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Differentiate when necessary. In the beginning, all students should receive the same level of support. As students become more independent, however, instruction and support can be differentiated to meet the needs and comfort levels of each individual learner. In order to include all learners, I aim to implement differentiation appropriately such as switching lines, breaking down learners into smaller groups for performances, carrying out exercises in pairs etc for all learners at varied abilities to feel acknowledged.

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Use demonstrations frequently- I think it is vital within dance to demonstrate both physically and vocally in order for learners to understand the alignment, dynamic and quality of certain movements. Therefore, I will continue my professional development within dance in order to demonstrate skills correctly and effectively.

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Make connections. Whenever possible, teachers should connect new material to students’ existing knowledge for example when learning a new style or movement through questioning I will ask who has experience within this and ask to give an example.

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Allow students to ask questions. Letting my learners ask questions at regular intervals during the lesson plan helps students enhance their understanding by clearing up misconceptions when they occur, rather than at the end of the discussion.

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Teach key vocabulary in advance. When learning new material, students may be confused by terminology they don’t understand. I aim to encourage learners to update their knowledge using apps such as ballet lite.

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Use visual aids- A technique I like to utilise and will continue to include within my teaching is using imagery in order for learners to develop movement terminology in order to meet the needs of visual learners.

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Tackle material in chunks- I aim to break down choreography into smaller chucks to ensure students are confident with the material before progressing. It is vital I carry out assessment throughout in order to acknowledge when to continue and meet the needs of all learners.

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With embedded scaffolding, wrong answers are met with just-in-time assistance, leading to a powerful teaching opportunity that benefits each child where they need it most.

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Generates formative data that is useful to educators. 

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Generates formative data that is useful to educators. 

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When students encounter instructional scaffolding as they are assessed, their responses are aligned to their zone of proximal development. Educators can use this data to inform teaching in the zone.

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An assessment that offers scaffolding in response to incorrect answers maximises learning and eliminates the potential anxiety caused by a too-difficult task. Additionally,  scaffolding serves as feedback about correctness, preventing misconceptions from taking hold and resolving uncertainty that may otherwise pervade the assessment experience.

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Being inherently responsive to each child’s needs, scaffolding enables students to maintain engagement and motivation to complete assessment tasks.

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The term scaffolding refers to a process of teaching. In scaffolding, teachers model and/or demonstrate how to solve a problem for their students. They then let the students try to solve the problem themselves by taking a step back and only giving support when needed. (UoPeople,2020).

The reference to scaffolding is because the teaching/learning process gradually sheds layers of assistance as students progress and absorb new knowledge.

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Scaffolding is a term that sprung out of the concept of the ZPD. It refers to the help or guidance from an adult or more competent peer to allow the child to work within the ZPD. Just as in a building project, the scaffolding is erected to support the building process, but then removed when it is no longer needed.

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Chances are, if you work with young children you've heard the terms "Scaffolding" and the "Zone of Proximal Development", or "ZPD", but you may be a bit hazy on what they actually mean. Here's a little refresher!

The term, "Zone of Proximal Development" was coined by Russian psychologist and developmental theorist, Lev Vygotsky. He posited that a child's true intelligence should be measured not by what he could do independently (as in standardized testing) but by what he could do with help from an adult or more competent peer (similar to cooperative learning). The "Zone" refers to the area of growth between what the child can do on his own and his frustration level. For example, imagine the typical preschooler, who can count 1-10, no problem, but those tricky teens trip her up every time. (Eleventeen, anyone?) She can count 10-20 with your help. That is her ZPD for counting. Eventually, with your guidance, she will be able to count 10-20 independently. Working with this child on something like counting by sevens would be far beyond the ZPD, and cause frustration. Giving too much help with counting 1-10 would be working below the ZPD and would likely cause boredom. Working within the ZPD is ideal because that is the area where the child is already growing. To take directly from the term, "proximal", the ZPD envelopes those skills that the child is "close" to mastering.

Scaffolding is a term that sprung out of the concept of the ZPD. It refers to the help or guidance from an adult or more competent peer to allow the child to work within the ZPD. Just as in a building project, the scaffolding is erected to support the building process, but then removed when it is no longer needed. Parents often hold their toddlers hands as they learn to walk. That is scaffolding. You don't find many parents still trying to steady their five year olds as they walk across the living room. That is because the scaffolding, when no longer needed, is removed.

In order to properly scaffold a child, you must come to the child's level and then build from there. Just as a mason would carefully lay brick, row by row, as he climbs the scaffolding, we must build children gradually as we scaffold. Simply jumping in and expecting a child to perform at mastery level is like climbing to the top of the scaffolding and dropping bricks down into place at the bottom! When we don't properly scaffold our children, and hold them to standards above their ZPD, they feel as though every one of those bricks is landing on their heads!

It is important to recognize that the ZPD is very individualized. While the majority of three year olds may have similar skill levels, each one is at a different individual level on any given skill.

Here's an example of scaffolding from the Sign in activity. For some children, simply identifying their names is a task that requires support. As that task is mastered the child may need encouragement to attempt to write at all, or he may want you to hold his hand as he forms the letters, or he may want a dotted outline to trace, eventually he is writing his name on his own, perhaps with some backwards letters at first, and finally in a conventional manner. Each step is an accomplishment to be celebrated! As the child's ability changes, we change the support we give.

Take some time to think about your own classroom or children. Choose a skill you are working towards mastery with them. Assess what you believe the ZPD is for each of your children and break down the task into individual skills that can be scaffolded. When we properly support our children, they grow both in skill and in confidence!
Photo provided by 001099.

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Chances are, if you work with young children you've heard the terms "Scaffolding" and the "Zone of Proximal Development", or "ZPD", but you may be a bit hazy on what they actually mean. Here's a little refresher! The term, "Zone of Proximal Development" was coined by Russian psychologist and developmental theorist, Lev Vygotsky.

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Scaffolding allows children to solve a problem or carry out a task that is beyond their current abilities. Practitioners are there to build a bridge between a child's existing knowledge and their new knowledge. That way, children can build upon the skills they already have.

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General possible scaffolding in the classroom examples include:

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General possible scaffolding in the classroom examples include:

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Breaking up the Learning into Chunks.
Show and tell.
Tap into prior knowledge.
Give time to talk.
Pre-teach vocabulary.
Use visual aids.
Questioning
Review

Using Prior Knowledge.

Gradual Release of Responsibility.