Why do desks matter?

Over the last few weeks, we have taken a look at why oracy is important. We thought it would be a good time to start to talk about how oracy can be promoted and developed in schools. We will continue to look at the moral imperative behind oracy in the future, but will start to look at practical changes in classrooms, in curriculum, in school structures and in teacher education too.

The classroom environment is like an invisible script, subtly directing students in how they should behave and interact during lessons. Just as actors follow cues in a play, students follow the unspoken signals that they observe in the classroom layout, with the tables indicating where they should focus their attention and how they should learn during the lesson. Significantly, different configurations can support teachers in developing different oracy skills

In a traditional classroom layout, the tables are arranged in ordered rows facing the front of the room, a useful tool for independent learning and for facilitating teacher-centred instruction. This format is also effective for teachers wishing to model oracy skills such as ‘talk moves’ and active listening. By comparison, other configurations deemphasise the front of the room, signalling to pupils that they need to focus their attention on their peers. These include arranging desks in a large horseshoe, in smaller pods or even in a circle configuration more akin to a university seminar (possible if you are fortunate enough to have a small class-size). These arrangements signpost to pupils that they need to use other oracy skills such as those involved in ‘exploratory talk’ - to co-construct their knowledge and understanding. (Note that that talk moves, active listening, and exploratory talk will be discussed in future newsletters).

What does the research tell us?

Research undertaken in the context of secondary education in America indicates that flexible learning spaces with varied furniture options can facilitate more collaboration, peer interaction, and active engagement compared to traditional classrooms (Kariippanon et al., 2019). In tertiary education, a study at Iowa State University explored the impact of redesigning a classroom with a fixed seating plan of individual desks in rows, into one with the flexibility to be adapted to support any of the aforementioned formats. The qualitiative data from this study highlighted that the new classroom design encouraged more interaction between students allowing them to ‘hear each other more…ask more questions and clear up misunderstandings’. An additional benefit was that the flexible space promoted more dialogue between the educators and students; indeed, the teachers felt like they moved round the classroom more frequently than in traditional classrooms (Rands, M.L and Gansemer-Topf A., 2017). 

Why is this important?

Teachers wishing to embed an oracy culture should try to be intentional about their classroom layout, considering how it can best support  the speaking and listening skills they are wishing to develop in any given lesson. 

Teachers can sometimes face barriers in terms of being able to change the configuration of classrooms to match the specific attributes and characteristics of their chosen pedagogical approaches, for example, not having ownership of a single space, time constraints, or the furniture being too cumbersome to move. Accordingly, when updating or developing new classrooms, school leaders should consider how they can  make these spaces more flexible.

Further reading

Kariippanon KE, Cliff DP, Lancaster SJ, Okely AD, Parrish A-M (2019) Flexible learning spaces facilitate interaction, collaboration and behavioural engagement in secondary school. PLoS ONE 14(10): e0223607. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.022360

Rands, M.L and Gansemer-Topf A. (2017) The Room Itself Is Active: How Classroom Design Impacts Student Engagement. Journal of Learning Spaces Volume 6, Number 1. 2017 https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1152568.pdf