The Importance

of Flexible Seating
Aiding Students in Classroom Engagement

By: Gabrielle Glapion, Alex Craft, Haley Oathout, Emilee Delaune, Gabrielle Brunet, & Autumn
Smith
What’s the issue?
Flexible seating is becoming widely prevalent among all educators. The need for flexible seating stems from the
underlying issue of a child’s need to move throughout the day. Specifically, looking at the duration of student
engagement when they are able to choose how they sit versus if they are told to sit a certain way and not move.
“engagement was generally defined as developmentally and contextually appropriate behavior reflected by visual
fixation, manipulation, vocalization, approach, or affect” (Dicarlo, Baumgartner, Stephens, & Pierce, 2013,p. 157).
NAEYC (2011) believes that when children move and interact with their environment, they are able to gain more
knowledge than if they do not receive the opportunity to move around. Research suggests that in order for children to
be successful academically, they need to move throughout the day, not just after school and at recess which parents
believe is enough. We want children to be given the choice in how they sit in the classroom because research also
shows that not all children learn the same way. Even if teachers cannot afford to buy flexible seating options, giving a
child a choice in their learning is always free.