Scaffolding

Scaffolding is the instructional principle of providing structured support that enables a learner to reach an outcome they couldn't reach unaided, then progressively removing that support as the learner's capability grows. Originating in Vygotsky's Zone of Proximal Development and formalized by Wood, Bruner, and Ross, scaffolding describes both the in-session moves a builder makes — worked examples, guided practice, prompts — and the longer arc of a multi-session program, where each retrieval and each new application rests on the one before it. Spaced retrieval is scaffolding applied to memory itself: each rung builds on the last.