Welcome to Life is about Learning!
Today I'm sharing with you some ideas and examples of the use of scaffolding and differentiation in education, are you ready?
Have you heard about scaffolding and differentiation before?
I'm not sure you have, but I'm positive you've used it at some point in your life, even unconsciously. But, what is it exactly?
Scaffolding
As you know learning proceeds form the known to the new. Good teaching recognizes and builds on this through scaffolding. A student learning new skills and concepts is like a carpenter building a house. In order to build the house safely and correctly, carpenters need to stand on scaffolding until they are ready to move on to the next stage of construction. In the same way, the construction of learning starts from the ground-up: the new is built on top the known.
In education, scaffolding refers to a variety of instructional techniques used to move students progressively toward stronger understanding and, ultimately, greater independence in the learning process. The term itself offers the relevant descriptive metaphor: teachers provide successive levels of temporary support that help students reach higher levels of comprehension and skill acquisition that they would not be able to achieve without assistance. In addition, scaffolding is often used to bridge learning gaps—i.e., the difference between what students have learned and what they are expected to know and be able to do at a certain point in their education.
One of the main goals of scaffolding is to reduce the negative emotions and self-perceptions that students may experience when they get frustrated, intimidated, or discouraged when attempting a difficult task without the assistance, direction, or understanding they need to complete it.
The following examples can help to understand in which way teachers can use scaffolding:
1. The teacher gives students a simplified version of a lesson, assignment, or reading, and then gradually increases the complexity, difficulty, or sophistication over time.
2. The teacher describes or illustrates a concept, problem, or process in multiple ways to ensure understanding.
3. Students are given an exemplar or model of an assignment they will be asked to complete.
The following video can give you a closer idea to the term and also some real life examples used in the classroom.
Let's move on to the next technique now - Differentiation-.
When I first heard about it I remembered what my teachers used to tell me the first day of class. "You're nothing like your brother". I am the second of five sibling, and we are all absolutely different, even though we've been brought up by the same parents and under the same circumstances. Teachers were surprised, but isn't being different the rule?
Differentiation
It's well known that all students are different, then why are we supposed to teach in one-unique-particular way to all of them? Doesn't it make sense to take into account the learners' personality, their learning characteristics and intelligences and so on? Here is where Differentiation appears. Differentiation means tailoring instruction to meet individual needs. Whether teachers differentiate (1) content, (2) process, (3) products, (4) or the learning environment, the use of on going assessment and flexible grouping makes this a successful approach to instruction.
The following examples can help to understand in which way teachers can use differentiation:
1. Presenting ideas through both auditory and visual means.
2. Encouraging students to create their own product assignments as long as the assignments contain required elements.
3. Making sure there are places in the room to work quietly and without distraction, as well as places that invite student collaboration.
References
Alberta Education. Professional Practice Standard's Resources. Retrived from https://education.alberta.ca/topic-search/?searchMode=3
6 scaffolding strategies to use with your students.Retrieved from https://www.edutopia.org/blog/scaffolding-lessons-six-strategies-rebecca-alber
Concepts, L. (2013). Scaffolding definition. Retrieved from http://edglossary.org/scaffolding/
What is differentiated instruction? (2015). Retrieved from http://www.readingrockets.org/article/what-differentiated-instruction
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