Scaffolding in teacher-student interaction : an operationalization for evaluation in educational and clinical settings

Italian educational context is currently undergoing many important changes, showing the emergence of more complex and heterogeneous classrooms. The concept of scaffolding has actually been largely analyzed by educational researchers in the last decades. It has been defined as one of the key features of children's learning, which often appears to be “guided by others”. Scaffolding is a dynamic and everchanging process, in which the teacher/educator/therapist constantly evaluates the student's needs and acquisition levels and adapts his/her support depending on the situation. Despite its importance, the agreement about its definition and evaluation is scarce. The goal of this study was then to create an assessment tool which can be effectively implemented by professionals in education to better analyze students' performance and provide individualized support enhancing learners' independence.