The Impact of Organization: Classroom Seating
Seating arrangements influence classroom social behaviors, sources of knowledge, and the allocation of responsibilities. Social behaviors adapt based on who is in a student’s group of accessible people. Traditionally, this is just the teacher, but it can be expanded outwards to include small groups or even the whole classroom. Sources of knowledge adjust to include additional sources beyond the teacher’s words. A traditionally arranged classroom can achieve this if the teacher focuses on it, but alternative arrangements come with an in-built assumption that information can come from other sources, not just from the teacher’s lecture. Finally, the perceptions of responsibilities are altered, focusing around self-agency and empowerment to fulfill your own needs, changes based on the rules of interaction. However, I assume a typical set of rules in each seating arrangement, though it is certainly possible to put into place one seating arrangement and use the rules of another. We won’t delve into that in this study.
In traditional rows, the classroom is arranged such that each student sits individually in a grid pattern at their own desk. Rules and procedures can be dictated or created; however, this seating arrangement comes with some built-in assumptions that play a large role.
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Students have an expectation to be quiet
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Students receive knowledge from the teacher
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Students raise their hand if they need anything outside their immediate space, but otherwise follow instructions independently with interacting with other students
In a small groups arrangement, student desks can be combined or tables can be set in such a way that 3 to 5 students might face each other and work together.
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Students talk to each other loud enough to be heard by all group members
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Students receive knowledge from the teacher but help on following instructions from teammates
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Students raise their hand on behalf of the entire group if anything outside their immediate space is needed, often discussing the needs with the group prior to requesting help
In open layouts with activity centers and movable desks, seating is arranged to accommodate specific types of work. A photography center might have a seat for a photographer and assistant, and a place to stand for the student being photographed. Or a hot glue station might be established at a table with standing-room only.
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Students sometimes talk loud enough to be heard across the room, if they are working in groups but have group members dispersed across activity centers
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Students receive knowledge from activity centers, and this can be from either a teacher, another student, or a mechanical source like a book or tablet.
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Students approach the teacher if they need anything not available from the classroom activity centers or their classmates. Sometimes students might yell across the room, but this should be corrected to a lower volume.
Personal Preference
In the majority of my classes and class plans, I use the “small groups” layout. It appeals to me because I enjoy the mildly similar classroom mood to a traditional layout, which results in students being able to fall back on learned behaviors and expectations in times of confusion or stress. This is not an ideal scenario, but I recognize that my teaching desires do not immediately translate to teaching capabilities. I feel that this compromise between “what I believe in” and “what I believe I can do” is reasonable and ultimately the most beneficial scenario for my students.
Many teachers see a changing seating arrangement to be the best, “flexible seating options are lifesavers. Students learn differently and have different bodily-spatial and kinesthetic needs.” (Petlak, 2015, para. 2). This is true, but generally changing layouts mid-class will take 10 minutes at least.
I run open layouts frequently, and often experience too-much noise, confusion around the value of knowledge, and a messy space. I take advantage of relative quietness, implied teacher-based knowledge source, and implication that all needed materials are at the group table. On top of this, I discuss with the class special rules or procedures that we can implement during activities. This is in line with Paulo Friere’s ideas regarding participatory and democratic classrooms (McLaren, pg. 32). I lead these procedures to empower non-teacher knowledge sources and give some freedom to group representatives to move about the classroom gathering materials or getting help from other groups.
Conclusion
We have reviewed three student seating arrangements and seen pros and cons for each of them in three different categories. I hope this gives a clear description of my personal preference, and a situation that I believe occurs in many classrooms where teachers seek to adopt progressive methods but are limited by class time, training resources, and assessment flexibility.
References
Petlak, L. (2015). Functional, flexible classroom seating options. Retrieved from https://www.scholastic.com/teachers/blog-posts/lindsey-petlak/functional-flexible-classroom-seating-options/
McLaren, P., & Leonard, P. (1993). Paulo Freire: A critical encounter. London: Routledge.