If you are a parent, then you want the same thing parents everywhere desire, and that is for your child to learn all he or she needs to become a well-adjusted, respectable member of society. Anything hindering the ability to learn is a roadblock to your child’s future success. This means you want them to learn in an atmosphere most conducive to furthering your child’s education. Researchers agree seating ergonomics affects learning. This post’s purpose is to share how ergonomic office chairs specifically for the classroom may improve learning.
Children Were Made to Move
You have watched the children. It is not natural for them to sit still. They move, they stop, they sit, they move, they run, they lay down, they jump, they slide, they hop, they stand, they move…. repeat. You have seen classroom furniture. It does not allow for movement. However, teachers are learning free movement is necessary and research shows movement gives the brain more oxygen, allowing for better focus and learning retention in classrooms.
Changes in the Class
Teachers are setting up their classrooms to enable children to move and have space to be more active in the class. This is great and crucial to help kids learn to their full potential. Another thing that would be of assistance is having more ergonomic office chairs designed especially with children in mind. These types of chairs are becoming more and more available. It takes time for schools to catch up with research and make the necessary changes in the furniture in the class. It costs money too.
Appropriate Seating Ergonomics Furniture
Appropriate furniture for the classroom would take into consideration the size of children at different stages of growth. This means that adjustable ergonomic office chairs would account for growth spurts, the difference in heights and the size of children using classroom furniture. It also means that these chairs would allow for movement. Oh no! Are you imagining bumper chairs in the classroom? No. No wheels. There is a company, Smith System, which has created three different styles of seating designed especially with schools in mind. Here are the descriptions:
“Intuit™ Seating Ergonomics– conceived to contain movement and direct attention straight ahead. It works like a bucket seat, providing back and shoulder support while orienting the student toward the front.
Plato™ Seating Ergonomics– allows more movement, so students can face front and both sides. This Euro-spec chair provides a wide seat pan, flex, and pronounced lumbar support to encourage good posture and breathing.
Flavors™ Seating Ergonomics– offers maximum movement and four seating positions. Its seatback flexes front to back and torsionally, allowing students to shift and move without chair resistance. This type of seating provides the benefits of a stability ball, but with more overall stability and back support, and less student misuse.” (Source: Smith System)
The Functionality of Classroom Seating Ergonomics
If classroom furniture is nailed into the floor or is too bulky for teachers and kids to move, is it really functioning as it should? No. Ergonomic office chairs for schools need to be easy to move, stack and useable in the group setting. Movement in the classroom is more acceptable than it ever has in the history of education. Rigid sitting rules have been brushed to the sidelines in favour of improving children’s capability to learn, rather than stilting it with poor posture and circulation, which will halt the learning process and set children up with future health problems. All of these points to making sure schools are moving in the direction of supplying their classrooms with ergonomic office chairs suitable for learning, moving and ergonomically correct posturing.
