Teachernet, Classroom displays

Classroom displays

Do you put as much thought as you might into making your classroom a child-friendly place? Research shows that a well thought-out learning space makes children more likely to want to learn.

September has arrived and with it a new academic year. The classroom is a blank canvas awaiting an inspired display to enthuse your new class. But just how important is your classroom display? Are those long hours spent creating the new display worth it?

Definitely, say those who know. A stimulating environment makes for a stimulated child. This may seem like an obvious statement but apparently it cannot be emphasised enough. Educational psychologists have found that environment can have a large impact on children's learning. There are classrooms that alienate children and those that engage them, and much research shows that children who feel engaged in their classroom are more receptive.

Psychology of the classroom
An appropriate sense of scale is important. If the scale of a classroom for primary children is adult, there's the danger that children get the message 'this room was not designed for you'. If the chairs are too big, the ceilings too high and the displays above their eye level, the children will feel less confident in the classroom. Architects, for example, actively employ this principle of scale when designing a cathedral. By emphasising the height it symbolically reduces our size in relation to deity. Children obviously need to feel empowered not overawed when it comes to their place of learning, but to what extent have we considered this in relation to the design and layout of a classroom?

If furniture and classroom elements are thoughtfully considered for a child's scale, children will feel engaged and are likely to have a more positive learning attitude. If they can look out of windows, reach storage areas and sit at tables and chairs that suit them, they will feel more involved, more responsible and more confident in their ability to learn.

What can a display do?
You may not be able to change the shape and size of your classroom, but there is a lot that can be done with displays. For instance, banners and hanging displays can adjust the height of your room to a child's scale. It follows that the same principles that apply to classroom design can be applied to classroom displays. The Guardian's secondary school teacher of the year, Philip Beadle, writes of a primary school he visited when looking for inspiration on classroom displays for his secondary school. 'Here there seemed to be an ethos, a belief system, around the fripperies on the walls; a genuine sense that an exciting environment makes for an excited child. You could tell that the children loved, and felt loved by, the place in which they learned, and this affected how well they learned the stuff they were meant to learn, and how happy they were doing so.'

There is much the humble classroom display can do to help engage children. Techniques can be used, such as locating displays meant for children at their eye level wherever possible. This gives the child a sense of ownership, especially if it is their work that is on display. 'Remember when your own mum and dad went to parents' evening,' Philip Beadle writes, 'You didn't care what the teachers said about you. You just wanted Mum to have seen the picture you drew, which the teacher had stuck on the wall.'

Display as a learning tool
Another key to making displays meaningful for children is to use them as learning tools, not just in their content but in their creation. Involving children in the process of making a display that ties into the lesson helps to enliven the classroom with the subjects being studied. An example of this is given by a teacher who asked her pupils to 'draw pictures' of verbs. Because the children have created the images themselves they are simple and effective, in terms that they understand, such as a picture of a snowman surrounded by snowflakes that has appropriate verbs written on it like freeze, snow or melt. The pictures can then be put on display and the teacher refers to them during verb lessons. A space can also be kept in the display for exhibiting material that relates to the weekly lesson. This can reinforce the lesson and keep the display current and interesting.

Community and belonging in the classroom
Whole-class displays — ones that reflect the efforts and interests of every child in the class — build a sense of belonging and community in the classroom, which is useful to establish at the beginning of the school year, especially with a class of children who are new to each other. Even simple techniques such as displaying handwriting samples of each child's name can have a powerful effect on creating a sense of community. Whole-class displays also affirm that everyone has equal value in the group, as do displays of children's own work without grades or marks. This will engender a feeling of value in all the children, regardless of their academic abilities.

A good idea for a whole-class display is one of family photographs or drawings. Some time could be set aside before the pictures go up for children to show them to the class and share something about their families. It is always good to learn as much as you can about the children so that the display can reflect something of their interests. Philip Beadle again writes: 'Your classroom should reflect the ethnic and linguistic make-up of your class. If you teach native Lithuanian speakers, display some Lithuanian poetry, in Lithuanian. Show your students that you respect their language, their culture, their home. Maps are good.'

One teacher gave her children a project to create a display when they moved into a new mobile classroom that was completely bare and badly in need of some decoration. She gave children A4 coloured paper and collage materials and told them to think about colour, shapes, pattern and texture in relation to their own personalities. The children cut out or found symbols for personality traits and emotions like love and anger. The result was revealing and went on display as a patchwork with a sign alongside explaining the process. At parents' evening, parents were invited to guess which collage represented their child.

So it seems the classroom display can be many things. As well as making the classroom lovelier to look at, it can be a learning tool, a way of engaging children and building the class community and a means of creating a sense of ownership in the classroom. It can also provide a different kind of learning that is not 'just about getting stuff right,' as one student put it, but one that gives children a sense that their ideas and their construction of meaning are important and worthy of being taken seriously.

Useful links
There are many websites full of practical advice on creating classroom displays, with ideas and examples, photographs etc.