Chapter 7-scaffolding

What the devil is scaffolding?
Scaffolding allows students to build upon their own theories of aspects of the world to bring those theories closer to what is real in the world. Children have their own set of schemas on how they personally see the world. Sometimes, these theories are inaccurate and may keep the students from understanding vital concepts of curriculum.
So what? An example appropriate use of scaffolding is evolution. There are a lot of students that shutter at the very word of evolution. It's been proven that animals adapt to the environments around them, but the very mention of "evolution" could keep students from grasping this basic concept. Their original schema is that there is no revolution, so it's important for a science teacher to talk about this in a way that the student can hold on to their religious beliefs AND understand science.
Now what?
Teachers have a variety of options to help them use scaffolding properly. Teachers need their students to ask "why" and "how" questions. Close ended questions are definitely not the most effective way to teach at a secondary level. Students start to think outside of the box as they get older. Those new skills need to be put to use for students to understand why things happen. It's especially important in history to understand the how's and why's, because history is more than just a regurgitation(sic) of facts. Students need to ask those particular questions about past events, so they can understand current events and potential events.