A look at the link between classroom arrangement and cooperative learning

Where are we now? Having worked at the same school for almost two decades, I have witnessed many changes over the years. Seating plans, for example, have evolved from being mapped out in your head, to being scribbled down on a piece of paper, to finally being entered onto complex digital templates. What was once just a list of names has become a magnificent blueprint for the classroom. Seating plans are now filled with codes that signify everything from a child’s gender, special educational needs, and level of expected attainment, to name but a few. Teachers are playing the game on a grand scale so they can prove that they are ‘acutely aware of their (students) capabilities and of their prior learning.’ (Thorpe, 2012). However, is enough attention being given to how the room is arranged, rather than just where students are seated? Were rows the way forward? I know from my own experience as a student and a teacher that for many years, there was little debate; nearly all schools