Abstract
As a part of classroom management, teachers face the question of how and where to seat their students. However, it is far from clear what considerations teachers have when making seating arrangements. Therefore, in this study seating arrangement considerations from 50 teachers in grades 4–6 of elementary school were assessed. In Phase 1, teachers were interviewed about their goals and considerations for classroom seating arrangements. Teachers mentioned between 2 and 19 reasons for placing students at specific places in the classroom, with mostly academic considerations. They mainly preferred arrangements in small groups to promote student cooperation. In Phase 2, teachers completed a questionnaire about seating arrangements. This allowed us to examine individual differences between teachers related to gender, years of experience, and beliefs, and the concurrence between the interview and questionnaire data. Teachers reported multiple and various considerations for seating arrangements. Correlations with their general student-oriented or subject-oriented beliefs and personal characteristics were low. The concurrence between measurement methods also was low. The discussion focused on teacher awareness of classroom seating arrangements as an important part of classroom management and a tool for prevention and intervention.
Highlights
Students spend a large amount of time in a classroom, where desks are arranged in a specific way and individual seats are determined by the teacher
In Phase 1, teachers were interviewed about their goals and considerations for classroom seating arrangements
Teachers seem to have multiple and various considerations for their seating arrangements, which cannot be simplified into one core theme like ‘academic functioning’
Summary
Students spend a large amount of time in a classroom, where desks are arranged in a specific way and individual seats are determined by the teacher. The physical space of the classroom influences learning and impacts teachers’ and students’ attitudes towards school (Denton 1992) It is far from clear what considerations teachers have when making seating arrangements. This insight may help teachers to make (even) more structured and considered decisions, resulting in more effective seating arrangements and less concerns for teachers about how to arrange the classroom in a good way (McKeown et al 2015) It can stimulate a better academic and social development for the students (van den Berg et al 2012; Wannarka and Ruhl 2008). The present study focused on teachers’ considerations for classroom seating arrangements and on individual differences between teachers, by using qualitative as well as quantitative methods
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