Contingent scaffolding: knowing when to step back

Should you never do for a child what they can do for themselves? This week’s QT Conversations starts with that parenting-class maxim and quickly turns to “it depends.” Julia Silver and Qualified Tutor members talk about scaffolding as something that responds to the student in front of you on that particular day. Strong relationships are what make that possible. In this episode: • Why a scaffold left up too long becomes a cage • Stripping a task back to the learning objective to protect cognitive load • Colour-coding, PEAL frames and “What do I see? What do I know?” as scaffolds students can take away and use alone • Letting students choose how much support they want • Unconscious competence, and why reflective tutors make it conscious • Using AI to get feedback on your own sessions • With: Frankie Atkinson, Alex Iltchev, Lucy Mebarki, Dee Atkins-Greig, Colin Watts, Mia Frost, Margaret Mary McFadyen and MJ. Join the conversation every Thursday at Qualified Tutor.