Scaffolded Instruction
Supported teaching is a kind of education that focuses on the provision of temporary supports to students as they progress along the path to acquiring independent, new skills and knowledge. The said method is important because it assists the students in building their independence and self-esteem gradually and at the same time, deepening their understanding and retention of information.
The main elements of scaffolded instruction are the explicit learning objectives, systematic support, the gradual giving of responsibility, and continuous assessment. A case in point, the teacher starts with demonstrating a math problem, then, guides students through similar problems, and at the end allows them to solve problems by themselves while the teacher gives them some tips and corrections.
Scaffolded instruction advantages to the students in a way that it offers them the support which is tailored to their individual learning needs. This can be the key to increasing student involvement, lifting their self-confidence and collaborative problem-solving abilities. For example, when learning a language, a student might first get a list of the vocabulary and sentence structures, and then After modeling these in a guided conversation, the student will say them independently.
One adequate demonstration of scaffolded instruction in a classroom can be a reading lesson where the teacher paces the instruction in the following order: the teacher first reads a text aloud while highlighting key points, next, students may work in pairs to summarize sections of the text, and finally, they could be tasked with writing a personal reflection on the text independently, applying the skills they have learned.
As the key part of scaffolded instruction, assessment is a tool that helps teachers to understand how much support they need and for whom. Formative assessment techniques, for instance, quizzes or classroom observations enable teachers to change their scaffolding strategies based on the students' needs. A case in point is if a pupil has difficulty with a topic, the instructor will give extra materials or provide assistance on a one-on-one basis in order to make sure the student grasps everything correctly before shifting to other subjects.