The days of planning three or four differentiated tasks to modify curriculum content - and expectations - for the pupils in any given class are long gone. Instead, teachers increasingly use adaptive models that focus on adjusting teaching to meet pupils’ needs while maintaining high expectations for all within an inclusive classroom ethos.

One important way that we can adapt teaching to suit the needs of the individual pupils we work with is through scaffolding.

The Education Endowment Foundation’s (EEF) Special Educational Needs in Mainstream Schools guidance identifies scaffolding as one of five essential strategies that are part and parcel of high-quality teaching, and which evidence suggests holds the potential to benefit the learning of all pupils, including those with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).

Scaffolds are intended to be temporary, and the support that they offer should be gradually reduced and removed as pupils develop the knowledge, skills and confidence that they need to complete tasks independently.

The use of scaffolding is well-grounded in research evidence, and various forms of scaffolds have been shown to improve pupil performance across a range of studies (McLeskey et al, 2017).

However, knowing that scaffolds can be useful for all pupils - including those with SEND - is not the same as knowing how to use these effectively in practice.

I find the EEF’s Scaffolding Tool incredibly useful in prompting my own thinking around the different types of scaffolding that are available to me.

This suggests three principal forms of scaffolding:

• Visual: Visual prompts and cues, including checklists, diagrams, graphic organisers, images, concrete manipulatives, visual representations and worked examples.
• Verbal: Questioning, discussion or spoken modelling, feedback and guidance.
• Written: Support for writing, including banks of vocabulary or sentence starters, writing frames, notes or written list of key points to aid recall.

All of these different types of scaffolds can be useful in different situations, and to suit the needs of different pupils at different points in the learning process.

They can be provided by people, resources or technology, and can be planned in advance or offered “in the moment” in response to situations as they arise.

With the range of possible choices and possibilities this presents, when considering how to develop the use of scaffolding in the classroom, it is useful to consider a number of key questions to really explore the potential that these approaches have to offer.

These can be remembered as the what, when, how, who, where and why of scaffolding.

What?

What is the barrier that I am addressing through this particular scaffold?

When identifying possible scaffolds, it is important to consider how these are supporting learning. For example, undergoing a pre-mortem process to identify specific aspects of tasks pupils may find difficult - and considering the reasons underlying this - may help to pinpoint challenges pupils may encounter, making it easier to then consider which scaffolds could be used to help pupils overcome these.

When?

When will pupils use it? For how long? When will it be faded out?

Scaffolds are designed to be temporary; using these too often or for too long may encourage over-reliance, which then prevents pupils from developing independence.

Therefore, we need to think about when scaffolds will be used and for how long.

It is also useful to consider how the scaffold will be gradually faded and removed, guided by our understanding of pupils’ needs from careful formative assessment.

For example, this could be done by reducing the amount of detail or information included in a scaffold over time, or by using this for a shorter period as pupils develop the confidence, knowledge and skills they need.

How?

How will pupils use it? Will this need to be taught?

If we want scaffolds to be used effectively, it isn’t enough to just give these out to pupils, particularly if they are unfamiliar.

Instead, we need to ensure that pupils really know how to use different types of visual, verbal and written scaffolds.

We can do this by providing explanations and modelling to explicitly teach pupils how to use particular scaffolds. For example, employing a Think Aloud approach (Mulholland, 2022) to narrate our thought processes can provide a useful way of modelling the use of scaffolds in action.

It may also be helpful to communicate how different scaffolds support learning. Sharing this rationale encourages pupil buy-in and motivation to use these scaffolds, and can ultimately support the development of pupils’ metacognition by helping them to understand some strategies that can aid their learning.

Similarly, clear communication around the importance of scaffolds as an important tool for all learners can help avoid the perception that these are just for particular pupil groups, or that using them is a sign of weakness.

Who?

Who decides when scaffolds are available? What opportunities are there for pupils to select scaffolds that are appropriate for them?

Identifying potentially useful scaffolds and planning how these will be used is an important element of the role of any teacher. However, if we are always solely responsible for selecting and distributing particular scaffolds for particular tasks, then pupils are missing out on valuable opportunities to act upon their own metacognitive knowledge and develop valuable skills of independent learning.

Once pupils have been taught how to use different scaffolds, it can therefore be helpful to provide some opportunities for them to choose from a range of options according to their own understanding of their specific learning needs for the task, as well as the different approaches that may help them to be successful.

Where?

Where are scaffolds located within the classroom?

If we want pupils to take increasing responsibility for identifying appropriate scaffolds for their own learning - once they are ready to do so - then these need to be visible and available.

When I look back at my own classroom practice, too often, potentially useful scaffolds were hidden away in drawers or cupboards gathering dust, meaning that opportunities were missed to incorporate these responsively into lessons.

One simple way that we can begin to address this is by considering where commonly used scaffolds - whether these are word banks or concrete manipulatives - are stored within the classroom to ensure that these can be easily accessed.

It may also be important to reflect upon classroom routines to ensure that pupils understand that they have permission to seek out appropriate scaffolds as and when they need them.

Why?

Do pupils understand why they are using the scaffold, and how this can be useful?

As a teacher, my ultimate goal is to support pupils to develop the knowledge and skills they need to become independent learners. Being explicit with pupils about why they are being asked to use a specific scaffold, and how this can help them, is one way that we can prepare pupils to help them do this.

This develops pupils’ metacognitive knowledge - their understanding of strategies they can use to help them learn effectively - and, ultimately, prepares pupils to begin assuming responsibility for their own learning by identifying the tools they need to achieve success in a particular task.

Dr Kirstin Mulholland, a former classroom teacher, is a lecturer in education at Northumbria University

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