1. Design. What are the main design features of the room and how do they affect its aesthetic feel?
2. Possibilities. What are the possibilities for display (in two and in three dimensions?) on walls, on windows, on flat surfaces, off the ceiling? What are the possibilities for plants or animals? Is work displayed in a variety of media? Is it mobile or static?
3. Purposes. Do the displays stimulate and inform? Do they provide opportunities for children to interact with them, for example, by posing questions; inviting their participation in a quiz or problem solving challenge; offering alternative viewpoints to consider; encouraging the children to touch/smell/taste as well as look and listen? Further, do displays only show finished products or do they also reveal processes, which might be used for discussion, sharing problems, giving mutual support and advice?
4. Quality. Is the standard of mounting, writing and display such that it shows that the children's work is valued? Does it provide a model which children may apply to their own work?
5. Practicality. Is the classroom environment as practical as it can be to maintain? How often is it necessary to change displays? Do the children mount their own displays? Can children help with classroom jobs such as watering plants and feeding pets?
