Editor: We have not seen an education subject as thoroughly debated as this one in a long time. So, at the risk of being too long, we have repeated all 20 of the comments here,. Enjoy! PS: You will see a few spelling errors as you read. We left them in on purpose. Remember, these are Teachers!
Published May 27, 2014
Post Views:
1,160
Alpha-Phonics
The Alphabet Song!
Water on the Floor
Alpha-Phonics the Book on CD Rom
Blumenfeld Oral Reading Assessment Test
How To Tutor
How To Tutor Cursive Handwriting Workbook
COMMENTS:
I have taught for many years at across a number of age ranges and also designed a number of award winning tactile resources for primary and special needs children.
I found in classrooms with posters etc on walls that if they were not changed at least half termly that they were not noticed much by children and became “wallpaper”!
If changed half termly to relevant topics – including children’s work, they were noticed and they helped learning as children “owned them” – even other classes work was of interest.
Space needs to be placed in with displays so it is not a continuous mass and not easily deciphered.
I did leave the space behind my teaching area free of items for fuller attention and learning without distractions when trying new concepts/ideas.
I also had large windows to outside in each classroom I taught in – giving good light but not too distracting for children.
So posters/ information/children’s work on some walls, an area without “clutter” to help concentration?
The learning space needs to be flexible for topics/ subject areas/ size of class – so I did have large floor space and not have “washing line” type displays across the room.
Hope this is of some use as I’m now retired after 35 years teaching full and part time and a business for 25 years – overlapping at times!!
If I can be of further use please contact me on email provided.
20 comments on the Article
Comments if prek teachers prompted me to encourage them to rethink on this hype if classroom deco..
This is great! As a Montessori teacher trainer, I am so glad that this is backed up by research. We have always designed simple, minimalist environments. Relying on plants and beautiful photos of nature, soft colors, and nothing over stimulating in Montessori classrooms.
I’m curious, if you are a teacher trainer can you follow up with your program to ascertain its supporting research for a Montessori program utilizing a “minimalist environment”? It would be nice to see additional supporting research.
Agree completely! Our Montessori school is designed with the “prepared environment” which allows the Montessori works to be the focus and not the walls. Maria Montessori would be happy to hear that research is backing up her discovery….even if they don’t use her name.
I probably had the ‘busiest’ classrooms around. I found that even when 1/2 of my students had autism, the organization within the busy environment carried the day. I changed many things within the classroom usually three times a year. Most of the major things all the students were participants in the change, whether it was moving their desks, hanging up their art etc…. the participation in their environment made a huge difference. I had a lot of years of experience with k-2 students in my classroom. And my students mostly loved coming to school.
You are making very strong recommendations based on a very small research project. This would not stand up to scientific analysis!
With the increased use of computers, I pads etc. it is important for the children’s eyes to be able to switch from total near distance to using far distance same as adults and having items on the walls or windows which are open to the world beyond to look at every few minutes . Visuals on the walls should be changed every few weeks and discussed to give the children a wide range of sights, nature ,etc that match the material being covered whether in science, world events . I used a lot of posters of famous places in the world and the parents noticed when it might be in a magazine or on tv they kids would always recognize them, Taught Kind. for 42 years
Taught for 36 years most ages 4-7 year old children. Found that too busy walls and more very distracting. When I had kid placement, children’s eye level with open space provided between posters or student work, things were much less distracting! Postings tended to be grouped by category and most all postings were topic or seasonal themed worked best, also noted that using calmer coloring especially background paper on bulletin boards worked best, with some pops of bright color. (Making it more natural like home decor or being in nature). Less is more!
There has to be a balance of things. Classrooms can neither be blank nor overloaded with too many loud colours.
Kids work and age related posters can be put up in the classrooms rather then just overloading it with too much colour that might distract students.
Also the position of display work should be kept in mind before putting it up so that it is not a obstacle in a child’s view.
Thank you so much for this addition of knowledge. I will definitely not decorate my class heavily but moderately to enable my students learn and avoid distractions. I teach ages 5 and 6 year one pupils. Hoping to hear more from you.
As an elementary Montessori teacher I agree with and would like to add to Skye Dodson’s comments that Montessori classrooms are ‘minimalist’ environments.
Montessori classrooms also have many shelves of beautiful, enticing, hands-on teaching materials, which in a way could be likened to decoration. But despite the fact there are actually many materials in the room, there is a key principle of limitation that operates: there is only one of each type of each material for the whole class.
I think another key difference between these materials and ‘decoration’ is that they are readily accessible to children to use for their learning. Children actively take them off the shelf to manipulate, repeat and sometimes teach to others. Once the child has been presented with a lesson on how to use the material they are free to use it independently, at any time to support their learning.
Children do not become oblivious to the their presence nor distracted, but rather they become increasingly aware of their presence (through the observation of their peers who choose and practice with them), which in turn drives their interest and motivation to learn about them too.
Have you done tests in classrooms where there are very little (almost none) posters/decorations. I teach in a township school in South Africa and I find that my kids come in before class and they actually have fun reading particularly the new posters. I allow them to “play school” as it is an indication to me whether they understood the work I taught with apparatus.
As a Montessorian and inspired by the work of Reggio Emilian educators, I believe these findings. Who are the decorations really for? What messages do they give? How do they enhance the production of knowledge, as they are merely for visual consumption? Everything put on the walls should reflect the children’s themselves and their work & their learning processes.
I think this research was written by lazy teachers with a minimalistic approach. I taught kindergarten for 36 years thematically. My bulletin boards reinforced the unit of study. This also reinforced English for my second language learners.There was never an issue with distraction because I used the walls as a teaching aide.
It will always distract the children
I would love to see a third classroom where the walls are covered with work done by students and chosen by them as wall-worthy.
Totally agree!
Of course displays in schools are distracting, that is and has always been the case. Regardless of what is displayed, it is always noticed and ‘speaks’ politically, socially and personally. This is historically true of all visual displays in schools. They were and always will be put up to have some influence over those who inhabit the space. They are never innocent- 100 years ago, specific images were specifically chosen for schoolrooms- images of pastoral images to provide a calming morality for children. It was calked the School Room Decoration movement. Whether it is a gauzy blue drape or border, images speak.
HIGHLY disagree. Classrooms should be inviting and conducive to learning.
Its been 12 years, i have been obseveing the effect of visual displays inside classroom and i came to a conclusion that if the displays are arranged systematically, kept in order, may be with some thematic approach , at proper height or level it stimulates a childs creativity, immagination and kids tend to explore beyond books and it increases their immagination and memmory. Whereas in contrast if the classroom is fully decorated but the visual displays are not arranged properly, if they are randomly pasted, it does distract young learners. So i believe its all about proper placement. There is nothing like too much or too less. Its a craft a highly skilled craft that can be learned. Like our good old harry who used to say this…..
I taught in 2 different elementary schools K-5 and noticed the big empty room (no desks) and only a blackboard painted big wall with notes about the day’s message was the more creative teaching environment. The kids enjoyed adding to the board what they liked, noticed, or wondered at the end of lessons so they became an interactive part of the lessons and actual decor!
The other school mandated that we heavily decorated the rooms and continually updated/changed the rather silly, superfluous bulletin boards outside the rooms. Bulletin boards IMO are a laborious task that the teachers were competitive about and only the administration really noticed and even evaluated as part of your observations. The kids did not seem to ever even look up at them, certainly didn’t seem to notice, and became a labor of time-consuming effort and exhausting tasks for teachers to almost outdo each other. The teachers’ effort outweighed any real benefits to the students, And became a burden to educators there who frequently complained to each other about in small circles.
To return to Part One use this LINK http://www.alpha-phonics.com/blog/archives/2313
Alpha-Phonics IS VERY UNDECORATED PHONICS READING INSTRUCTION PROGRAM. IT HAS NO PICTURES AT ALL. SOME SAY PICTURES ARE A DISTRACTION TO LEARNING TO READ.