Journal of Academic Language & LearningVol,
8, A-92.
