Classroom Seating: A Clue to Teacher Beliefs about Learning (Angela Watson)
Angela Watson is an experienced elementary school teacher, coach, and blogger (see here). She offers pros and cons of various ways to arrange a classroom leaving it up to readers which configuration of desks best reflects their beliefs in teaching and learning and the realities of managing a crowd of students.
How to furnish and arrange existing furniture in a classroom is a peek into the heart and mind of a teacher’s ideology of how students learn best and watching them at the same time.
Watson offers teachers various options to consider. Moreover, she recommends changing seating arrangements over the course of the school year as classroom norms evolve, content and skills shift, and relationships with students mature.
Although she speaks to mostly elementary school teachers, I have seen thousands of middle and high school classrooms where seating arrangements vary including options that Watson evaluates.
There are several basic desk arrangements that I like to rotate between:
- Stadium Seating (or Angled Rows with Desks Touching)
- Modified U (or Horseshoe)
- Groups (or Teams)
- Combination (desks in various positions)
I’ve never had all my students’ desks separated, as that takes up too much space and isn’t conducive to the teaching methods I use, so I can’t give advice on that arrangement. I’ve tried pretty much everything else you can think of, though! Check out the classroom arrangement ideas blog post for tips on fitting Classroom Seating: A Clue to Teacher Beliefs about Learning (Angela Watson) | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice: