Should Schools Go Shoeless?

Children with no shoes on “do better in classroom”, a major study finds.

11:15 27 May 2016

A decade-long study involving 25 schools around the world found that children were more engaged and thus, do better in classroom in a “shoeless” environment.

 

The researchers at the University of Bournemouth found that pupils who leave their shoes outside of the classroom are more likely to behave better, arrive to school earlier, leave later, and read widely when compared to those who wear their shoes in the classroom.

 

Professor Stephen Heppell, who led the research with the Centre for Excellence in Media Practice at Bournemouth University, said: “Children are much more willing to sit on the floor and relax if they have no shoes on.”

 

“The last place a child would sit to read is an upright chair and we’ve found that 95 per cent of them actually don’t read on a chair at home. When they go on holidays they read lying down.

 

“Having conditions in the classroom that are like those at home means that more boys are reading in the classroom.”

 

“In shoeless schools children also arrive earlier and leave later, which translates into half an hour of extra learning a day on average.”