Philosophy of Education
Does the school have a philosophy, implicit or explicit? (Does it have an attitude to philosophy?) Does it subscribe to a particular method?
Curriculum
Does the curriculum have parts, and how do those parts organize a day? What subjects are taught, if there are discrete subjects; what is their relation to academic disciplines, to professions, or to other knowledge-formations or social projects or problems? Do the subjects have an implicit or explicit hierarchy? (STEM and humanities etc.)
Evaluation
How are students evaluated? Are there grades; of what kind (numbers, letters, prose description etc.)? Are students assessed in relation to others, and at what scale of comparison? How are grades communicated, privately or publicly?
Admissions
Is the school selective in admissions? On what grounds? Does it serve a specific population? (Regional, racial or ethnic, political, religious, abled or disabled, etc.)
Funding
Where does the money for the school come from? Is it public or private?
Language
What is the principal language of instruction? Is it the native language of some or all of the students? Are other languages taught? What is the relation of language teaching to the curriculum—as practice, as paradigm?
Art
Does the school teach the arts? Which arts? How are they integrated into the curriculum—as a supplement, as a basic practice, as a model for learning, etc.?
Sport and Physical Exercise
Does the school support competitive sports? Non-competitive exercise? Indoor, outdoor? How are they integrated into the curriculum—as a supplement, as a basic practice, as a model for learning, etc.?
Discipline
How are students disciplined, and for what infractions? Are infractions of conduct and academic performance treated similarly or differently?
Governance
Does the school have a hierarchy? Implicit or explicit? Does it have an org-chart? Does it answer to authorities outside the building? (Politicians, trustees, parents, etc.) Do teachers and students participate in decision-making? Does it model itself on any external political forms?
Politics
Does the school have a particular political disposition or affiliation in relation to a larger society? How does that affect admissions, funding, curriculum, etc.? How is it expressed or enforced?
Religion
Does the school have a religious affiliation? How is it expressed—how are worship, ritual, religious texts or observances integrated? Are they obligatory? Must students be members of a given religion to attend?
Size
How big is the whole school? How big are classes (or other scenes of instruction)?
Labor
Who works at the school? How are roles defined (administration, teacher, staff, student), and how are they compensated? Do teachers or students work to maintain the school? Is labor made visible or invisible? Are there unions?
Social Class
Does the school have a particular place in a larger landscape of class? What social class or classes are represented among the student body? Among the teachers? (What is the class relation between students and teachers?) Does the school cultivate class consciousness or solidarity (or antagonism)? Social mobility?
Gender
How does the school approach gender, in admissions, record-keeping, bathrooms, etc.? What are the patterns of gender identification among teachers and students?
Race and Ethnicity
What role does race play, on explicit principle or de facto, in admissions, mission, curriculum, politics, etc.? Among the students, among the teachers, between teachers and students and administrators?
Architecture
How is the school built—its building or buildings, its classrooms or equivalent? Does it occupy a conventional school building, does it repurpose facilities built for other purposes, or is its construction specific to experimental practices? What is the relation between built space and pedagogy?
Environment
Is the school integrated with its environment? (Urban or rural.) Insulated from it? Do students learn about where they are? Do lessons extend outside the buildings? The campus? Does the school use the land it’s on?
Technology
What are the basic technologies of instruction? Do they vary from class to class? Does the school have a fundamental orientation to (new) technology?
Time
How is time kept in school? Are there clocks? Where? Are there announcements? What are the relevant units of time: days, hours, minutes; blocks, periods; seasons? Are lessons synchronized for all students? Or do students work at their own pace? Do tasks fit the allotted time, or is time flexibly allotted to tasks?
Duration
How long do students study at the school? How long has the school been in operation; how long is it meant to continue? Is it temporary and ad hoc? Endowed and immemorial?
Work and Play
Does the school value effortful work? Effortless play? Self-discipline? Self-expression?
Social Services
Does the school provide social services (medical, welfare, or other services)? In collaboration with government or independently?
Food
Does the school serve food? To all students, to some? Where does it come from; who pays for it? Are students involved in growing or cooking? Is the food part of the curriculum, an object of attention, or not?
Clothing
Is there a uniform? A dress code? Do teachers and students dress differently?
Shape
Does the school have a characteristic shape—as a feature of its physical arrangements, its iconographic representation, its habitual metaphors? A circle, for example, or a pyramid, etc.?
Color
Does the school have a color or colors? Officially or in practice? (A school flag; the palette of the hallways.) How are they used; what do they stand for?
Affect
What affects does the school appeal to, explicitly or implicitly? Pride? Shame? Love? Loyalty?
Relation to Other Institutions
Does the school depend on specific prior schooling, or prepare for subsequent schooling, or particular trades, guilds, military service, etc.? Is it part of a consortium, a league, a movement, or is it singular? Does it aspire to be a model for other schools?
Relation to the World
Is the school isolated or integrated? Utopian, pragmatic, vocational? Can students come and go freely or are they confined to a campus? Does the school understand itself as a part of society or as an alternative to it?
Relation to Life
Does the school attempt to teach specific skills, or does it offer a more comprehensive vision of how to live? In either case, how do those ambitions relate to the larger society? How much does it concern itself with character, with the good, with social transformation, etc.?
History
Is the history of the school’s foundation salient (to teaching; to the identities of teachers and students)? How is it expressed or conveyed? Is it integrated into larger or other histories (national etc.)? Is it factual or mythic?
