Journal
BRITISH JOURNAL OF EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY
Volume 87, Issue 2, Pages 241-254Publisher
WILEY
DOI: 10.1111/bjep.12147
Keywords
scaffolding; individual differences; contingent response; parent-child interactions
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Funding
- Economic and Social Research Council
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BackgroundScaffolding can be observed during learning-based interactions, when interventions by parents are adjusted according to children's observed abilities, with the main goal of enabling the child to work independently (Wood etal., 1976, Journal of child psychology and psychiatry, 17, 89). Such contingent instruction behaviours occur from infancy, and are said to be relevant for children's development of executive function, language acquisition, and cognitive and academic abilities. Scaffolding behaviours are considered a product of the family and the wider context, a process affected by parent and child characteristics, and the environment they inhabit. Over 40years of scaffolding research has produced an abundance of findings. Early investigations were concerned with the conceptualization of scaffolding, whereas more recent studies build upon the theory, testing its correlates and relevance for child development. AimsThis article offers an overview of the literature, focusing on the relevance of scaffolding for child developmental outcomes, and the factors associated with individual differences in the process. StructureThe article is structured such that the origins of the theory and its definitions are discussed first, followed by an overview of the correlates of scaffolding. The review concludes with a critical evaluation of the literature, proposing novel avenues for future research.
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