The situation became more problematic when the data about classroom routines was analysed. There were seventeen separate comments about the length of time children were seated in cramped conditions during the school day, for example:

'When in class, all the children spent the majority of their time sitting down. Especially when on the carpet, children did not have the space to make themselves comfortable'.

 

The Literacy hour was mentioned specifically as presenting particular difficulties. A typical comment was:

'the whole class introduction to the Literacy hour on the carpet; the children got restless and tended to sit 'crunched up', cross-legged, arched back, leaning over knees, arms supporting head'.

One student noted that:

'most of the children would be twisting and turning their bodies in order to see, especially for shared text work in the literacy hour'.

 

 

Alexander Technique teacher Grant Ragsdale's report on his observations of a class of young children included the comment that:

' the patterns of misuse learned when they are young, e.g. pulling the head and neck down, collapsing in the spine, hunching in the shoulders, gripping the pen or pencil, could stay with them for the rest of their lives and could lead to serious back problems in later life'.