Scaffolding for a solid start

Why is it so important to plan and arrange for a good start? There are many good reasons, and one of them is that a successful university education is very much about relations. To build sustainable relations and a sense of belonging you may also need support and a context. A sense of security will help new students to start communicating with peers. University staff and teachers can create that safe structure deliberately.

A neglected introduction may spoil a whole course. I have seen it and I have been the one to blame. I have also seen the rise of collective learning, peer support, laughter and friendship in groups of international master students and I have known that our meticulously organised introduction weeks, workshops, carefully prepared information portfolios and potluck dinners contributed to the good results.

I have treated myself with a new book for the holiday, Relationship-Rich Education (Felten and Lambert 2020), and I am hoping it will provide support to what I know already, but cannot fully express in words. Making efforts to build relations in the beginning can pave the way for a successful education.

Learning together makes independent learners. No, it is not a paradox. A lot of support in the beginning also makes independent learners. As confidence is growing, the support can be taken away, gradually.

Scaffolding, in a learning context, emphasize the social and cultural basis of learning and that learning occurs during interaction between individuals (Vygotsky 1978). Initially it was about learning among children, but we can apply the ideas to adult learners as well. With the help of teachers and peers, we can enter the zone of proximal development (Vygotsky’s concept), practice and learn, and gradually reach knowledge and competences that used to be beyond our abilities.

I tend to focus on the same things in my professional life as in my personal life. It could mean that I am authentic, or that I am narrow-minded. Privately, I am good at fixing parties. I do the planning and the shopping and most of the cooking and I usually create a couple of new dishes along the way. When all the guests have arrived and the food is ready, I often get the impulse that I would rather slip away and let people enjoy themselves without me. (I actually did that on my 50^th birthday event – I left the kitchen and went for a run and a swim in the lake. I came back again, and it was a very nice party.)

For my parties I need people around who can set the table, make sure there are chairs for everyone, prepare coffee, mingle, and take care of the dishes afterwards. I put all my energy in planning and preparing the food, and trust my family to handle the rest (and they do).

What I have learned in ONL and in my PBL-group is to stay around and to participate a bit more. We have challenged each other, but gradually and at a moderate level.

In my previous blog, I promised to identify why PBL07 worked so well together. Not easy. ONL has been around for some time and with the benefit of hindsight, it is possible to perceive the logical structure, the scaffolds, and the support provided, as necessary elements of the course. All this in addition to the contents. We started slowly, were given manageable tasks, and the frames were bendable enough to provide room for creativity. And in case we wanted to explore anything further we could do that individually in our blogs.

In the end it was up to us, because even with a perfectly planned setup and good support there can be frictions and stagnation in a group. We, PBL07, managed to build trust and good relations from the start, despite being different. Maybe we are just perfectly different.

Haiku coda:

Context is the key
Universities will bloom
Secure students learn