The social cultural and emotional dimensions of scaffolding

Scaffolding as a metaphor for teaching and learning will necessarily remain evocative and an issue of continuing debate. I propose that scaffolding should be framed and researched with greater emphasis on its cultural, social and emotional dimensions. Scaffolding has been studied in this issue as a complex process involving a variety of contexts. I suggest that those researchers who focus on scaffolding in whole class contexts could benefit from considering a range of hybrid social formats (beyond the enduring IRE format) within which scaffolding might be designed and enacted. These hybrid formats provide the context for enacting a culturally responsive form of scaffolding in the classroom. Finally, I address the importance of the affective dimension as an enabling condition for scaffolding to be effective, whether between a teacher and a class, or within a dyadic relationship.