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Pick one concept from the assigned reading that you found useful or interesting and discuss it.
Sarah Trenholm argues, “The way we arrange home and public territories affect our lives. Architects and interior designers know how important spatial arrangement can be. The way walls and furniture are arranged within structures affects the amount, flow, kind of interaction in them. Seating choice in classrooms, for example, often predicts which students are likely to talk and which are not…most participation comes from the so-called action zone, a roughly triangle area beginning with the seats immediately in front of the teacher and diminishing as it approaches the back of the room” (Trenholm 2008, p. 126). To me, spatial arrangement is especially crucial in a professional atmosphere. For example, whenever I sit down in my boss’s office for a meeting, I make sure never to sit in the 11 o’clock seat, but across from him. In addition, I will not sit at the head of the table in his office. Furthermore, I will not sit at the head of the table when I go into a meeting. I try to remain neutral as possible. It is similar when you go in for an interview to be aware of where you are sitting which will indicate something about your choice.
That is interesting that you do that. I never really thought about sitting making a difference. I will have to try changing my seating arrangement and see if it makes a difference. In one of my classes the professor has seating arrangements. On the first day of class he told us that we better like the seats that we are in because we will be sitting there for the rest of the semester. Then he proceeded to say that he will be keeping extra close attention to the people who chose to sit in the back row because he never trusts anyone who sits in the back row. I now take this into consideration when I take a seat in a class room because I don't want to teacher to think I'm a slacker or that I am tryng to hide in the back. I actually try to to sit somewhere in the triangle, but that was before I knew what the triangle was.
ReplyDeleteGood posting!
Hi ImaginePeace,
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comments about my post. Talk about controlling his students while you are in his classroom. Wow, for him to say he never trusts anyone who sits in the back is discrimination. I have heard from one of my professors, that the students who sit in the front row are the "A" students, second row are the "B" students, etc. I don't know what % of this is true.
Paris
Hello Paris! Your posts this week are quite interesting. :) You referred to spatial arrangement here. What other areas in life, besides professional, is spatial arrangement important? Also, in a classroom setting, where do you feel most comfortable? And are the assumed messages that are sent (considering seating choice), accurate from you perspective?
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