B8. Why is it important to apply principles of scaffolding to pupil learning in physical education?
Schools form a controlled educational environment for most children from the age of two through to 18. Here children are exposed to their own means of physical activity during this period. It is important to challenge, motivate and encourage success from an early age in a subject like PE and this is why researchers such as Piaget (1932) and Vygotsky (1978) develop models such as scaffolding and Zone of Proximal development (ZPD).
The key principle behind scaffolding is delivering a skill in manageable chunks in order for the student to learn the skill. A practical subject such as PE lends itself is very well suited to this approach. Without the teacher being able to ‘chunk’ the teaching points, provide context and an environment to practice and refine a skill, scaffolding or indeed learning would not take place. In addition to this PE is also an appropriate subject in which to ask questions and develop a child’s ability to recognise that they cannot complete a physical skill without help. Encouraging a student to recognise when and how to seek this help is a vital skill and one which scaffolding promotes though the small chunks of information imparted to the student at any one time. In this sense students experience the reward of learning, not only by being able to do a previous ‘impossible’ skill by knowing when to ask and to be able to solve the problem as a result of asking for help.
There are many benefits associated with scaffolding, these range from providing individualised instruction, engaging the learner, motivation, creating momentum (more time learning and discovering rather than searching for the answer), providing differentiated learning, all of which are key components of teaching PE.
References & Research
Piaget, J. (1932). The moral judgment of the child. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.
Vygotsky, L. S. (1978). Mind in society: The development of higher psychological processes . Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Research
