We’ve all heard the phrase, ‘what goes up, must come down’, but when applying this to scaffolds used to promote pupils’ independent working, this can be easier said than done.
Scaffolds are temporary supports which are gradually removed to encourage pupils to work with increasing independence. The importance of careful scaffolding is highlighted in EEF’s ‘SEND in Mainstream’ guidance report, as well as recommendation two of the EEF’s updated ‘Deployment of Teaching Assistants’ guidance report.
Scaffolds come in a range of formats, and can be visual, verbal or written. Common scaffolds include:
Visual: a visual demonstration or model of a task; a series of images to support vocabulary learning
Verbal: pre-teaching a challenging concept to a group of pupils; using verbal prompts or clues to remind pupils of successful strategies
Written: word banks; writing frames; sentence starters
When used well, scaffolds help build independence steadily, over time, ultimately enabling pupils to complete tasks, solve problems, and apply strategies without the need for assistance, increasing their engagement in learning. However, evidence which includes a review of the 52 studies underpinning the EEF’s ‘Deployment of Teaching Assistants’ guidance report emphasises that effective use of scaffolds is nuanced, and that staff members are likely to need training and guidance to help them use these appropriately.
A key principle emphasised in the guidance is that of giving ‘the least amount of support first’. This means encouraging pupils to self-scaffold wherever possible and – only where necessary – offering visual, verbal or written scaffolds to prompt, clue, model or correct when pupils demonstrate they are unable to proceed independently.
Appropriately adapting the level of support offered through scaffolding requires careful thought. Where scaffolding provides too little support, pupils may still lack the knowledge or skills required to attempt tasks independently, with potentially damaging consequences for confidence and engagement. Conversely, where support is too great, tasks become too easy, or pupils may become overly reliant on these temporary tools.
Instead, we are aiming to provide just enough scaffolding to enable pupils to access the task with the minimum degree of support, allowing pupils to work as independently as possible. For example, a TA might speak to a pupil who finds independent writing challenging to encourage them to use self-scaffolding strategies. They might prompt the pupil to consider what difficulties they have encountered during previous writing tasks, and what they could do to overcome these. If the pupil is unable to respond to those prompts, the TA could use clueing questions to help the pupil remember successful strategies.
Over time, approaches like these enable teachers and TAs to carefully reduce the support provided by different scaffolds to gradually equip pupils with the skills and tools they need to help themselves. To help teachers and TAs to identify scaffolds offering an appropriate degree of challenge for pupils, the EEF have produced a scaffolding framework, exemplifying different visual, verbal and written scaffolds which can be used in correcting, modelling, clueing or prompting, as well as pupils’ own independent self-scaffolding.
Using scaffolds effectively requires a deep understanding of the needs of pupils, and the knowledge and skills we want them to acquire. We hope this framework can help teachers and TAs reflect upon the support that they provide, enabling them to provide the scaffolds that pupils need, but not more than they need, ultimately empowering pupils to be both successful – and independent – learners.
Next steps:
For those interested in developing scaffolding, the following three actions may provide a starting point for opening up discussions around this in your contexts:
1. Read Recommendation 2 (pages 11 – 16) of the EEF’s updated ‘Deploying Teaching Assistants’ guidance report.
2. Share the framework with colleagues in your setting, including your senior team.
3. Consider ways in which teachers and TAs can use this scaffolding framework to encourage greater independence for pupils, including identifying areas of strong existing practice that could be shared more widely, alongside any training needs.