Scaffold: a card game to revolutionise teaching

Scaffold is a tool, consisting of a deck of 102 cards, created to support educators in designing learning activities and guiding them step-by-step – from planning to assessment.

Scaffold aims at making European competence frameworks simple and easy to use by teachers – and more broadly, by all educators – by combining meaningful learning activities for learners with essential knowledge of what each competence entails, structured with instructional and assessment design prompts (full guide & PowerPoint presentation). 

It is based on the European competence frameworks for digital competences, entrepreneurship competences, sustainability competences, as well as personal, social and learning-to-learn competences. It shows how the development of these competences could be addressed comprehensively in both formal and non-formal learning contexts, and how multiple learning outcomes could be integrated when designing curricula, teaching and assessment methods. 

Scaffold also demonstrates the links between transversal competences common for all competence frameworks and helps teachers to identify and cluster learning outcomes according to the teaching objectives, available resources, learning spaces and teaching duration.

To be used before entering the classroom, Scaffold also guides teachers/educators on how to articulate and deliver lessons and learning activities. It is suitable for any subject area and could be applied at any level of the education system or for any type of non-formal learning. 

The Scaffold cards serve as ‘bricks’ helping educators in building learning experiences creatively, according to their goals and learner needs. As a set of cards, Scaffold is portable and easy to use in collaboration. It has a fluid structure to encourage creativity and it can be scaled according to user needs.

Learning is like a tower, you have to build it step by step.

Scaffold has been produced jointly by the European Training Foundation, in the framework of its Creating New Learning initiative, and the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre, in the context of its work on key competences with the Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion.

Interested in using Scaffold? Here are some useful resources: video, brief guide, PowerPoint presentation, full guide and deck of cards that can be printed in either black and white or colour. The brief guide, the full guide and the cards are available in Kazakh, Kyrgyz, Russian, Tajik, Turkmen, Ukrainian and Uzbek – see Scaffold. Please note that we are not able to send decks of cards by post. If you would like to translate Scaffold in your national language, you may ask us for the source files. 

Scaffold: Bringing key competences into the educational practice

 Through this course, educators – teachers, trainers, coaches, mentors - and learning and assessment designers are invited to explore the role of key competences in modern education through an engaging, action-based, online training. Designed to foster lifelong learning, the course delves into how European key competences shape teaching and learning practices. Following this training, the teacher trainers and teachers learn how to develop key competences of learners using integrated learning outcomes’ (cross-curricula) approach and master the European competence frameworks (EntreComp, DigComp, LifECompand GreenComp). The course is built around the ”Scaffold card deck” tool offering a structured approach to integrating competence-based learning into education and training programmes. 

The course participants learn to use the ”Scaffold” cards to create competence-focused learning experiences and design course curricula – from one lesson-long to whole-year-long. During the course, participants engage in interactive discussions and hands-on activities on the EU Academy platform, gaining practical experience in designing learning activities, topics, or modules. The course is based on a micro-credential model. 

The course has been first piloted and implemented in Ukraine in close partnership with the Ministry of Education and Science. Approximately 750 national, regional trainers and teachers took the course and received certificates in 2025 as part of the national teacher professional development system under the New Ukrainian School (NUS) reform. Teachers and trainers received professionally printed Scaffold cards in Ukrainian and developed competences and hands-on experience to effectively integrate Scaffold into their curriculum and lesson planning.

 Starting from October 2025, the training course “Scaffold: Bringing key competences into the educational practice” became also available in English. This online course is delivered via a synchronous and asynchronous learning modality, combining instructor-led online sessions with self-paced learning modules on the EU Academy platform. This course could not be taken in self-paced mode, since it is offered periodically and participants receive a link to the course from the training organisers, as part of the group and according to the specific training schedule.  You will find information about new course training opening on this website.

 For more information, please write to: NewLearning@etf.europa.eu or contact the ETF “Key Competence and Curricula development” cluster via the ETF contacts.