Seating Arrangement: Impact on Academic Performances of Grade-

7 Students

Review of Related Literature

The physical arrangement of the classroom has the potential to encourage desirable
behaviour or contribute to students’ misbehaviour (DANIELS, V. I. (1998) How to
manage disruptive behaviour in inclusive classrooms. Teaching Exceptional Children,
30, 4, 26–31.). Additionally, unlike other factors that also impact on behaviour (e.g.,
individual student characteristics, social dynamics), seating arrangement is one factor
that is typically under teacher control.
Classroom arrangement significantly impacts on student behaviour, and there is
evidence to suggest that it impacts on achievement as well (PACE, D. and PRICE, M.
(2005) Instructional techniques to facilitate inclusive education. In D. Schwartz (ed.),
Including Children with Special Needs (pp. 115–131). Westport, CT: Greenwood
Press.)
Moore and Glynn (1984), for example, found that a student’s location in the classroom
is related to the number of questions received from the teacher; this may influence the
student’s opportunity to respond and thus to learn. (MOORE, D. W. and GLYNN, T.
(1984) Variations in question rate as a function of position in the classroom.
Educational Psychology, 4, 3, 233–248)
Also, Granstrom (1996), perhaps not surprisingly, found that students at the back of
the classroom tend to interact with each other more frequently than those seated at
the front, potentially adversely impacting their attention to the task at hand.
(GRANSTROM, K. (1996) Private communication between students in the classroom
in relation to different classroom features. Educational Psychology, 16, 4, 349–364.)
Because proximity and orientation influence communication, it is possible that desk
configuration impacts on the nature and extent of student interaction. Thus it is
important for teachers to have the knowledge necessary to make informed decisions
about whether rows, clusters, semicircles or some other arrangement will best meet
the instructional needs of their students. This may be especially critical in inclusive
settings that serve students with disabilities and those without disabilities concurrently,
due to the wide range of behavioural and academic characteristics represented. On
examination of various texts for recommendations pertaining to seating arrangements,
it seems that there is a lack of consensus to guide teachers as they seek to make good
decisions about the best arrangement to use for their students. (PAINE, S. C.,
RADICCHI, J., ROSELLINI, L. C., DEUTCHMAN, L. and DARCH, C. B. (1983)
Structuring Your Classroom for Academic Success. Champaign, IL: Research Press)
The purpose of this synthesis of the literature is to summarise empirical studies that
investigate either academic or behavioural outcomes as a result of different seating
arrangements. Student behavioural (e.g., ‘disruptive’) and academic (e.g., ‘high-
achieving’) characteristics are considered within this context. 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. At the beginning of the school year, as
part of classroom management, teachers face the question of how and where to seat
their students. This is an important decision, as classroom seating arrangements
influence classroom climate and students’ relationships with each other. In addition,
the physical space of the classroom influences learning and impacts teachers’ and
students’ attitudes towards school (Denton 1992). However, 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. It can also stimulate a better academic and
social development for the students (McKeown et al. 2015). (McKeown, S., Stringer,
M., & Cairns, E. (2015). Classroom segregation: Where do students sit and how is this
related to group relations? British Educational Research Journal, 42(1), 40–55.
doi:10.1002/ berj.3200.)
One important aspect of classroom management is the physical design of the
classroom. A classroom is an adaptable and often a flexible setting for which teachers
make an arrangement for the tables, chairs, and other materials in order to stimulate
active involvement in the lessons. Also, teachers decide which location is the best to
stimulate an individual student’s academic and social development, while encouraging
teacher-student interaction, reducing distractions, aggression, and ‘‘downtime’’
(Trussell 2008). Trussell, R. P. (2008). Classroom universals to prevent problem
behaviors. Intervention in School and Clinic, 43, 179–185.
doi:10.1177/1053451207311678.)
Thus, teachers are responsible for making decisions regarding the grouping of
students and the resulting nested context within classrooms. They determine whom
students sit close to, whom they are exposed to, and with whom they interact during
the school day. Unfortunately, this aspect of classroom management is hardly
addressed in teacher trainings, even though the physical design of the classroom has
shown to be important for both the academic and social development of students.
(Baines et al. 2003). Baines, E., Blatchford, P., & Kutnick, P. (2003). Changes in
grouping practices over primary and secondary school. International Journal of
Educational Research, 39, 9–34. doi:10.1016/S0883- 0355(03)00071-5.)