Compare the patterns

Up to four of the 21 patterns side by side, on as many aspects as you like. The contrasts are easy to see. The more useful reading is often where two rooms that look nothing alike ask the same thing of the people in them.

All patterns

Forward-Facing Plus, Quad Clusters, Learning Circle, Station Rotation, compared on teacher position, social configuration, spatial arrangement, transitions
4 of 4	Independent Open Forward-Facing Plus	Small group Open Quad Clusters	Whole group Open Learning Circle	Collaborative Open Station Rotation
Teacher position	Wherever the explanation needs them, not only at the board Walks into the room along the centre aisle during checks Reads answers from close up Speaks from the middle as often as from the front	Moving along the corridors Listening before speaking Most teaching at the height of a seated group Rest of the room in view from any corridor	Seated in the ring, in the place at the back Same height as everyone else Speaks less and later Redirects questions back to the group Takes a turn when the talking piece comes round	At the head of one station, front left Teaching six learners at a time Rest of the room works without them Attention stays with the group in front Other five stations still in view
Social configuration	Whole class facing one source A partner at the next desk Talk runs mostly to and from the front Turn-and-talk in 30 seconds without moving a chair	9 groups of 4, two facing two Large enough to divide the thinking Small enough that nobody can disappear One partner beside and one opposite	One group of 37, the teacher included No front and no back row Everyone sees every face Speaking more exposed, listening more visible Turns pass round the ring or follow a talking piece	Six groups of six, three facing three The group travels together Same five people all lesson; the task changes Teacher’s group small enough for everyone to be heard
Spatial arrangement	Paired desks in curved rows, eight to a row Four and a half rows deep Shallow curve turns the row ends towards the board Clear aisle up the middle No one more than five rows back	Four desks in a square, chairs on two sides Three rows of three, corridors between Each group side-on to the front Nobody’s back to the board, nobody facing it squarely	All 36 desks in one continuous oval, facing in Empty floor in the middle 8 or 9 metres across the circle A quiet voice needs the room quiet Little space behind the chairs	Six blocks of six desks, two rows of three Wide corridors between Each station its own territory and materials Nothing has to be handed out Teacher’s station front left, headed by the teacher’s table
Transitions	Easiest to reach from almost anything else The arrangement most rooms drift back to Pairs slide apart into Independent Mode Or turn round to meet the pair behind as a quad	From Forward-Facing Plus, the front pair turns to the pair behind Under a minute with a practised routine Five minutes without one, and the problem is forgotten	From Quad Clusters: every desk moves to the edge 5 minutes the first time, 2 once practised The slowest arrangement to reach The ring has to close evenly Usually kept for a whole lesson	From Quad Clusters: pairs of quads become blocks of six Two desks from each pair go to the teacher’s station Moves between stations are the risk 1 minute with a known route and signal, 5 without

Singapore