Hot Seating

What is Hot Seating?

A character is questioned by the other students about their background, behaviour and motivation. The method can be used for exploring any character (real or fictional). The approach helps students to develop oral expression, thinking and questioning skills.

How do you do Hot Seating?

The student sits on a chair in front of the class (arranged in a semi-circle). The teacher takes the role of facilitator to guide the questioning in constructive directions. To help students begin, try hot-seating students in pairs (e.g. a pair of street urchins) or in groups (e.g. environmental protesters, refugees).

If the background of the character is familiar to the students, then it may not be necessary to do much preparation. Even when roles require research, you may be surprised at how much detail students can add from their own imaginations. Make sure you prepare the rest of the class  to ask relevant questions. Don’t get bogged down by facts during hot seating, but concentrate on personal feelings and observations instead.

Example Characters

Famous people (Florence Nightingale, Greta Thunberg or Tutankhamen), ordinary people (a chimney sweep, Roman soldier or Saxon farmer) and any fictional characters from books or films. Students can be asked to research historical characters with opposing points of view and then be hot-seated by the class as part of a debate.