“Students, stay seated!” Generations of American school children have grown up hearing teachers bark these or a similar command over and over and over again. Conventional wisdom is that students learn most effectively when they remain still, in their chairs, paying attention to the lesson. Why, then, must teachers repeatedly reprimand kids for moving around or getting out of their seats?
One reason is that sitting upright in a hard chair for hours on end is uncomfortable at any age. For young kids with an abundance of energy and short attention spans, remaining seated and still for long spans of time simply isn’t natural.
Old School Classroom Seating: Rigid, Uninspired, and Uncomfortable
In traditional classrooms, school seating arrangements can vary (desks and chairs may be lined up in straight rows or columns facing the front of the classroom, arranged in a horseshoe or semi-circle formation, or clustered together in small groups where students face each other). They all have one common denominator, though, rigid chairs and strict rules discouraging movement.
The problem is, sitting passively for long stretches of time zaps creativity and focus. Kids who aren’t able to move their bodies often zone out in their minds. They long to escape the restrictive, oppressive classroom environment. Because they’re not able to move physically and may be uncomfortable in the rigid seats, they escape mentally by daydreaming or doodling. There is a time and a place for sitting still and listening intently. But doing so for hours at a time on uncomfortable chairs day after day is draining.
Innovative School Seating Encourages Comfort
Borrowing a page from the dot-com playbook, more teachers are experimenting with “flexible seating.” Instead of traditional classrooms filled with rigid wooden or plastic chairs, these teachers’ unique classrooms look like hybrids of lounges and gyms. Their classrooms are filled with a variety of seating options, including fitness balls, standing desks, yoga mats, oversized floor pillows, foam exercise rollers, futons, inflatable chairs, disk chairs, and wobble stools. (In classrooms with floor seating options, teachers often distribute clipboards so students can work without a desk.)
Creative Seating Gives Kids Options
One benefit of embracing flexible seating in the classroom is that it makes kids enthusiastic about attending school. Instead of conforming to rigid seating, students are energized and motivated by these creative seating options.
Photo by Letise Dennis / LearningLiftoff
Educators have long agreed that different students respond to different learning styles. They also have different classroom preferences. One student may be most inspired curled up in a cozy disc chair. Another may thrive when given the opportunity to expend energy by gently bouncing up and down on a yoga ball. Others may prefer to lie on their stomachs on the floor while working out complex arithmetic problems.
Flexible Seating Motivates Kids to Learn
Happy students are engaged students, say teachers who have implemented flexible seating into their classrooms. Being able to choose where they sit (and, by extension, how they learn) is empowering for students. Realizing that they’ve been given a measure of responsibility for their own learning, they’re motivated to succeed. They’re more committed. And, they’re more likely to remain on task for fear that the teacher will return the class to its old-school rows of the traditional seating arrangement.
Today’s students live in a world that’s vastly different than the world their parents grew up in. Kids are more likely to buy into an educational environment that has changed with the times then they are to buy into one that’s outdated and uninspired. If Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak launched Apple from a garage, it’s entirely feasible that tomorrow’s national merit scholars can best strengthen their intellectual muscles while perched on a wobble stool.
If you think your child might benefit from a different school seating arrangement, consider online learning for an alternative learning environment. Learn more about online schools at K12.com and request more information about schools in your state.
The importance of school furniture is undeniable. It plays a significant role in the effectiveness of student learning. How does school furniture affect learning? Well, the right school furniture contributes to the comfort, posture and support of students, all of which, contributes positively towards students’ ability to concentrate and work.
For schools, this opens up opportunities to improve student engagement by focusing on school furniture for students. High furniture, sit-stand furniture, and tilt tables have been recognised as complimentary learning equipment.
Importance of School Furniture: Increasing performance.
Classroom furniture is key to high performing students from a young age. UNESCO highlights this very fact in their report. It notes that with primary students, the emphasis should be put on lightweight chairs and desks. Lightweight school furniture allows for easy transition between small group activities.
Considering to update your school furniture is a big decision. Moreover, It requires you to have an understanding of the benefits that the proper furniture can bring.
As discussed in a paper in the Journal of Learning Spaces, furniture in classrooms are not only an intricate part of the classroom environment but are a tool within classrooms as well. Therefore, it is crucial to understand how they can promote interaction in classrooms, as UNESCO stated, but also, how they can encourage a productive learning environment. Above all, school furniture can influence these factors by being flexible, mobile and adaptable to multiple situations.
By utilising the right furniture, you can increase student collaboration, focus, involvement, engagement, feedback, and stimulation. Ultimately, the right student chairs and tables can help teachers develop their students into proactive learners.
Here’s a list of essential things to consider while upgrading your school furniture.
Comfort:
When it comes to comfort, you may be wondering, “Why are school chairs so uncomfortable?”
With two dozen body types and ages in one room, choosing just one type of chair or student table can be a challenge. It was concluded in a study named, The importance of ergonomics in schools, that correctly designed classroom furniture is an essential factor in the normal development of all student abilities. The findings of this study showed that a large majority of students using incorrectly sized furniture had higher levels of back pain. Moreover, the back pain directly affected their abilities in the classroom.
Adjustable school furniture gives classes the flexibility to change their furniture to meet the needs of students. Additionally, adjustable furniture will allow schools to purchase one set of furniture for all sizes of students, thus saving money in the long run.
Flexibility:
Classrooms are becoming more dynamic and engaging. The furniture should match the adapting learning styles. Edtech Magazine highlights the importance of adapting to learning techniques. Whereas, it notes that teachers are finding that creating a more free-flowing classroom will allow students to use their spaces in a way that suits them. Moreover, teachers stated that this was a crucial factor in meeting the demands of evolving teaching methods.
Flexible classroom furniture will ensure classrooms are adaptable. Moreover, students from all levels will be able to utilise one room. The key to flexible classroom furniture is lightweight, adjustable, and collapsable.
Support & Function:
Every learning environment, whether it’s a school, university or office, requires an ergonomic touch. This means making sure the environment supports learning by keeping students focused and comfortable. For example, flexible ergonomic chairs will support the body’s natural movement and varying postures. When choosing new school furniture, keep ergonomic principles in mind.
The Next Education Manager at Kinnarps highlights the importance of ergonomic school furniture. They state that 40 per cent of students don’t feel comfortable sitting on their chairs. Even though they don’t feel comfortable, 50 per cent of them think the physical environment is critical to how they feel during school. Above all, this shows how essential good school furniture is in supporting students to feel comfortable at school.
In addition to ergonomic chairs, it’s crucial to consider the curriculum and make sure the seating reflects its requirements. If it’s an active learning environment, you’ll need portable chairs that can quickly and easily be moved and arranged.
Concluding Thoughts
Students sit in all types of positions. Upright, tilted, head down, slouch; the list goes on. If there were a medal for the number of creative ways to sit in a chair, students would win it, hands down.
The reason children move around so much is that school chairs are so uncomfortable.
The responsibility to encourage student learning falls into the hands of administrators and teachers. Moreover, it requires a great deal of feedback from everyone involved and proper research on products.
By giving thought to school furniture and investing in customised solutions, you can change your learning environment. Every student learns differently. With a collective of personalities, ages and learning traits, it’s essential to consider a range of school furniture equipment. Therefore, we recommend tailoring your classrooms to suit your needs.
Interia works to provide the know-how to implement the right methods to be successful. We have a wide range of school furniture that can meet every need you may have. Additionally, we have a knowledgeable team that can help you make the hard decisions to be successful while getting new furniture.
The right school furniture can help your students learn better. By investing in high-quality, flexible furniture, you will know you are making a good investment for the future.
Above all, learning can be fun and easy, with the right school furniture!