3 Classroom Seating Strategies that Work
A teacher’s best laid plans can often fall foul to mischief if there is a failure to think carefully about seating arrangements. Who should sit where and next to whom? Whilst such arrangements should never be a permanent fixture, there should be a default seating plan, designed to get the most out of students.
Many schools operate a system where it is the teacher that moves from class to class rather than the students. A default seating plan should be discussed by all teachers in order to limit the movement of students each lesson. However, let me make it clear that I am not talking about a seating arrangement for all lessons, rather a seating arrangement for most lessons, and that this default seating arrangement should be reviewed regularly by all teachers involved in the class.
A teacher’s mindset is central to ensuring that seating arrangements promote learning on a variety of fronts. It is important that teachers view themselves primarily as teachers of students rather than as teachers of a subject. This mindset often feeds a motivation to develop the whole child rather than focusing just on the knowledge and skills to be assessed. The IB MYP places such a mindset at the heart of its curriculum. It is a must rather than an optional expectation, or even a distant hope. Something as simple as the seating arrangements of students in a classroom can help promote such a holistic approach to education.
The scenario presented below is perhaps an experience many of us can identify with:
Picture it…. First day of term - you arrive at your Grade 7 class. Tables are arranged in Squares or L shapes to allow for collaborative learning. Good start you think, and then you look at the seating arrangements ...
The Norwegian girls are on table 1
The English cohort are on table 5
The Middle-Eastern boys are on table 2
The Black Caribbean boys are on table 3
And the remaining girls are on table 4
To leave the seating arrangements as they are, would, in my opinion, conflict with the very essence of what it means to be a teacher. Whilst, I might be stating the obvious to many, year on year I have seen the acceptance of such seating arrangements by some classroom teachers. What message are we sending out to our students by not taking action to change these seating arrangements? Are we reinforcing undesirable and counter acceptance values?
Below are three strategies to try at the start of each year to help promote a positive learning culture:
Strategy 1: Stick and Carrot Approach
The teacher creates the seating plan for the students based on existing knowledge of the students ensuring that undesirable groupings by gender and/or ethnicity do not occur. Students are given a promise that for every term they positively embrace the teacher’s seating arrangements they will be allowed ½ a term to sit in the seats of their choice.
Strategy 2: The Illusion of Choice
Students are given 5 minutes at the start of a lesson to arrange their seating based on a set criteria. For example, on your table there must be:
- Two different nationalities
- A minimum of one girl
- Each table must have a student from Norway
The seating specification should be designed to support diversity, and maximise learning by separating students who have the ability to disrupt one another without actually telling them to move. This can be a powerful tool when reminding students that they chose the seat - should they be straying off task. It eradicates the resentment sometimes felt by students when they are moved initially to a seat they don’t want to sit in when challenged. With this approach, the student (apparently) made the decision.
Strategy 3: Self/Peer Assessed Seating Arrangements
Ask students to sit where they will learn the most. Use De Bono’s Thinking Hats or something similar to get students to reflect on their own seating arrangements and that of another table. Students should then provide feedback. Then, again ask students to sit where they will learn the most. You may be pleasantly surprised.
Please remember that most strategies become ineffective without timely and appropriate action should students not maintain a positive focus on learning.
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