Breaking Free: How Free Seating Can Improve Learning

By: Isabel Branam                                                                                                                                           1/25/24

Multiple researches and studies are saying that students with assigned seating are starting to lose focus more commonly in class which could affect your grades. Is this true and how does it impact students?

Another reason is that when teachers don’t put as much effort into seating students they are randomized. Yale.edu says that “Instructional communication theory suggests that seating arrangements can impact how the instructors communicate with students and how students interact with one another, impacting engagement, motivation, and focus” This can mean that when not enough effort is put into seating charts students will lose focus, pay less attention, and overall less involvement in class. So if more thought is put into seating charts students can work to the best of their ability. Now this may mean some more work for the teachers to put everyone in a good seating arrangement but putting your students’ needs should always come first.

Now this definitely does not mean a free-for-all. If it was, it would be the same way as it is with assigned seating. Students need to be mature and say who they are comfortable with and who they can and can be seated next to but if students cannot, they usually do end up with consequences and most of those result in the teacher giving assigned seating to everyone.  The better way to approach this so all students are happy is not to punish and change students' seating who aren’t doing anything wrong. Instead, talk to students about their disruption and a better seating arrangement for them.

In short, in the long run students and the grand scheme of things free yet mature seating arrangements, will show to be a benefit for everyone.