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

Imagine a kindergarten classroom. Picture the vividly colored scalloped borders on the walls, the dancing letters, maybe some charming cartoon barnyard animals holding up “Welcome to School!” signs.

That bright, cheery look has become a familiar sight in classrooms across the country, one that has only grown over the last few decades, fed by the proliferation of educational supply stores. But to what effect?

A new study looked at whether such classrooms encourage, or actually distract from, learning. The study, one of the first to examine how the look of these walls affects young students, found that when kindergartners were taught in a highly decorated classroom, they were more distracted, their gazes more likely to wander off task, and their test scores lower than when they were taught in a room that was comparatively spartan.

The researchers, from Carnegie Mellon University, did not conclude that kindergartners, who spend most of the day in one room, should be taught in an austere environment. But they urged educators to establish standards.

“So many things affect academic outcomes that are not under our control,” said Anna V. Fisher, an associate professor of psychology at Carnegie Mellon and the lead author of the study, which was published in Psychological Science. “But the classroom’s visual environment is under the direct control of the teachers. They’re trying their best in the absence of empirically validated guidelines.”

Very colorful textbooks with lots of illustrations may also not increase learning.


Wow-- someone should alert math textbook developers.

Can we add Cuisenaire rods to the list? You know, those colorful, fun, wooden sticks of different lengths? I am sure they do help many kids understand fractions, but for my boy, they were a. total. distraction. An invitation to play instead of learn. Paper instructional materials in black and white were much more effective/efficient for teaching him fractions.

And the makers of Junior High/High School Planners. Our schools/districts try to "sell" us these crazy high school planners as necessary for the child to be organized. They are so crammed full of of stuff (school spirit stuff, ads) that it's hard to find the calendar planner stuff and thus IMO very hard to use.

I don't think of Cuisenaire rods as being gratuitously colorful. The colors are just a way of telling them apart and recognizing them.

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

FRAME-WORTHY sentiment, btw.

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.

Think about this. PBSkids cartoons are much more educational than other kids cartoons that are out there. Would they be any more educational if they were in black and white instead of color?

Not sure that I agree with the assertion that these cartoons are "educational"... but that might just be a definitional difference. At any rate, I would presume that teachers wouldn't have cartoons playing in the background while children are trying to attend to their work.

Think about this. PBSkids cartoons are much more educational than other kids cartoons that are out there. Would they be any more educational if they were in black and white instead of color?