terms (an incremental process) and, slowly, withdraw support to encourage pupils to
work independently and take ownership of their learning.
4/good: Instead of telling us what to do, they told us like a topic. Not really that ‘you
have to do this!’ Just a way of doing something. We had to figure it out and do it in
our own ways.
These comments echo the notion of ‘scaffolding’, a metaphor used to define aspects
of Vygotsky’s ZPD process [10]. Here a teacher or peer provides pupils with
assistance in those tasks or concepts that they are unable to tackle on their own,
providing positive reinforcement and praise even when ‘errors’ occur. As Benson
claims: ‘Scaffolding is actually a bridge used to build upon what pupils already know
to arrive at something they do not know. If scaffolding is properly administered, it
will act as an enabler, not as a disabler’ [11].
1/resistant: I think you need to be quite positive a lot of the time and use constructive
criticism instead of just pointing out negative aspects.
Mutuality
While most pupils recognise that supportive structures are important in making
learning possible, they prefer pedagogic relationships in which there is mutual
respect. As hooks claims: ‘respect... is essential if we are to provide the necessary
conditions where learning can most deeply and intimately begin’ [12]. Both the most
positive and the most negative comments by pupils relate to these relationships.