Flexible Seating: Yes or No?
- MissBevis_teach
- Aug 21, 2019
- 4 min read
My Experience with Flexible Seating
I first had a small glimpse of this trend when I was on my last placement of my PGCE. A teacher came back off a course that encouraged continuous provision, zoning and flexible seating throughout EYFS and KS1. She fed back what she had seen and shown us with examples in her classroom. The reaction from myself and other teachers were definitely mixed!
So, I went back to my mentor's classroom and we started to have a go however, we did not get rid of any tables or chairs. We zoned...we made sure there was lots of continuous provision but we had enough chairs and tables for all children.
My next experience with Flexible Seating was when I came for an interview at the school I now work at. I never forget setting up for the teaching part of the interview and thinking oh my gosh! What am I going to do!? The children, who were a year 4 class, sat on the carpet for the teaching portion and then as soon as they were presented with the task they went off to different work stations in the room. There were; standing tables, kneeling tables, some children remained on the floor. I remember trying to remain professional but I was in awe with how well those children worked with a 'flexible seating' environment!
Pros and Cons of Flexible Seating
Before I bore you with more of my experiences, I want to share some of the opinions Flexible Seating that crops up a lot and from other teachers.
Lets start with the Cons...
1.It is expensive
So, one reason that comes up again and again and why teachers do not take part or want to do Flexible Seating is that it is expensive.
When researching this blog topic I found a lot of pictures of American/Australian classrooms that are bright and beautiful. They have lots of different types of flexible seating and I am extremely jealous! However, after digging a little deeper I found that lots of these teachers share their Amazon wishlist's on social media in hope for donations!
So, I do agree that it can be expensive but I believe there are many ways to help with this expense, like the wishlist's (really good idea, might try it!). However, this is the first year I have really tried with Flexible Seating and Facebook Marketplace and charity shops have been my saviour!
2. Behaviour
Yes I admit when I first walked into my interview and saw the lack of tables, my first worry was how do they manage behaviour!
Yes it probably causes arguments, yes it can cause distractions and yes it can be a really slow and painful process to get the children to thrive from Flexible Seating.
I have seen many solutions to this problem and I know I am lucky with that the children who come through my school are familiar with the environment (helps a lot).
I think it is so important to model the expectations for the children, have rules displayed with these expectations on and if you are really worried about arguments then have a chart that explicitly says who can use what each day.
3. Lack of Structure
Yes, some may argue that Flexible Seating lacks structure for both children and teachers but in my personal view is it only lacks structure for those who still partake in ability groupings. I can flexible seating and still have a group of children to work with. I can still choose where I want certain children to work because at the end of the day, I am the teacher.
4. Does not fit my teaching style
At the end of the day it is personal preference. I am not trying to persuade you to take on Flexible Seating and I understand that it will work for some teachers but not for others and that children will react differently to it too.
The Pros...
1. Increases engagement with learning
If the children can work comfortably in the classroom then I believe that engagement will increase, if the children have choice I believe engagement will increase. Like @MrsOsborneKC says above the children can take ownership with their learning and discover how they can work best. This may have to be prompted at first but with time and training it can do wonders.
Very recently, a local MP visited our school and my classroom, she expressed to me how
much she loved that children had their own space of the classroom to work in and how on task everyone was. This was a big win for me as normally any visitor that walks my children would run to them straight away!
2. Choice
Children love choice, it gives them control and, similarly to above, really helps with engagement to learning and their motivation. I found that it helped with making decisions individually. I had children choosing a spot in the classroom because it was going to benefit them and their learning unlike when I compared it to the start of the year where I had children choosing a spot just because their friend was sat there. It gives it a more personal learning environment to both children and teachers as both can choose what works for them.
3. It can be affordable
As I mentioned in the 'Cons' section, there are many ways that Flexible Seating can be affordable! Get down to your local charity shops, start asking for donations, look through social media! I am chuffed with my finds this year. I have managed to have two new interactive seating stations in my classroom and it only cost me a tenner!
4. It can help with dynamics
I totally agree with @MrsOsborneKC, Flexible Seating has really helped with relationships between children and children but it helps teachers to form relationships with the children to. This then leads to improvement in behaviour in the classroom. This relaxed comfortable feel in a classroom is one I much prefer.
I do think it is paramount that the rules in your classroom, whether you have Flexible Seating or not, should be agreed together.
Well there we are, as you can probably tell I am for Flexible Seating but this is the first year where I have dove deeper into it.
I only have two sets of tables, the interactive chalkboard tables (as seen above), clipboards for the carpet, lap trays with legs and soon to have a couple of stations outside!
I have struggled with getting use to it but I am so glad I was introduced as it helps my classroom to be a relaxed and happy learning environment!
Thank you to my lovely Tweachers for sharing their opinions and experiences!
MissBevis_teach
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