Types of Schools

What to Look for in a Classroom

Alfie Kohn

Author: Alfie Kohn
Source: Alfie Kohn


An earlier version of this chart was published in the September 1996 issue of Educational Leadership, and reprinted as the title essay in the anthology What to Look for in a Classroom...And Other Essays.

This revised version appeared as Appendix B of The Schools Our Children Deserve.

  GOOD SIGNS POSSIBLE REASONS TO WORRY

FURNITURE

Chairs around tables to facilitate interaction

Comfortable areas for learning, including multiple "activity centers"

Open space for gathering

Chairs all facing forward or (even worse) desks in rows

ON THE WALLS

Covered with students' projects

Evidence of student collaboration

Signs, exhibits, or lists obviously created by students rather than by the teacher

Information about, and personal mementos of, the people who spend time together in this classroom

Nothing

Commercial posters

Students' assignments displayed, but they are (a) suspiciously flawless, (b) only from "the best" students, or (c) virtually all alike

List of rules created by an adult and/or list of punitive consequences for misbehavior

Sticker (or star) chart -- or other evidence that students are rewarded or ranked
STUDENTS' FACES Eager, engaged Blank, bored
SOUNDS Frequent hum of activity and ideas being exchanged Frequent periods of silence

The teacher's voice is the loudest or most often heard
LOCATION OF TEACHER Typically working with students so it takes a few seconds to find her Typically front and center
TEACHER'S VOICE Respectful, genuine, warm Controlling and imperious

Condescending and saccharine-sweet
STUDENTS' REACTION TO VISITOR Welcoming; eager to explain or demonstrate what they're doing or to use visitor as a resource Either unresponsive or hoping to be distracted from what they're doing
CLASS DISCUSSION Students often address one another directly

Emphasis on thoughtful exploration of complicated issues

Students ask questions at least as often the teacher does

 All exchanges involve (or are directed by) the teacher; students wait to be called on

Emphasis on facts and right answers

Students race to be first to answer teacher's "Who can tell me...?" queries
STUFF Room overflowing with good books, art supplies, animals and plants, science apparatus; "sense of purposeful clutter" Textbooks, worksheets, and other packaged instructional materials predominate; sense of enforced orderliness
TASKS Different activities often take place simultaneously

Activities frequently completed by pairs or groups of students

All students usually doing the same thing

When students aren't listening to the teacher, they're working alone
AROUND THE SCHOOL Appealing atmosphere: a place where people would want to spend time

Students' projects fill the hallways

Library well-stocked and comfortable

Bathrooms in good condition

Faculty lounge warm and inviting

Office staff welcoming toward visitors and students

Students helping in lunchroom, library, and with other school functions

 Stark, institutional feel

Awards, trophies, and prizes displayed, suggesting an emphasis on triumph rather than community

Copyright © 1996 by Alfie Kohn. This article may be downloaded, reproduced, and distributed without permission as long as each copy includes this notice along with citation information (i.e., name of the periodical in which it originally appeared, date of publication, and author's name). Permission must be obtained in order to reprint this article in a published work or in order to offer it for sale in any form. Please write to the address indicated on the Contact Us page.

Copyright ©1996. Reprinted from "Educational Leadership" with the author's permission. For more information, please see www.alfiekohn.org


Want more info on this topic? Start a discussion with our diverse community. Start a discussion

Other readers' comments on this article:

  1. I  love to learn.

    Posted by tajhmirr on Sep 8, 2007 12:00 am

  2. Should you leave your 3yr. old son in a school where the teachers take your child from you crying and begging to go back home, while the teachers saying leave him he'll stop crying.

    Posted by ria ramlal on Sep 18, 2007 10:53 am

  3. this is right chhanel to guide kids
    iam very happy to see this

    Posted by leelamanohar on Sep 19, 2007 10:33 am

  4. thank you for your advices i would really have it in mind.

    Posted by Lorena Alvarado on Nov 5, 2007 9:06 am

  5. sadly, the worry concern list is what is seen in the public Special Education classrooms.  Why are they so diffirent that the regular classrooms?

    Posted by beatriz kostrinsky on Jan 1, 2008 5:59 pm

  6. Really like your for and against words pertaining  to the K-classroom.  Maybe you might be able to help me. How would teach Language Art in a combined class PreK/Kinder-/ using the Montessori Philosophy?  How would you combine the Montessori-K with the traditional K-classroom? Help! Help! I truly need help. To me It is very confusing and apparently impossible specially in the Public Schools Sys.

    Posted by mimose kaba on Jan 17, 2008 11:50 pm

  7. I have great interest in the guidance given to question 6 above.

    Posted by zelda on Feb 1, 2008 9:39 pm

  8. This is very good for parents to know.  But what about teachers that don't like a student they are always calling a parent about made up things about a student. This causes alot of problems with trusting these teachers that are suppose to give there very best to our children. I wish that you can comment or make a websight speaking more about this issue. Another thing what happened to the days when parents can just pop-up there to actually see what the student and or the teachers are actually doing. Just because they're teachers does'nt necessarily mean they are giving there best to your children. Please comment on this.

    Posted by Stephanie Ferguson on Mar 20, 2008 10:03 am



If you have a comment, please enter it here.
To share your personal experience or ask advice from our community, please start a discussion