Pupils’ working postures in primary school classrooms

Background and Purpose: Primary schoolchildren spend most of their time in classrooms seated in chairs in some manner, but sitting behavior and working postures of pupils are rarely observed as an important criterion in school furniture design. Yet, correctly designed workspace for school children is, among others, one of the most important key factors in regular development of all abilities of youths. This research focused primarily on the pupils’ behavior at work, their movements and frequent activities during usage of tables and chairs in primary school classrooms, with the aim to identify main working postures and define them as notable criteria when designing school furniture for the future. Materials and Methods: The research was conducted in one elementary school in Zagreb, Croatia, with 18 pupils from the 2nd to 8th grades. The method employed was video recording. Results: Forty-three characteristic postures and semi-postures, classified in four main groups were recorded. The results showed that there are major differences in the subjects’ behavior and in the habits of using the task chair and tablewith respect to age, gender, daytime, studied subjects, tasks and the teachers’ behavior. Conclusions: Design of school furniture must take into account the age and anthropometrics of the child as well as analysis of characteristic postures of the pupils as one of crucial design criteria, to be observed both in 3D and 2D system. New school furniture design has to encourage sitting dynamics and fits psychological, ergonomic, physical, social and cognitive aspects of their users