The needs and advantages of movement in classes

The needs and advantages of movement in classes

If we visit different schools in any country of the European Union, it is most probable that we will find chairs and tables inside all classes. It should not be a problem. Chairs and tables are necessary in almost whole academic places; everybody understands why. The problem appears when there are too many, and the classes seem to be custom-made for 25-30 desks, along with their respective chairs for their respective students. So, the student belongs to the place, but the place doesn’t belong to the student, as it should be.

Classrooms should allow movement, should be places where the students can move and walk with freedom and fluency, and where they have different areas to work, think, write, share, and be. To learn it is not necessary to stay seated on a chair and write on a table; and much less, it is not necessary we do at the same time, in the same way, always. This form of learning eases the transmission of knowledge from the teacher to the students but generates too many other barriers to learning. One of the most important is that girls and boys stay too much time still and sitting, and, surely, without speaking as well.

It is possible to obtain deeper and more significant learning when it is joined to the physical movement of the person who learns. For this reason, a better idea would be to have fewer tables and chairs, in order to have more free space in the classroom. Sometimes, changing the furniture arrangement could be enough to start to do little changes and increase the children’s movement.

Next, I will detail some of the advantages of bringing in movement in each of our lessons:

• When we move, different hormones are released; specially, endorphin, adrenalin, and noradrenaline. Releasing these hormones improves the mood and increases the energy and the concentration. This fact will influence positively the learning quality.

  
  

• The movement allows for contact with people around us. In the classrooms, the movement eases the interaction with the classmates and with the teachers. This fact will influence two advantages:

  -              On the one hand, it will improve their social skills.

  -              On the other hand, it will let them know each other in a better way, increasing their confidence. Therefore, they will be more relaxed, ready, and safe to make mistakes and learn.

  
  

• The movement allows for contact and interaction with the environment that surrounds us, with the place where we have lessons. It lets the exploration and it makes possible the awakening of curiosity and interest.

  
  

• The movement opens the doors to errors, and the errors open the doors to learning.

  
  

• Not always it is necessary to think before acting or to explain theory before practice. Sometimes, it is interesting to begin with practice, with the movement. In this way, we will find much more sense to the theory, because each one will arrive at the theory from what they have inside them.

  
  

• The movement allows us to express one part more primitive than intellect; so, it takes out one part very real and honest of each one, causing one more significant and holistic learning.

  
  

• The movement improves the development of coordination skills, preventing Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD), which affects important functions related to learning, such as speech, language, writing, or attention.

Hence, introducing physical movement in all our lessons will improve the academic efficiency of the students and will cause deeper and more significant learning. Additionally, will improve the mood and the confidence between the walls where students and teachers spend so much time. It is not about doing dynamic and extremely moving activities all the time, but rather it is about looking for the expression of children’s natural movements, and linking them with the learning that happens at schools; day by day.