Jerome Bruner’s 1976 term extended Vygotsky’s Zone of Proximal Development into actionable pedagogy. Good scaffolding is calibrated (matched to the learner’s current edge), contingent (adapts to responses), and fades (withdraws as competence grows).
Poor scaffolding does the opposite: it is generic, static, and permanent. The learner can perform only while the scaffold is in place. Remove it and performance collapses — because the skill never migrated inward.
Fluera’s Socratic hint chain exemplifies faded scaffolding. On the first attempt, hints are absent. On hesitation, a broad hint. On further hesitation, a narrower one. Once you succeed unassisted on a concept twice, that scaffolding level disappears permanently. The AI works to make itself unnecessary.