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Scaffolding
Guidance Without Capture
"Support should fade at the pace of learning."
Definition
Scaffolding is structured support that enables mastery and withdraws as understanding strengthens.
Essence
No system sustains itself without guidance, yet guidance that never recedes becomes control. Scaffolding allows capability to emerge—enough stability to begin, enough challenge to grow.
Practice
- In interfaces, scaffolding is clarity of sequence and feedback.
- In education, it is support that recedes with fluency.
- In organizations, it is mentorship that turns into trust.
- To scaffold is to care structurally, not sentimentally.
Ethical Tension
Too little scaffolding breeds confusion; too much breeds dependence. The moral balance is timing—knowing when to hold and when to release.
Heuristics
- Build with exit in mind.
- Teach the logic beneath the surface.
- Use defaults as invitations, not cages.
- Remove assistance with gratitude; the user's independence is success.