Of course, each room has advantages and disadvantages. Option A allows all your guests to sit together, but they would have no choice but to squeeze themselves onto a hard bench devoid of cushions. Option B has plenty of different padded chairs and couches, but any guests who are not seated around the table in the center of the room will be marginalized. In Option C, your guests can place themselves in such a way that no one is excluded. However, some guests in Option C might feel uncomfortable kneeling on the floor. And while the formal settings of Options B and C require both hosts and guests to conform to certain behavioral norms, Option A’s simple setup allows for a laid-back informality. 

So, what do the seating arrangements for tea with friends have to do with the students in our classes?

Just like in Option A, where guests can only sit on hard benches, students aren’t always given much choice or voice in course topics, classroom activities, or assessments. How often do teachers set all of their students the same task? Or force them to complete a task a certain way? Not only does this one-size-fits-all approach stifle creativity, it can also act as a barrier to learning for some neurodivergent students.

Sometimes students in our classes position themselves similarly to the guests in Option B, the room with an inner and outer seating arrangement. Some students may be more extroverted risk-takers, answering the teacher’s questions in the target language. How often do we seat these more outgoing students in our inner classroom circle, by giving them our attention, thankful that we have students brave enough to communicate in the target language? In contrast, we may unintentionally relegate any student who is less willing or less able to participate in discussion activities to the outer classroom circle. 

Still other times students might experience a class like in Option C, the tearoom without chairs or tables. Just like guests at a Japanese tea ceremony, some students may already know what to expect in the language classroom and feel comfortable there, but other students, including some neurodivergent students, may find the language classroom very foreign. How often do we assume our students already understand the social norms of the language classroom? And when a student doesn’t conform to our expectations, how often do we ascribe this student’s behavior to bad intention?

As teachers, we find ourselves in the role of hosts, entrusted with the responsibility of shaping a classroom that is both intentionally equitable and hospitable (Bali & Zamora, 2022). It’s not simply a matter of giving students choices, though that’s important. It’s about recognizing when a student is adrift, perhaps on the margins, and taking deliberate steps to help them integrate into the shared classroom space we cultivate. In doing so, we scaffold classroom activities that, to some, seem insurmountable, while to others, they are merely new. This approach isn’t just for our neurodivergent students—it benefits the entire learning community. In fact, such care, when given freely, becomes the quiet force that enables students to belong, to succeed, and, ultimately, to reshape the classroom experience.

A key way of creating a more engaging learning environment for students is by being a compassionate and attentive instructor—someone who centers students’ interests, needs, and passions in the classroom. Consider, for instance, when you have a neurodivergent student in your class and you’re uncertain about the best way to support them. Once the student or their parents have reached out to you, your response should be both proactive and clear. This includes thoughtfully inquiring about what strategies you could adopt or avoid to best meet the student’s needs. The principle “nothing about us without us” is foundational when addressing neurodiversity. Involving the student in any decisions concerning them creates a more inclusive and rewarding learning experience.

As you read through this issue, we invite you to reflect on the steps you can take to support neurodivergent learners. Think about these questions: How can we create a welcoming space for our neurodivergent students? How can we make sure they have a seat at the table, i.e., how can we intentionally include them in decisions about the learning space? And how can we ensure that it’s not just any old seat, but one where they feel comfortable and able to learn; that is to say, when teaching and learning is accessible, and when teachers and classmates are empathetic and are curious about diverse perspectives. 

Acknowledgement: We first learned about the “seats at tables” metaphor from Maha Bali when we experienced her guiding students through a “Who is Excluded” activity with a set of similar photos in one of her classes in 2022. She writes about these ideas here.