From Lose Friends Radio comes this ‘Believe it or not’ segment Number 4, called ‘Headstrong’. You can read the transcript below, or listen to the original broadcast by clicking on the green play button:
Jonar_Nader_04_BION_Headstrong.mp3
Believe it or not, according to Jonar Nader, an Australian teacher recently completed his PhD into the way students sit in class, facing the front of the room. The thesis concluded that it is unhealthy for children to be looking at the “backs of heads” all day. The teacher said that gazing at the back of the head of the student in front was like “looking at a brick wall”.
He recommends that all classrooms be re-designed to allow students to sit in a semi-circular fashion, or facing each other in groups. This enhances eye contact, and provides greater opportunities for students to get to know each other, and discuss the lessons of the day.
In an experiment conducted on first-year high-school students, the classes that adopted these sociable seating arrangements reported less conflict amongst students.
Needless to say, the teacher has already faced opposition from colleagues who maintain that students should face the front of the class. They allege that any other seating arrangement would undermine the teachers’ ability to control the class.
What teachers do not understand is that their whole future is being undermined… by their own attitude to students’ welfare. There will come a time when attending schools will be as rare as attending Sunday School has become. There are plenty of other ways to learn, many of which do not require a teacher!
Believe it… or not.
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