The early history of the scaffolding metaphor: Bernstein, Luria, Vygotsky, and before

Figures & data

Figure 1. The number of publications that use the term scaffolding in their title or keywords according to the Scopus database. Note. The search was limited to social science and psychology subject areas.

Table 1. The main examples of the scaffolding metaphor that allow reconstruction of its possible history.

Author, year	Original word	Context (interpretation)	Metaphorical connotations
Hegel, 1812	Gerüst (German), in English translated as scaffolding	Categorical consequences of sensory experience as an illusion of scaffolding of a physical laws’ proof. It falls away at the next turn of scientific endeavor, but its core may be preserved due to the peculiarity of sublation (see footnote 4).	Skeleton of a building Temporary construction
Marx, 1847	Échafaudage (French) (in Russian translated as здания, строительные леса)	A skeleton of categories as a scaffolding of ideas that is empty and arbitrary unless the categories have immersed in practice and obtained from there in the analysis.	Skeleton of a building Temporary construction
Lenin, 1901, and other revolutionaries	Строительные леса	Support for the process of ideology spreading or of establishing of communism. The revolutionary means are temporary until the building of communism will stand on its own.	Temporary construction Support of the workers or of the building
Vygotsky, 1929	леса	An analogy between a word and an instrument as the scaffolding of the future theory. Approximation of the future theory by previous theoretical construction.	Temporary construction Approximation of a future building
Luria,1929	“в лесах”	A description of walking skill at the early stages of development: a child is supported by external objects and a parent’s hands while walking, and later this function is replaced by internal neurodynamic processes.	Temporary help by external tools Replacement of a scaffold by the built construction
Bernstein, 1947 and approximately 1949	Строительные леса	A metaphorical description of the development of motor control functional system that consists of a leading level and lower levels. The leading level plays a role of scaffolding for the background levels. In 1949 this process is explained by two metaphors: “crutches” take part in realization of the action and “scaffolding” provides the sensory feedback about the action fulfillment.	Temporary help by external tools Replacement of a scaffold by the built construction

Figure 2. Diverse constructive contrivances that may be referred to as scaffolding.

The image (a) was retrieved from https://pixabay.com/en/scaffold-scaffolding-site-build-2710842/

The image (b) was retrieved from https://fr.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fichier:One_Times_Square_under_construction_1903.jpg