Instructional scaffolding (also known as educational scaffolding) refers to the process of supporting students as they work to achieve educational goals that they would be unable to accomplish on their own.
Just as construction workers add temporary scaffolding to buildings, teachers can use instructional scaffolding techniques to put temporary “props” in place as students “build up” their skills and knowledge. Eventually, once the student has been sufficiently trained, the scaffolding can gradually fade away and be removed.