Scaffolding refers to a process in which teachers model or demonstrate how to solve a problem, and then step back, offering support to students as needed. It has mainly three features: contingency, fading, and transfer of responsibility A teaching strategy that enhances, encourages, and enables learning and helps students implement constructivism in the classroom is scaffolding. Scaffolding helps students to become independent and self-regulating learners and problem solvers. Besides, it facilitates students’ ability to build on prior knowledge and helps them to internalise new information. The teacher, as the scaffolder, uses different concepts, materials and tools and technologies to support students in their learning activities. It can be used at any point of interaction between teachers and students. In scaffolding, each and every student is encouraged to participate actively and given opportunity to progress faster. Weak students are given better attention together with the opportunity to progress at a slower pace. So scaffolding refers to a process in which teachers model or demonstrate how to solve a problem, and then step back, offering support to students as needed. It assumes that when students are given the support they need while learning something new, they stand a better chance of using that knowledge independently. Scaffolding has mainly three features: contingency, fading, and transfer of responsibility. In contingency, the teacher, as the scaffolder, continuously evaluates the students’ performance and provides appropriate support in specific tasks through students’ current strengths and weaknesses in dealing with textual information. In fading, the teacher gradually withdraws the scaffolding as students at a certain point of time become able to carry out tasks independently. This is the stage where teacher support is no longer required. Likewise in the transfer of responsibility, the responsibility of performing tasks is gradually transferred from teacher to the students, which is normally referred as students’ cognitive and meta-cognitive activities. Scaffolding is based on Lev Vygotsky’s concept of Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD). The ZPD is the distance between what children can do by themselves and the next learning that they can be helped to achieve with competent assistance. As per Vygotsky, children who are able to perform their tasks at a particular cognitive level in cooperation and collaboration with others and with adults will be able to perform at a higher level. And this difference between the two levels is the child’s “Zone of Proximal Development”. Vygotsky defined scaffolding instruction as the “role of teachers and others in supporting the learner’s development and providing support structures to get to next stage or level”. It emphasises active participation of students’ and a greater degree of control from students over their learning, making their learning much more effective and helping them in their cognitive development. If a teacher can apply the scaffolding strategy in teaching-learning activities in classroom, it definitely helps students to become self-regulated, independent and a problem solver, which ultimately helps in upgrading the quality, learning outcome and cognitive development of students. Vygotsky claims that: “Every function in the child’s cultural development appears twice, at two levels -- at the social level and later at the psychological level – or first between people as an inter-psychological category and then inside the child as an intra-psychological category. So a child develops his or her intellect through internalising concepts based on his or her own interpretation of an activity that occurs in a social setting. Vygotsky believed that any child could be taught any subject effectively using scaffolding techniques by applying the scaffolds at the ZPD. The ZPD is one of the two aspects highlighted in the social development theory developed by Vygotsky who had contributed greatly to the field of cognitive development and psychology. Therefore, if we can bring scaffolding in the classroom activities, it promotes and encourages the cognitive level of the students and become more critical in learning that put aside the rote and memorising way of learning. One of the main benefits of scaffolding instruction/strategy is that it provides for a supportive and conducive learning environment to the students. In a scaffolding learning environment, students are not only free to ask questions, provide feedback, support their peers in learning new material and make themselves more responsible and accountable towards their duties but equally make them to move beyond their current skills and knowledge levels. Unless students themselves become responsible in their learning no effort of other things work. So, by applying scaffolding in the classroom, one can make the students more responsible in their learning activities and can expect good learning outcome. When we incorporate scaffolding in classroom, we become more of a mentor and facilitator of knowledge rather than the dominant content expert as a teacher. This teaching style or methodology provides the incentive for students to take  more active role in their own learning by sharing the responsibilities and become able to take ownership of the learning as well. The successful implementation of scaffolding in classroom make students explain and justify their solutions Joshi is faculty member Patan Multiple Campus