Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums General Discussion Rethinking the Colorful Kindergarten Classroom

I have a small collection of contemporary textbooks (probably 20 or so if I include the ones my kids brought home this year). With a few exceptions (the ones written by bona fide subject experts), the new ones are mostly the same: they're jammed with brightly colored distractions including icons, photos, sidebars, and other things, and are short on actual text. The math books are the worst. They tend to have sentences instead of paragraphs.

I was looking through a new 6th grade Earth Science book I have recently, and it had the same problem. Every chapter had a chunk of 8-10 pages of pure garbage that was all packed together. It made it very hard to find actual information in the book, let alone extract it.

Compare with older textbooks and good newer ones (e.g. Walker, Physics, 2009 edition). These books are full of text, and illustrations or photos are only used to clarify concepts.

IMO, the bright colors and lack of information are what you get when you stop paying reasonable royalties to expert authors and start outsourcing to cheap labor. You get what you pay for, which is flashy marketing and not much else.

But if you are inclined to see them as a building toy rather than a learning tool, color is a bonus!

Educational value aside, the casino-style decor of most primary classrooms is garish. The only thing missing, it seems, is a disco ball.

Ours are mostly not like that. There is a word wall, a alphabet freize and the kids artwork and writing.

I do often wonder though if the increase in ADHD was caused by shared tables, group work and a less structured routine. When we were kids we sat in individual desks in a quiet classroom. The order of subjects was the same each day (great for people with transition issues or anxiety (me)). My son sits in a group and does maths in a group and the timetable makes no sense at all. Also we kept out stuff in our desks, my son keeps his in a tray in a rack with everyone else so every time they change task everone has to wander round getting stuff. My son is not ADHD but he is PG and quite happy to avoid certain tasks.

FRAME-WORTHY sentiment, btw.

I've thought about this study for a while now. I found the "no distractions" classroom pictured to be grim and institutional, yet I have no doubt that a lovely, calm, pleasant room with unadorned walls could be designed. My worry is that this study will lead to just ripping down every bit of color and decoration but otherwise leaving it the same, making classrooms feel like jail. However, I guess most teachers are too Pinterest-addicted to do this.

My own DD has actually learned some things from staring idly at the materials on the walls of her classroom. I remember she was able to recite/fully regurgitate the content of some space- and earth-science posters in one room. Of course, one could argue that she should have been on task instead. Which leads to the question: why are those learning materials on the walls??? When is one meant to be studying them?

I would have loved a bunch of stuff on the walls in elementary. I would have learned a lot because I was never paying attention to the teacher.

I quite like the Steiner classrooms I have seen, soft pastel walls, kids art and crafts on display. Not so keen on anything else but that is nice. They felt friendly and comfortable but not in your face.

I do agree though perhaps reading posters on the walls is more educational than counting the ceiling tiles.

Also, even though I think the learning posters would have been nice, I don't think I would have liked too many bright colors. I really don't understand that philosophy to be honest. It would have been sensory overload for me.