ARTICLE REVIEW 2
Summary
The purpose of this article is to focus on how teachers can use seating
arrangements to effectively manage classroom dynamics. The data from this article was
collected from 13 upper elementary school teachers and students 9–12 years old in the
Netherlands. In total, 11 themes emerged, of which 3 concerned goals and 8 addressed
strategies. Teachers reported to have (one or multiple of) these 3 goals in mind when
creating seating arrangements and to use (one or multiple of) these 8 strategies to reach
their goals. Among them were 3 men and 10 women, with an average age of 38 years.
They had on average 15.25 years of teaching and 3.67 years of experience teaching the
current grade. This study uses a phenomenological research design to analyze the data
presented (Hoekstra et al., 2023).
A phenomenological technique is especially useful when researchers are trying to
construct a theory about a relatively unknown phenomenon, such as the current,
unidentified topic of teacher considerations for classroom seating arrangements. Teachers
were polled to learn more about their preferences for classroom seating configurations.
The interviews focused on the goals and methods of the instructors, as well as their
comments on how these goals and tactics were accomplished. Contextual data was also
investigated. According to the findings, teachers assigned students to seats based on both
their academic and social growth, and through their seating arrangements, teachers
indicated expectations not just about students' learning processes but also about students'
socio-emotional advancement. The goal of this study was to determine teachers'
objectives and strategies when teaching. (Hoekstra et al., 2023).
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Analysis
This journal article can be researched further by linking student classroom
successes to the strategies of their teachers through student surveys. Teachers were able
to provide the data necessary efficiently, but data from questionnaires that students filled
out in class would have allowed for verification. To achieve this, students would have
needed to be able to precisely characterize their achievements in relation to the seats they
were assigned at the time. Through student assessments, teachers would have been able to
link their goals and strategies to the needs of their students to provide a positive learning
environment. Depending on the specific needs of each student, teachers modify both the
goals and the techniques they use for each goal. This implies that individualized methods
and standardization are important not only in teachers' roles as educators but also in their
roles in academics. (Hoekstra et al., 2023).
In conclusion, future research might look into the effects of teachers' goals and
techniques on students' experiences, as these could have a detrimental impact. Individual
student requirements may be misjudged by teachers, resulting in negative seating
selections. Students may interpret teachers' seating decisions differently than intended.
Some teachers in this study, for example, claimed that they situated disruptive kids
further away to maintain a positive teacher-student connection, but we don't know how
this affects students' perceptions of teacher support. This could be interpreted as rejection
by a student rather than an investment in a beneficial connection. As a result, future
research could look into whether it has an added effect when teachers verbalize their
intention for students when rearranging their seating. (Hoekstra et al., 2023).
ARTICLE REVIEW 4
References
Hoekstra, Nathalie A.H, Van den Berg, Yvonne H.M., Lansu, Tessa A.M., Mainhard, M.T
Cillessen, Antonius H.N. (2023) Teachers’ goals and strategies for classroom seating
arrangements: A qualitative study, Teaching and Teacher Education, Volume 124, 104016,
ISSN 0742-051X, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2023.104016.
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