Joy-Powered Teaching: The Secret to Unlocking Student Engagement and Success
Teachers have been given a lot of labels over the years – disciplinarians, mentors, role models, facilitators, care givers – but one true characteristic that unifies the profession is that, at their core, teachers are igniters of potential.
For our first Education by Design podcast, we invited educator and professional learning facilitator Richard Hood to be our inaugural guest. While sharing his journey in becoming an educator who centers joy and inquiry in his practice, Richard also describes the task of developing one's process of self-actualization as a ‘terrible freedom’.
It is a seemingly endless quest that asks every educator to dig deep and connect with what brought us to teaching in the first place.
Adding further complexity to this existential angst is the direct impact of the age of artificial intelligence, which appears to be impacting educator identity in deep and often unpredictable ways. An emerging belief from this latest technological revolution, is that teachers are no longer valued the ‘source’ for knowledge, there-by challenging how many educators have been trained for the profession of teaching – as disciplinary experts, with varying degrees of child development expertise.
The history of educator identity, in both Eastern and Western traditions, can be summarized as being attached to ‘sage of a stage’ demonstrations of knowledge and wisdom. While in more recent times there has been a shift towards ‘student-centred’ practice, the lightening-speed growth of technology, both within and beyond the education space, challenges contemporary teachers in unprecedented ways, with leading experts in the field of warning against technological affordances (mis)leading away from education remaining a deeply human endeavor.
While the definitional role of what it is to be a teacher today might be up for grabs, arguably, even the best algorithms and generative AI models would struggle to replicate the experience of a (human) teacher responding to their unique context and learners to ignite joy in a classroom – real, virtual or otherwise.
The very human response to the experiences of joy, curiosity or pride is the activation of the prefrontal cortex – essential for the development of attention, memory and decision making in the brain’s executive function centre.
When students feel good, they are primed to learn well.
This may bring to mind the significance of dopamine, which has been a trending topic, typified by best-sellers like Dopamine Nation by Dr Anna Lembke who outlines how many of us live in a world with unlimited access to pleasure, that our brains are not wired for and consequently we are becoming compulsive in our behaviour to find dopamine ‘hits’ in turn making us numb to joy. Dr Lembke argues that true contentment comes not from constant pleasure but learning how to manage discomfort and finding balance in a world that tempts us with excess.
This is not just an adult issue. Hyper stimulation can rewire the developing brain. Access to personal devices, controlled by parties determined to capture attention at an early age, is undoubtedly growing. Many of our students are unwittingly affected in the pleasure without effort (think scrolling, swiping, snacking) activities that negatively impact motivation and mental health. So, what is the way forward for educational design?
One of the most important roles teachers will continue to play is in fostering joyful learning environments, that keep a focus on emotional wellbeing and opportunities for connection – both cognitive and interpersonal, to support all learners navigating increasingly complex and uncertain times.
Emotion is not the opposite of reason — it's the foundation of meaningful learning.
Mary Helen Immordino-Yang (USC)
So what is the purpose of a teacher in your context? Is teaching is about cultivating a positive and supportive classroom culture? Is it still relevant to use humor, storytelling, and creativity to make lessons engaging? Is there time and interest in celebrating effort and progress, not just outcomes?
I don’t know many teachers who are not up for critical examination and open, reflective conversations – time permitting of course. Perhaps, it is worth spending at least as much time in these endeavors as, say, marking or school inspection planning, to reconstruct what it means to be a teacher, learner or learning community. If you are interested in a future of teaching infused with pedagogical approaches that prioritize ethics, collaboration and critical thinking the resources below are a great starting point.
Further reading: Pedagogical Strategies to Create Joyful Learning
Student-Centered Learning: Encouraging autonomy and voice in the classroom.
Gamification & Play-Based Learning: Making learning feel like an adventure.
Collaborative Learning: How teamwork and discussion make learning social and fun.
Culturally Responsive Teaching: Creating an inclusive and relatable curriculum.
Project-Based Learning: Connecting lessons to real-world applications.
Ultimately, this is what the Education by Design team hope to create – a ‘watering hole’ open to anyone interested in being part of the conversation on how we might experiment with teaching strategies, reflect on their impact and share our respective journeys.
Let me know in the comments what topics or questions you think I could dive into to support your journey in educational design.
