Seating Matters: Getting it Right. Action Research Study

Umida Abdurakhimova, Uzbekistan

Umida Abdurakhimova is the lecturer of English for Academic Purposes module at Westminster International University is Tashkent. She has seven years of teaching experience. Her M.A. is in English Linguistics. She also has Certificate in TESOL. The areas of her research interests include assessment, translation of idioms and academic writing. Email: uabdurakhimova@wiut.uz

Menu

Introduction
Seating arrangements
My class
Conclusion

Introduction

There are different factors that influence the effectiveness of any teaching session. Most authors and practitioners concentrate largely on lesson plan development, including various teaching activities, visual aids, techniques, learning styles and so on. However, all those preparations may not be as successful as desired due to one simple reason: ineffective sitting arrangements (Wannarka and Ruhl, 2008; Sommer, 1977). Sommer (1977) acknowledges that provided less attention is given to teaching the organising the design of the classroom, students might fail to cope with some tasks; and as a result, learning outcomes will not be fully achieved.

Nowadays, the most desirable trend in teaching is learning-centred classes; however, teacher-centred classes are still in demand at least at some points, and both are at times useful for different types of content delivery. This, of course, would affect classroom seating layout according to the learning objectives that teacher might have and the tasks at hand. Therefore, there is no one ideal classroom layout. The proper desk arrangement might benefit students’ interaction and diminish negative behavioural patterns among them in the classroom (Wannarka and Ruhl, 2008; Sommer, 1977). Sommer (1977); therefore, acknowledges that students simply might fail to cope with some tasks just because of the wrong seat arrangement.

Seating arrangements

Many teachers are not aware of the importance of seating layout and if they are the most common concern they have is the fact that there is no ideal arrangement of the tables to meet all activities and thus believe that choosing the right one is not easy. Therefore, they have to think thoroughly what the best arrangement would be for a particular set of tasks to meet learners’ needs. Therefore, knowing the significance of each might help them make better decisions.

How to be a Teacher Trainer course Here is the list of some very common seating arrangements that can be used for different purposes in classes:

• Desks in rows: Desks are arranged in the form of rows with teacher's desk is opposite students’. This is useful for tests and presentations.
• Horseshoe arrangement: This is used for demonstrations and presentations. Interaction with a large group of class is possible with this arrangement. The teacher is usually seated in the middle.
• Cluster sitting arrangement (also known as “cafeteria style”): This is the most suitable for teamwork. It is believed that it promotes cooperation between students, develops communication skills, and fosters interaction. Hastings and Schweiso (1995) state that despite some disadvantages, this type of arrangement creates to some extend a safer environment for shy students.

My class

While working on my master’s degree I was assigned to teach a general English class in one of the schools of Tashkent. The peculiarity of the class I taught was that students in the class ranged from pre-intermediate to upper-intermediate. It was difficult to design tasks that would engage all students and meet learning outcomes. After some deliberation and trying some techniques, I decided to try different classroom arrangement, a sort of mixture of cluster and rows.

I put some students in rows and some in clusters. One activity which was I gave them was a mock grammar test which students sitting in the rows had to do individually. At the same time those sitting in clusters were supposed to create assessment criteria for that test. When the time was up, the students who had taken the test joined the cluster of peer assessors. The test was assessed and discussed together (in a friendly and supportive manner). Then the students swapped in order to do the same activity, so all students could both do the individual test and peer assessment. This enabled the students to focus on individual work, get feedback on their test and construct the knowledge of assessment criteria which gave them a deeper understanding of what was required on assessment. This exercise developed group working skills, ability to reflect and gave all students the opportunity to participate in class activities. We employed this and similar activities on a regular basis. I could see that this particular group had a higher average score (65) than other students in that cohort. The average mark for whole cohort was 52. Students acknowledged that the seating arrangement had been very helpful for them and had created the serious and yet friendly environment to work both individually and in groups and to develop friendship and all engage in the class activities.

Conclusion

Seat layout plays an important role in learning and should be taken into consideration while designing classroom activities. On the whole, a proper arrangement can foster student learning, create positive behavioural patterns and increase students’ awareness of what is being taught. Teachers may see the benefits even in everyday classroom situations.

References

Hastings, N. and Schweiso, J. (1995). Tasks and tables: the effects of seating arrangement on task engagement in primary classroom. Educational Research, 37 (3).

Sommer, R. (1977). Classroom Layout. Theory into Practice. 16 (3), 174-175.

Wannarka, R. and Ruhl, K. (2008). Seating arrangements that promote positive academic and behavioural outcomes: a review of empirical research. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing.

Please check the How to be a Teacher Trainer course at Pilgrims website.