Vivian Cai
EDUC 451A
Inquiry Paper
1
Promoting Classroom Behaviour by Manipulating the Classroom Layout
When people think of an elementary school classroom, very rarely is it an image
of bare walls. In fact, it is quite the opposite. I imagine most elementary school
classrooms in North America are all decorated in the same way. Big bright posters with
the 1-2-3’s of spell-checking, A-Z letters across the top of the chalkboard, children’s
artwork plastered all over the back wall, etc. It is a known fact that most classroom
teachers decorate like this, but I have begun to wonder why this happens exactly? Is there
a purpose to all of these decorations other than to brighten up the room? The topic of this
inquiry paper is to investigate how to use the physical classroom environment to
reinforce positive behavior, and promote better classroom management.
The reason I have chosen to investigate this topic is because I feel that it is
something that all classroom teachers have in common: a classroom space. Other than
that, teachers are all quite different in appearance, voice, personality, and how they carry
themselves. Most of the time, these factors cannot be easily altered to fit into the mold of
a “perfect teacher”. Physical environment is something that every teacher can easily
modify to benefit and aide their teaching styles. I want to learn exactly what kind of
alterations one can do to their classroom to promote positive behavior from their students.
For example, I will be looking into desk arrangements, signage, walls and doors, light,
temperature, air quality, and much more. Using published research, my experiences, and
experience of other classroom teachers; I hope to better understand ways to lay out
classrooms to our benefit.
The reasoning behind why it is important to study classroom arrangement for
teachers is so that we can promote attention and minimize distractions students may
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encounter that interfere with learning. By creating an effective classroom space, students
will have easier access to materials, movement will be orderly, and traffic of the
classroom will be controlled. There is no one-rule giving complete direction as to how to
set up the perfect classroom, but at minimum, the space should accommodate multiple
configurations for large and small groups, for triads, pairs, and individuals to talk, listen,
write, read, play, and learn (Faulk & Evershen, 2013, p.41). There will of course be
constraints in classroom size and shape; there is no cookie-cutter classroom physical
design. Thus, there is only one approach to accommodate physical space while
supporting learning goals: flexibility. In my opinion, learning spaces need to be seen as
flexible, not fixed. Teachers must be open to minor changes such as moving furniture
around and changing location of materials. Although it may require some more work
before and after school, I believe it will benefit in the long run if it means minimizing
disruptive behavior in the classroom during school hours.
From the research I have read, and conversations I’ve had with other teachers, the
biggest thing I’ve learned about desk arrangements is that you must know your students
well in order to know where they will work best (Rimm-Kaufman et al., 2005, p.378).
There are many ways to change up the desks of a classroom: tradition ways such as rows
where students sit alone, rows where students are in pairs or groups, clusters, u-shapes,
semicircles, circles… the list goes on. In my practicum classroom, it is a variety of these
arrangements. Right now, we have students in rows with groupings of three, and two
clusters because we have two large tables instead of eight more individual desks.
Previously, we have had u-shapes: one small one and one larger, with the large tables
behind everyone else. I pointed out to my sponsor teacher that this wasn’t working well
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EDUC 451A
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because the way the large tables were designed meant that two students at each table had
their backs facing the front. We were able to figure out a way to move them to the side of
the desk area so that all four students were facing sideways. It is much easier to turn to
the front that way rather than having to turn an entire 180° and not have a hard surface to
write on. My SA likes to give choice once in awhile to students in terms of who they can
sit beside; occasionally during desk changes, she lets them choose one other person they
would like to sit beside and she arranges the desks to accommodate. I’m not entirely sure
I would do that when I have my own classroom; but each class dynamic is different. We
often hear the saying “we teach the way we learn”, and I think I am the type of teacher
who is slightly more old-fashioned because that’s how I have been taught in my school
experience; I would probably start the year off with students in pairs and arrange desks in
rows. If individual work needs to be done, students can shift over slightly so that they are
sitting alone. If group work needs to be done, two students can turn around to the two
students behind them. This is a flexible, yet task appropriate desk arrangement that will
benefit both the students and teacher.
From what I have read, students tend to display higher levels of appropriate
behavior during individual tasks when they are seated in rows, with disruptive students
benefiting the most (Wannarka & Ruhl, 2008, p.89). Disruptive students and chatty
students also benefit from sitting closer to the front (Wannarka & Ruhl, 2008, p.90). The
issue I have realized from being in a grade 4 class is that some students are beginning to
develop difficulties seeing the board from the back of the room and have not yet had their
eyes checked for glasses. Many of these students are the best behaved of the class but
need to sit in the desks near the front due to sight issues. This is something that I might
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EDUC 451A
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raise as an issue to my SA to discuss with parents. But this all comes back to knowing
your students well. Who can see the board and who can’t? Who gets along and who
doesn’t? Which well-behaved student might positively influence a disruptive student by
sitting next to them? Is it a good idea to put the pair of girls who like to chat and gossip
close to each other? I believe teachers need to know the answer to all of these questions
in order to determine a beneficial seating arrangement.
I believe that the positioning of the “throne” is also very important. A teacher’s
desk greatly influences traffic of the room. Students frequently walking back and forth to
ask questions, speak to you, get materials, etc. Students who are easily distracted may not
benefit from sitting close to the teacher’s desk although it may have seemed like a good
idea at the time because you are able to supervise them closer from your desk. Other
congested areas could also include: the pencil sharpener, garbage cans, sink, and
computer stations. I also wonder if the location of the teacher’s desk might get in the way
during highly congested times such as when students come in/leave in the morning and
after school, handing in work all at once, etc. In my practicum classroom, the teacher’s
desk is facing the wall at the back corner of the room. It is close to the group-work station
and the area sometimes becomes very congested when the teacher is sitting in her chair.
Also, the teacher will not be able to see the class if she is sitting at her desk because she
is facing the wall, and a bookshelf closes her side off to the rest of the class. I believe that
with some heavy lifting, it is possible to move the desk to a more appropriate and
resourceful area of the classroom. However, I will probably keep that project for myself
when I have my own classroom one day.
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EDUC 451A
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Surprisingly, signage is also a factor that can affect classroom behavior in positive
and negative ways. Bare walls with no decoration may lead to students feeling bored and
unmotivated to learn, while walls plastered in colourful posters and student’s art might be
over stimulating causing students to be easily distracted during class (Faulk & Evanshen,
2013, p.42). It is important to find a good balance when decorating the classroom. Of
course, visual appeal is helpful, but it also depends on several key strategies, such as
creating clear uncluttered displays and providing proper signage with a consistent pack of
print, font, size, and color scheme (Roskos & Neuman, 2011, p.112). Using graphics to
enhance ideas is important in terms of what kind of attention you hope to capture through
signage. Other than posters, displaying student work is also an art in itself. Although it
may be time consuming, I believe that only current student work should be displayed
because it is what they are proud of currently. Seasonal artwork should be sent home with
the season as it ends. Posters made at the beginning of the year are not something
students are thinking about because they have created many other projects which they
have on their minds; it is merely clutter if old work continues to be hung on the walls –
similar to the idea of keeping outdated and faded posters up.
I have not been in tons of elementary schools so I cannot say I have seen
sufficient evidence, but from what I have seen, very few classrooms have met the criteria
discussed above in terms of signage. Often times I see posters taped up slanted, some
posters contradict others, and most are faded and very outdated. You know it’s time to
change the ABC’s above the chalkboard when V still stands for videotape. The same
goes for outdated maps, currency posters with Pennies, and planet posters with Pluto still
included. I’m not an interior designer, so I asked my friend who recently graduated from
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BCIT’s interior design program for some tips on decorating one large space. She advised
me that each wall should have one main piece that captures attention, and this piece
should be easy to point out. The surrounding decorations should lend attention to and
focus on the main piece. The wall should also be color coordinated so that your brain can
focus on the text rather than be distracted by processing too many colours. I imagine it is
the same idea as choosing the right textbook for your class. Are there so many
illustrations on a page that my eyes don’t know where to look or even start? Then it’s
probably too over stimulating (Cho et al., 2013, p. 166). Many teachers blog about their
classroom space and how they have setup their signage. The ones that have stood out to
me visually have been ones that are uncluttered, colour coordinated, aesthetically
pleasing, and are categorized from wall to wall.
Placement of classroom material is something that can also influence traffic
within the class, which in turn can cause unnecessary disruptions. When materials such as
books, stationary, and supplies are artfully and intentionally arranged, they invite and
motivate students to engage productively with the material (Roskos & Neuman, 2011,
p.112). Messy, cluttered, and random organization of materials in the classroom
environment does quite the opposite of this, but interestingly enough many classrooms
are still set up in such a manner. Materials need to be easily accessible and within the
students’ reach both physically and conceptually (Roskos & Neuman, 2011, p.112).
Important and commonly used items should be placed at eye and hand level so students
can easily see and grab. There also needs to be a sufficient amount of materials within a
classroom in order to minimize disruption – research shows that a classroom should have
5-8 books per student of various kinds (Roskos & Neuman, 2011, p.111).
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EDUC 451A
Inquiry Paper
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In my opinion, materials should be grouped together so that it makes sense. Many
classrooms I have been in have boxes of markers in one area of the room, sharpies in the
opposite corner, and glue sticks and scissors somewhere else. If a student or a group of
students are working on a poster project, they will have to walk to one side of the room
for markers, the other side for sharpies, and retrieve glue sticks and scissors somewhere
else. If all art supplies were stored in one area, this entire gathering of supplies could be
resolved in one trip. Another method of minimizing distractive movement is having a
basket of art supplies per table group so that groups of students can easily access these
materials and share with one another.
There are so many factors that contribute to the variety of student behaviour we
see in our classrooms. The teaching field is trending towards more partner and
collaborative work and having an area in your class where this can be done is important.
However, this also means more background noise and more management issues to take
care of. If possible, altering the physical environment of your classroom can help
students’ concentration and attention levels. Roskos and Neuman (2011, p.113) put
emphasis on “greening” the classroom environment. Light, temperature, air quality,
crowding, and noise are all elements that affect the instructional process. The authors
suggest maximizing exposure of natural lighting as much as possible, using less toxic
cleaning agents, using sound absorbing materials to decrease background noise levels,
vary air temperature for quiet and physically active tasks (Roskos and Neuman, 2011,
p.113), etc. Some of these factors may be out of the teachers control, but if altering the
“invisible” environment will lead to a better, healthier, classroom life for children, I
would definitely want to try it out.
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EDUC 451A
Inquiry Paper
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Prior to writing this paper, I thought I would have great epiphanies from reading
the research based on this subject and would know the exact right method to set up a
classroom. Turns out, I didn’t. Instead, I realized that most of the theories and concepts
regarding classroom setup is generally common sense. The hardest part is putting it all
together and physically moving your classroom around – sometimes having to flip it
upside down – in order to help the class increase positive behaviour. Some teachers might
think it’s not worth it, others might think it’s just too hard, but from the amount of
research that exists on this topic, it is evident that people do care about classroom layouts.
Much of the research I have looked at for this paper studied primary classroom
environments. I would like to continue to investigate several other issues that deal with
classroom layout, especially the differences in classroom setup needs in primary and
intermediate classrooms. There are different teacher goals and outcomes between primary
and intermediate, and I’m quite sure there are differences in needs because in primary
grades, classroom management is a bigger issue while academic learning is not stressed
as much. The case is opposite when students get to intermediate grades when parents
begin to care more about letter grades and report cards. Further down the road when
students get to high school, college, and university, less emphasis is placed on how a
learning environment is setup. Lecture halls and tutorial rooms are usually completely
bare. So how do the needs of different grades and ages relate to setting up the classroom?
It would be interesting to do some further research on this topic.
We aren’t interior designers, we are teachers; but yet we have the job of creating a
work environment that is suitable for 30 different students while accommodating the size
and space we are given and budget limitations. It would be great if there were teams of
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interior designers who specialized in classroom design to come into classes and tear
things down/put things up and make it perfect, but unfortunately I cannot see this
happening in the near future. Importance has not yet been placed on classroom setup and
I am unsure if it will be mainly due to limited budgets the school district has. There are
many other things I can think of in which they would rather disperse money to, and I do
not disagree. Although I don’t think classroom setup is first priority when it comes to
classroom management, I do believe it should be considered when teachers set up their
classroom at the beginning of the year. Even though we may not be able to design our
classrooms down to perfection, a little bit here and a little bit there will make small
differences that eventually add up to a better classroom environment.
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EDUC 451A
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References
Cho, Y., Chung, H., Choi, K., Seo, C., & Baek, E. (2013). The Emergence of Student
Creativity in Classroom Settings: A Case Study of Elementary Schools in Korea.
Journal of Creative Behavior, 47(2), 152-169.
Faulk, J., & Evanshen, P. (2013). Linking the Primary Classroom Environment to
Learning. YC: Young Children, 68(4), 40-45.
Rimm-Kaufman, S.E., La Paro, K.M., Downer, J.T., & Pianta, R.C. (2005). The
Contribution of Classroom Setting and Quality of Instruction to Children’s
Behavior in Kindergarten Classrooms. Elementary School Journal, 105(4), 377394.
Roskos, K., & Neuman, S.B. (2011). The Classroom Environment: First, Last, and
Always. The Reading Teacher, 65(2), 110-114.
Wannarka, R., & Ruhl, K. (2008). Seating Arrangements that Promote Positive Academic
and Behavioural Outcomes: A Review of Empirical Research. Support for
Learning, 23(2), 89-93.