Recommitting to the Joyful Classroom by the editors of Rethinking Schools

The author argues that "joy is not an escape from the hard realities of our world, but a dive into them... and that joy and academic achievement are partners, not enemies" (Editors of Rethinking Schools). 

Three Talking Points

Beginning:

"We must reject district initiatives that begin from a narrative of "learning loss", echoing the tired lines used over decades to track students by their test scores with problematic and inaccurate assessments tied to ineffective and deadening teaching" (Editors of Rethinking Schools).  Rather students need to feel connected to the learning and intrinsic motivation verses extrinsic motivation must also be taught.  Students need to feel the joy and the spark in learning again.  Some days, I start to feel so sad with our mandated scripted curriculum that we must use because the district paid a lot of money for.  But so much of it needs to be made more engaging, culturally relevant and accessible for students. 

Middle:

"We need to reject the supposed need to be "efficient" in the classroom and instead take the time required to restore young people's fractured relationships with others.  What may be efficient at racing another few pages through the textbook may be decidedly inefficient at building community and a love of learning" (Editors of Rethinking Schools).  Our students need to be able to pause and discuss and grapple with these big ideas, concepts, and themes that we are teaching about.  We need to also make the learning connect to their real lived experiences.  A lot of the time, I feel we are forgetting this piece and the joy and many other feelings that we should experience while learning.  Think wonder, awe, empathy, gratitude, sorrow, confusion, etc and all the many other feelings that can take place when learning new things. 

End:

The following quote really resonates with me.  "We so desperately need to insist that our classrooms and schools be sites of joy, of imagination, of humanity.  It is why we need to resist the narrative that after two and a half years of the pandemic, schools should be hurry-up sites where we single-mindedly address "learning loss" (Editors of Rethinking Schools).  I feel as though there has been this narrative surrounding the pandemic that we have so much learning to make up and that students are "so far behind."  We have to keep in mind that many of our students grappled with living through the pandemic (my current Kindergarteners were literally born during the pandemic).  So much of the time I hear educators and school leaders saying that we have so much catching up to do.  It never feels like we are doing enough and feels like as soon as one testing cycle is complete, we are onto the next.  Students and teachers alike need to feel joy in the learning and teaching otherwise it starts to feel like an uphill battle almost instantly. 

Connections/Reflections:

I stumbled across this article after doing some research around this topic and thought that it connects well.

https://www.teachthought.com/pedagogy-posts/bring-joy-back/

As I was reading the article titled Recommitting to the Joyful Classroom, it made me really pause, think, and reflect on how much of the time I feel rushed to get through the curriculum and make sure that I am following guidelines and standards.  Much of the time I feel I am so focused on getting through the next unit or module that I am forgetting to see the big picture.  Are students seen, known, valued in these lessons?  Can they see themselves in the learning and in the curriculum?  Are they able to access the material?  Is it rigorous enough?  It made me think of all of these questions and I am pondering how I can bring more joy into the learning.