Taking Joy Seriously

• In Event: "Showing Up" for Students, Schools, and the Profession: Critical Practitioner Inquiry in Justice-Centered Teacher Education

Abstract

Joy initially drew me to a career in teaching, but in my first year of my teacher education program, I learned that the rigor of independent schools often made joy invisible. I specifically noticed joy shortages for Black students, and so I began to wonder if recognizing joy would create a sense of belonging for more students. After locating joy in the maker lab program at my school, I began to wonder what it would look like to prioritize joy in non-elective courses like English. I spent the next year exploring my inquiry question: How can my students and I prioritize joyful learning in our English classroom? Drawing on the works of Johnson (2022), Watkins (2018), Poetter (2006), Nakkula and Toshalis (2006), Martinez and Stager (2019), and Cunningham (2019), I argue that joy is born out of connection, brings a sense of timelessness and play, and is a skill one must practice. Honoring the belief that I would learn as much from my students and they would from me, the majority of the data for this project comes from student writing, voices, and feedback. From this data, I put forth four ways I am redefining my role as a teacher in the classroom: translator, spacemaker, facilitator, and documentarian. Through my data and teacher moves, I explain how each of the four roles can empower teachers to name, follow, and focus people’s attention on the power of joy in the classroom.

Author

• Julia Rohde, Independent Researcher