Teacher Tea
Can Joy Make You Smarter? The Science of Joyful Learning
If we want students to be engaged, joy is the most essential ingredient. A student’s emotional state greatly impacts his ability to find value in what he’s learning, connect with it, and assimilate new information. Joy is what leads to creativity, growth, and positive attitudes. It’s the spark that ignites a passion for lifelong education.
But does learning always have to be “fun”? And how can we help students find meaning in learning, even if it’s not traditionally fun?
Today’s article, “What Does Centering Student Joy Mean?,” featured in Educational Leadership, explores the concept of making joy an integral part of the learning experience, rather than treating it as a separate activity or reward. The author, consultant Lauren Porosoff, warns against superficial approaches, like using games or treats to add fleeting fun, which might overshadow the deeper goal of creating joyful learning within classroom activities themselves.
Porosoff describes what it means to design classroom experiences that naturally bring joy through meaningful engagement. It involves using materials that reflect students’ identities and expose them to diverse perspectives, creating rituals that guide students through their learning journey and encourage personal connections. Reflective practices that help students assess their progress also help cultivate joy as an inherent quality of learning.
In particular, Porosoff focuses on the personal nature of joy, stressing the importance of offering students choices that align with their values. For instance, students might choose how to approach a topic or connect with assignments in ways that feel personally meaningful. She also addresses the role of emotions in the classroom, advocating for educators to recognize and honor the full range of emotions—including discomfort—since they reveal what students value deeply.
Finally, Porosoff introduces the concept of “joy hybrids,” combinations of joy with other emotions, such as delight (joy + surprise) or nostalgia (joy + sadness). If teachers learn to recognize these emotional nuances, then they can also expand how they elicit such complex joy in the classroom. Ultimately, centering student joy means making joy intrinsic to the act of learning itself, and that enriches both the student and teacher experience.