The ergonomics of a prepared environment
When a young child enters a classroom, the environment plays a huge part in whether the child will feel comfortable and even stimulated for learning and being kind to others.
Think about it. As an adult, when you walk into a room that seems relatively rigid, the color scheme is mismatched, etc. we tend to be withdrawn, sometimes on edge.
Chairs are just one aspect of a prepared environment, and not to be overlooked. After 20 years of teaching in various settings, I have watched children of all ages go about their work using different tools: wooden chair and desk, steel/wood chairs and desks, single desks, double desks, low tables with cushions, mats on floors, and yes, even standing at a counter. It seems there is no one solution, but there do seem to be combinations that are not conducive to a stimulating environment or healthy posture.
When my daughter’s school decided to implement a large number of choices for seating, more often than not, I would walk into the school and feel kind of tired, as though I wanted to take a nap. While extremely comfortable and relaxing, the room’s energy lacked the kind of stimulation that I had always equivalated with learning. The new generation has taught us to slow down; it just seemed too slow.
When I taught in a school with heavy wooden desks lined up perfectly in a row, I could see kids wriggling in their desks, seemingly uncomfortable. Too many kids’ were sitting with their backs at such an angle against the chairback that I wondered if blood flow was happening, or they were leaning back in their chairs on only two chair legs, and I wondered if we would be treating a head injury soon. Or they were hunched over their desks.
Science and research show us that a few choices in seating work well. This is particularly true for the younger ages. These are the kids who are at the beginning stages of their school career, and we are hoping to develop their love for learning, right! Give them some choices!
According to Ergonomics Health: Ergonomics teaches us that we need to adapt the child’s working environment, not the other way around.
The child doesn’t have to sit up straight.
They can go ahead and move their position naturally while they work, as long as they are not slouching.
Fidgeting is harmless as well and doesn’t mean that your child is hyperactive. This unconscious form of behavior promotes a child’s health.
According to Alan Hedge, Ph.D., CPE, professor of ergonomic at Cornell University, the move away from traditional classroom chairs has reportedly improved students’ abilities to concentrate, take notes, participate in group discussions. The change has even boosted exam performance.
Backless chairs and ‘chairs’ such as stability balls are thought to activate the abdominal muscles. You may not realize how much impact your core muscles have on the rest of your body—and they certainly help your back muscles support the spine. If your core muscles are weak, your back muscles must essentially work overtime to support the spine. The importance of core strengthening plays a key, but often neglected, role in spine care.
There are numerous other articles with science and research backing these ideas and show that backless chairs are NOT harmful in any way, and do help with posture. That said, there is nothing completely flawless, is there?
My experience has been to offer some choices. At the 3rd and 4th grade level, I would start putting some ergonomically designed chairs with backs in the classrooms in addition to low tables. This ‘way’ is not the golden way. There is not one, but it works!
For now, at Wah’-shă Academy, we have some gorgeous options to offer the kinder and first graders that worked incredibly well at Gateway International Center, a school I founded in Japan, and I believe will work just as well here to encourage stimulated learning!
