Visual Rest in the Classroom

02/13/2023

It’s precisely those who are busiest who most need to give themselves a break.
Pico Iyer, The Art of Stillness

In a 2022 study on classroom design and children’s attention, Karrie E. Godwin and colleagues correlated visual noise, display quantity, and color variability in classrooms with measures of children's "rates of on-task behavior.” They found “on-task behavior was lower in classrooms containing greater quantities of visual noise and color variability, and in classrooms with either relatively small or large amounts of displays (controlling for observation session, school type, student gender, grade-level, and instructional format).”

In Complementary Curriculum Approach, Lisa Porter Kuh and Iris Chin Ponte invite a reexamination of aesthetics and “what children’s environments should look and feel like.”

One misconception is the idea that children need a “surround sound” of visually stimulating, primary color environment, in order to learn. The preponderance of primary colors in early childhood settings, while certainly its own aesthetic, doesn’t take into consideration that children can appreciate and thrive in a more subtle palette of colors and textures. …The aesthetics of a space include not just the color of the walls or what is on them, but how the space makes you feel and what activity or mood it inspires.

They offer this exercise:

After assessing the volume of primary colors in your room, consider areas where you could create a more neutral, softer environment. How might you reduce the overabundance of colorful patterns and designs on your bulletin boards, rugs, and furniture? Simple ways to change the overall color impact include using baskets instead of colored plastic tubs—or using plastic tubs in just one color. Instead of filling every space on a wall with posters and mismatched items, and overloading shelves with materials, keep the contents of the room minimal and allow for visual rest and appreciation of beauty.

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