Seating Arrangements in the Classroom

Seating Arrangements in the Classroom

Seating arrangements are much more complex than students imagine. A proper and suitable seating arrangement can help a class thrive, but a poorly designed or chosen arrangement may result in classroom disorder. Seating arrangements are the key to classroom management and organization. Not only do they determine how well the teacher maintains control, but they also balance class dynamics. Teachers therefore must take several factors into consideration before settling on a seat arrangement, such as. how the teacher-student relationships will vary, how the arrangement will affect the classroom atmosphere, which arrangements allow the teacher to maintain control over the classroom, how it will affect the teacher?s role, how well the students can still communicate, how it works with the size of the group, and how it works with different activities (ITTT, 7). Additionally, the learning environment should be designed according to learning objectives and desired outcomes, and what the teacher wants the lesson to accomplish (Huntington College). The teacher also needs to take into consideration the his or her mobility throughout the room, the type of work that will typically be done in the class, whether it is group work, whole class or pair work, whether the teacher can establish collective and individual contact with all students, and the visibility of all the students to the teacher and the board and vice versa.

There are several different seating arrangements that help the teacher best facilitate the type of classroom setting that would meet his or her classroom management goals. The three most popular arrangements are orderly rows, circles and horseshoes, and small groupings of desks. 

In orderly rows, the teacher has a clear view of the students, the students can all see the teacher, and the teacher can maintain eye contact with everyone. This set-up is best for lecturing and other whole class activities such as testing (ITTT, 8). It is also an efficient use of space for packing in desks, and it gives everyone easy access to seats and facilitates good teacher mobility (Huntington College). This arrangement allows the teacher to monitor the students? work and encourages the student to keep on task throughout the activity (Education World). Though this has always been the traditional way, it also has its downfalls, such as mostly one-way communication, and sometimes the teacher can not always see the students in the back (NW link). 

Other options for seating arrangements include circles and horseshoe, in which the teacher?s position is less dominating, there is less of a feeling of separation in the classroom, everyone is more focused on the lesson, all students have eye contact with their class members, and the room is more intimate, (ITTT, 8). This set- up is typically best for pair work, and it is good for encouraging discussions and debates (Huntington). Due to this reason, it is used commonly in high school and college settings where discussion based classrooms are more prominent. The teacher can also nonverbally encourage participation by allowing eye contact between him or her and the learners. This also allows the teacher to move closer to each learner, and this arrangement works well when all learners must be able to see a demonstration (NW link). Circles are the most democratic way to arrange a classroom because everyone is on the same level and it encourages the most participation (NW link).

As for small groups of desks, they are informal, easy for teacher to go from group to group, and are best for small group work on exercises and projects (ITTT, 8). Unfortunately, this set-up is prone to discipline problems, so a teacher has to be careful when using this arrangement when planning which students will sit where.

Seating arrangements, though seen by students as a link to their social life, are actually carefully prepared and well thought-out plans that have a great impact on the overall classroom setting and learning experience. Teachers should take great care to plan their seating arrangements to get the most out of their students and themselves. 

Seating Arrangements in the Classroom

Some people might think it is not so important where and how the students sit in the classroom. When they arrive for the first time, they leave it up to the students how they want to arrange the classroom and start teaching afterwards. 

Great care must be taken with this perception though. There are many different ways to arrange the classroom and each one of them has its own benefits and disadvantages. There is no ‘best seating arrangement’ for classes in general though. It depends on the available space, the type of chairs and tables, the age and personality of the students and the type of lesson that has been planned. The teacher must always take this into consideration and should plan very carefully how to arrange the classroom.

The most common seating arrangements are mentioned below. Each one of them will be discussed in greater detail afterwards with their own characteristics.

Orderly rows 

Pairs

Groups / clusters 

Horseshoes

Orderly rows

The tables are placed in well-organised rows. This is the traditional form of a classroom. Advantages of this are that the teacher can see all students, move freely around the classroom and can gain the attention of all the students. The main disadvantage is that there is very little scope for student interaction. 

When teaching adults, this method is usually not recommended. In some cases, it can be beneficial when teaching young children though. Children can be noisy and are sometimes difficult to control. By placing the tables in rows, there will be very little possibility to talk and to play with other students. If the teacher has too many difficulties with the class, this will make his job a bit easier! Larger class sizes may also be a reason to use this method. Another reason to place the tables in rows is when a test is being given. This will make sure, for children and adults, that the cheating possibilities will be minimised. 

Pairs

Tables are placed in well-organised rows but in pairs of two. The teacher can see all students clearly and can walk around without any problems. The main advantage of this arrangement is that the students can work together in pairs. They can help each other and motivate each other. Working in pairs can be very beneficial for the students. This method is recommended when teaching young children. Make sure though you keep control of the class. Students have the opportunity to talk to each other so if they get bored it will be noisy.

Groups / clusters

This arrangement consists of a small number of students sitting together in a group. 

One of the advantages is that students can easily communicate together. Especially during activities this can be very useful. The teacher can focus his attention on a group in particular without disturbing the others. Motivation from the students is required though. Disciplinary problems can arise from students (especially young ones) who concentrate on other things than the exercise. Groups are not very good during tests because the students can easily cheat. If there are many students in the classroom, it may also be too noisy to use this arrangement.

Horseshoe

The tables and chairs are arranged in the shape of a horseshoe. The teacher is positioned at the open end of the arrangement. The big advantage is that the students are less aware of their teacher and it is easy for them to communicate and work together with other students. It is a very informal way of teaching. The disadvantages are that it takes up a lot of space and it could be more difficult for a teacher to get attention, especially with children. When teaching adults in small groups, this method can be extremely beneficial. 

Seating Arrangements in the Classroom

Seating arrangements in the classroom have a major impact on the outcome of the performance of each individual student. I firmly believe that strategic seating arrangements will increase the performance of almost the entire classroom if done so with careful planning and consideration. In several of the assignments that I have submitted throughout this course, I mention that a classrooms’ seating arrangement should be designed around the level of ability of each individual student. At the beginning of every school year I often wait several weeks to actually put the final seating chart into place. I do this on purpose. The method to my madness is to try and see where the students seat themselves within the classroom. In my experience I find that lower level students usually seat themselves close to other lower level students while higher level students seat themselves next to other higher level students. If a teacher is not cautious about his/her seating chart, he/she may suddenly find themselves teaching in a classroom with very contrasting levels of ability. Students should be seated according to performance and understanding of the target subject. What is meant by this is that after a few weeks a teacher should seat lower level students next to higher level students all across the classroom. This should be done so without letting the students know why you’re suddenly switching the seating arrangements. A teacher does not want to let any of his/her lower ability students to know that this is the reason for their movement. 

Once the final seating chart is in place the teacher should notice many changes occur. Some students might feel strange sitting next to new neighbours while others will be very welcoming. After a short while, students usually warm up to their new neighbours and forget about where they used to sit. This is when group work and activities that involve role play should be utilized in the classroom lesson. The whole idea of carefully and strategically designing a seating chart is to ultimately have students start to learn from each other. While the teacher is viewed as the main source of information in the classroom, higher level students can act as teachers themselves. This usually shines through to teachers during activities that involve group work. Group work brings out the best in all students. Group work is a great way to actively involve all students into a lesson. When the students are all actively participating in a class lesson, this is where the teacher will notice the difference that seating arrangement has on the classroom. Higher level students often like to be heard. They like to let others know that they know what is going on and that they understand the material. According to the National Training Laboratories in Bethel, Maine, students retain 90% of what they learn in class by teaching others (http://www.acu.edu/cte/activelearning/whyuseal2.htm ). Not only are lower level students getting help from the teacher but now the teacher will notice that they will receive help from other students in the class, especially the ones seated around them. The seating arrangement in a classroom has a major impact on the performance of each individual student. While students who teach other students start to retain more information, lower level students will receive twice the help that they need in order to raise their performance and understanding of the target subject. Teachers who strategically design classroom seating will notice improvement amongst all students in the classroom setting.