Constructivism

Information source: Wikipedia

My 7 year old son is learning to read. Whilst he does this at school in short 10 minute bursts with his teacher or teaching assistant, the bulk of his learning is done at home reading with me or his mum. His progress over the last 2 years has been steady, building on successes and learning from mistakes. There are breakthrough moments where suddenly Sam appears to have made a seemingly large stride, although the reality in my opinion is that the small incremental steps suddenly gel. Sam works well with his Mum and Dad, but can get frustrated when reading alone. We help guide Sam to use techniques and learning strategies to build his confidence, knowledge and reading skills.

The skills in the Zone of Proximal Development (based on the learner in my scenario) that Sam benefits from is effectively coaching - that is building on his previous knowledge and successes, focusing on his strengths, and giving him the mental techniques to help him progress.

In terms of "scaffolding", Sam's Mum and I help him move from struggling to read certain words or phonetics to be able to successfully master the task through guidance, interaction and support.

It seems very much an evolutionary process, but one which will last.