Sitting on the carpet – children’s attitudes to the spaces of the classroom
Claudia Pichon
(PGCE Primary) 2011-2012
Abstract
Children in primary classrooms are often to be found seated on the carpet, but what do they understand its role to be? This paper approaches the fundamental purpose behind sitting children on the carpet by using child-centred mosaic methodology to ascertain children's views and understanding. The children are clear in their dislike of the practice, and demonstrate an extraordinary insight into the extent to which the classroom environment is dictated by a teacher's pedagogical and behaviour management needs. They consistently identify comfort with a sense of ownership and of active participation, and recognise that the carpet fails to meet these needs by being anonymous and a place of teacher input rather than child-led interaction.
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The full paper is available for download as a pdf file: 001-032-pichonc
Citation: Pichon, C. (2012) .'Sitting on the carpet – children’s attitudes to the spaces of the classroom'
Journal of Trainee Teacher Educational Research, Volume 4, pp.001-032 (Downloaded from http://jotter.educ.cam.ac.uk/, [date of access])