This article was originally published on 15 November 2023

In September 2014, Ofsted published Below the radar: low-level disruption in the country’s classrooms. Compiled to highlight the scale of low-level disruption in England, the report identified pupils “fidgeting and fiddling with equipment” as a “leading type of low-level disruption”.

Speak to many teachers and you’ll find that they also see fiddling, doodling or pen tapping as troublesome.

But how big an issue is fidgeting? And, crucially, are teachers right to see fidgeting as a purely disruptive behaviour that needs to be eradicated from classrooms?

How much of a problem is fidgeting in lessons?

A recent Teacher Tapp poll of nearly 8,000 teachers found that 45 per cent witnessed “disruptive fidgeting” in the last lesson they taught. Furthermore, 39 per cent experienced pupils making unwelcome noises, such as tapping.

But how annoying did the teachers find these behaviours?

Compared with answering back and off-task chatting, fidgeting is less irritating. According to the survey, 51 per cent of teachers named argumentative pupils and inappropriate talking in their top three most irritating pupil behaviours.

Fidgeting, although less vexing, was still named as a top-three issue by 17 per cent of teachers. But tapping, which many would classify as a type of fidgeting, proved extremely annoying: 46 per cent of respondents viewed it as a top-three behaviour concern.

Combined, then, different forms of fidgeting are clearly a source of serious annoyance for many teachers.

Why do pupils fidget?

The Teacher Tapp poll found that teachers have various beliefs about the causes of fidgeting.

Many blamed social media - and the instant gratification derived from apps such as TikTok - for pupils’ short attention spans.

Yet, evidence around modern technology and children’s attention is mixed at best. One 2013 review, for example, found that activities such as video gaming may actually produce small cognitive improvements.

In a similar vein, teachers believe that the parents of young children are less likely to spend time instilling a fundamental character trait: patience.

Again, evidence suggests that the opposite may be true. One experiment comparing impulsivity levels between today’s children and those of previous generations found that the amount of time that children are able to delay gratification has increased over the past 50 years.

Boredom and disengagement are also cited as significant fidget factors. However, teachers pinpointed medical conditions, especially attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and autism, as being responsible for much of the fidgeting that occurs in lessons.

Indeed, as Claire Pass wrote in Impact magazine in 2022, research suggests that teachers are often central to pupils being diagnosed with ADHD, as “so many of the diagnostic criteria reference classroom-specific behaviours”.

Put simply, if teachers express concern about pupils fidgeting, it’s more likely that they will ultimately receive an ADHD diagnosis.

But are pupils with ADHD the major source of distracting fidgeting? And are all prolific fidgeters likely to have ADHD?

Is it mainly pupils with ADHD doing the fidgeting?

Prevalence estimates vary, but ADHD is thought to affect around 5 per cent of children in the UK.

As a result, Geraldina F Gaastra and colleagues argue that “practically every teacher will teach a student with ADHD”.

Common symptoms include fidgeting and struggling to sit still, so it’s reasonable to expect that some of the fidgeting in lessons can be accounted for by children with ADHD.

Research into the excessive movement of pupils with ADHD during learning indicates that these hyperactive movements help increase prefrontal cortical arousal and alertness while pupils are attempting cognitive tasks.

It would be a mistake, however, to assume that only pupils with ADHD use fidgeting to help themselves concentrate.

As clinical psychologist Roland Rotz pointed out on a podcast hosted by Kat Arney, while fidgeting shows up more frequently among those with ADHD, “just about anyone” has a propensity for fidgeting.

“Fidgeting is our body’s way of self-regulating,” Rotz explained. “At times when we’re under-focused, or having a hard time concentrating, this is the body’s natural way of stimulating itself.”

Read more:

• Can fidget toys help pupils’ concentration?
• Is ADHD really on the rise in schools?
• A teacher’s hunt for evidence on…student concentration

Take doodling, for example. In a 2009 study, Jackie Andrade compared two groups who had listened to a boring, waffling audio message. They found that the doodling group “recalled 29 per cent more information on a surprise memory test”.

This led Andrade to conclude that “unlike many dual-task situations, doodling while working can be beneficial”. Mariam Tadayon and Reza Afhami found similar cognitive benefits for doodlers in 2016.

And the benefits go beyond doodling. In 2005, researchers at the University of Hertfordshire found that children who were able to move their hands around freely performed better in a test where they were asked to name objects correctly than those who had their movements restricted.

“People often think we gesture to help others understand what we are saying but, in fact, gestures help us find the right words,” one of the researchers, Karen Pine, told the BBC at the time.

“We also know [gestures] can help children think and are important for problem solving and speaking,” she said. “Therefore, far from restricting children from moving their hands, if teachers encouraged more fidgeting in class they might find children actually learn more.”

Given this knowledge, should we encourage pen clicking, hand out fidget spinners and equip pupils with sketch pads? Well, in a classroom context of 30 pupils, there is clearly a balance to be struck.

Here, then, are four key things to consider when managing pupils’ fidgeting:

1. Prevent fidgeting from becoming the main focus

Suppressing fidgeting by automatically treating it as unacceptable behaviour deprives pupils of an opportunity to refocus - and, as Pine and her colleagues found, can actually reduce learning gains.

But allowing pupils to fidget for long periods, at the expense of their work, is also unhelpful. If fidgeting strategies start to distract pupils from applying themselves fully, we should step in and help them understand that their fidgeting has moved from help to hindrance.

2. Ensure doodles remain basic

The same principle applies to doodling. As Rotz points out, the most effective doodles for focus involve a “subtle, rapid, rhythmic motor movement”.

Briefly shading in a box or triangle can help us self-regulate and regain attention. But elaborate doodles, such as portraits or other intricate drawings, are a sign that the fidget, not the work, has become the main focus. Doodles should operate in the background, prompting, not replacing, a cognitive task.

3. Provide focus tools, not fidget toys

Because “focusing is the goal, rather than fidgeting in itself”, Lindsey Biel argues that we should talk about “focus tools” not “fidget toys”.

Furthermore, Biel emphasises that “the most effective focus tools don’t require the person to look at what he or she is doing and can generally be done out of view”.

As such, teachers should discourage pupils from using above-desk fidgets that draw their attention away from classwork.

What about fidget spinners? In a 2018 study, Paulo A Graziano and colleagues confirmed what exasperated teachers already knew: rather than helping, they are a huge distraction.

Children using fidget spinners commit “more than double the number of ‘attention’ violations…compared with their baseline functioning”, the researchers explain.

4. Consider the needs of the whole class

When allowing pupils to use focus tools, teachers must monitor the impact they have on the rest of the class. Alluring fidget toys, passed around class, will become a huge distraction.

For this reason, pupils need to be taught the element of personal responsibility that comes with fidgeting. Pen tapping may help one pupil maintain focus but will inevitably impede the concentration of their frustrated classmates.

When it comes to conspicuous fidget toys, the needs of the class must trump the needs of the individual, especially when unobtrusive alternatives are available.

Mark Roberts is director of research and English teacher at Carrickfergus Grammar School in Northern Ireland