Joyful learning can flourish in school-

if you give joy a chance.

Steven Wölk

T
wo quotes about schooling doubt that Joy_fui would tnake the list. The
particularly resonate with me. hearts and minds of children and young
The first is from John Dewey's adults are wide open to the wonders of
Expeñence and Education (1938): learning and the fascinating complexities of
"What avail is it to win life. But school still manages to turn that into
prescribed amounts of information about a joyless experience.
geography and history, to win the ability to So what can schools and teachers do to
read and write, if in the process the indi- bring some joy into children's formal educa-
vidual loses his own soul?" (p. 49). If the tion? Children typically spend from six to
experience of "doing school" destroys chil- seven hours each day in school for nearly 10
dren's spint to learn, their sense of wonder, months each year. During the school year,
their curiosity about the world, and their children generally spend more time inter-
willingness to care for the human condition, acting with their teachers than with their
have we succeeded as educators, no matter parents. What happens inside schools has a
how well our students do on standardized deep and lasting effect on the mind-sets thiu
tests? children develop toward lifelong learning.
The second quote comes from John Dewey's point about the destructive powci
Goodlad's A Place Called School (1984), After of our schools should make us ask ourselves
finding an "extraordinary sameness" in our some fundamental questions: What is the
schools, Goodlad wrote, "Boredom is a purpose of school? What dispositions about
disease of epidemic proporüons. -. .Why are learning, reading, school, the world, and the
our schools not places of joy?" (p. 242). Now, self do we want to cultivate? Ask young
a generation later, if you were to ask students adults why they go to school. You will hear
for a list of adjectives that describe school, 1 nothing about joy.
«SUSIE FÏÏÏHtJGH

8 EnucATíüNAL LEADERSHIP/SEPTEMBER 2008

 1 am not using the word joy as a
synonym iorjun. For many children, By helping students find the
having Fun is hanging out at the mall,
watching TV text-messaging their pleasure in learning, we can
friends, or zipping down a roller-
coaster. Having fun certainly brings us make that learning infinitely
joy, but students don't need to be having
fun in school lo experience joy more successful.
According to my Random House
dictionary, Joy means, "The emotion of
great delight or happiness caused by leaming is an example of flow, which he writing workshop, we
something good or satisfying.'^ Surely defines as can inspire them to be
our schools can do some of that. Joy real writers and choose
the state in which people are so involved
and learning—including school for themselves whai
in an activity that nothing else seems to
content—are not mutually exclusive. matter; the experience itself is so enjoy- genres to write in.
Many of our greatest joys in life are able that people wiil do il at even great Dunng units in maih,
related to our learning. Unfortunately, cost, for the sheer sake of doing it. (p. 4) science, art, and social
most of that joyful learning takes place studies, they can choose
outside school. If we want students to experience tnore specific subtopics to
As educators, we have the responsi- flow in school—if we want them to see study; then, as "experts,"
bility to educate and inspire the whole school and leaming as joyful—we need they can share iheir
child—mind, heart, and soul. By to rethink how and what we teach. No leaming v^nth the class.
focusing on the following essentials, we longer can schooling be primarily about Sludenis can also choose
can put more joy into students' experi- creating workers and test takers, but which products they
ence of going to school and get more joy rather about nurturing human beings want to create to
out of working inside one. (Wölk, 2007). By helping students find demonstrate iheir
the pleasure in leaming, we can make leaming. What brings
that leaming infinitely more successful, more joy—studying the
J0Y1: civil rights movement in
Find the Pleasure in Learning the United States through a textbook
Why do people leam? I don't mean J O Y 2: Give Students Choice and lectures or creating comic books,
inside school—I mean learning as a part Outside of school, children are free to writing and performing plays, inter-
of lite. Surely a large part of our learning pursue their interests, and they do so viewing people to create podcasts, and
is necessary for survival and a basic with gusto. They leam how to play proposing your own ideas? Which
c[uality of life. baseball or the drums; they leam how to would you rather do?
Bui there is another, entirely different, ice skale or play video games; they read I advocate giving students one hour
reason to learn. Learning gives us comic books, graphic novels, skate- each day to study topics of their choice
pleasure. This kind of teaming is often board magazines, and Harry Potter. in what I call "Exploratory" (Wölk,
(but not always) motivated from within, But during a typical six-hour school 2001). In Exploratory, teachers collabo-
and no outside forces or coercions are day how much ownership do students rate with students to help shape
needed. We also don't mind the possible have of their leaming? Practically none. student-initiated ideas into purposeful,
difficulties in this teaming. We often It's not surprising that iheir interest in inquiry-based investigations. During
expect the challenges we encounter; we leaming dissipates and that teachers this time, students are scattered around
tend to see them as a natural part of the complain of unmotivated students. the room, absorbed in an endless variety
leaming process, so we are far more Joy in iearning usually requires some of topics that matter to them. While one
open to taking risks. Some love to leam ownership on the part of the leamer. student is studying the life of ants, a
about cars, others love to leam about Students can own some of their school second is researching the workings of
history, and some find great joy in ieaming in several ways. They can the FBI, and a third is exploring the life
learning how to dance. According to choose ihe books they want lo read of Frida Kahlo. While two students
Mihaly Csikszenimihalyi (1990), such through mdependent reading. In work together to investigate the history

10 EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP/SIIPI CMBER 2Ü08

 sterile and joyless environment, 1 tell my
teacher education students that the walls
of their classrooms should speak to
lieople; they should say exactly what
i;oes on in that space throughout the
school day. I can tell what teachers value
by simply walking into their classrooms
and lookitig at the walls.
The same is true for a school
building. My son. Max. is in 4ih grade,
and his school. Augustus H. Burley
School in Chicago, is a joyous place to
visit. The hallways and classrootns are
filled with remarkable student work,
and ihere is rarely a woriisheet in sight.
The teachers also show off the students
themselves. There are photographs of
students next to their favorite books,
of soccer, another is engrossed in The list of what students can create above their posted work from writing
surveying adults on their opinions of across the curriculum is virtually limit- workshop, and next to the doors of
video games. Exploratory' can teach less: newspapers and magazines, some classrooms,
students thai school can be a place that brochures, stories, picture books,
nurtures curiosity, inspires them to ask posters, murals, Web sites, podcasts,
questions, and helps them find the joy PowerPoint presentations, interviews, J O Y 5: Take Time to Tinker
in learning. oral histories, models, diagrams, blue- Gever Tulley has started a unique
prints and floor plans, plays and role- summer school in California called ihe
plays, mock trials, photographs, Tinkering School. His blog describes it
JOY 3: paintings, songs, surveys, graphs, docu- this way:
Let Students Create Things mentar)' videos—the list goes on and The Tinkering School offers an
People like to make stufT. Having on. At its best, school should help and exploratory curriculum designed to help
control of our work and using our inspire students to bring their own ideas kids—ages 7 to 17—learn how to build
minds and hands to create something and creations to life. things. By providing a collaboraiive envi-
original give us a tremendous sense of ronment in which 10 explore basic and
advanced building techniques and princi-
agency. There is a special pride in
ples, we strive to create a school where
bringing an original idea to fruition. It J O Y 4: Show Off student Work we all learn by fooling around. All activi-
empowers us and encourages us; it Our schools and classrooms should be ties are hands-on, supervised, and at least
helps us appreciate the demanding brimming with wonderful, original partly improvisaiional. Grand schemes,
process of creating something from student work. School spaces thai are wild ideas, crazy notions, and intuitive
nothing. leaps of imagination are, of course,
devoid of student work peqDetuate a encouraged and fenilized. (TuUey, 2005)

ASSOCIATION FOR SurtRvisiON AND CURRICULLIM 11

 When 1 walk into a classroom in my
son's school, 1 usually see a space that
looks a lot like a family room. There's a
large rug, a class library vAih the best in
children's atid young adult literature,
bean bags, couches, comfortable chairs,
pillows, colorful curtains, fabric hung
over the ceiling lights, and lamps scat-
tered about the classroom. In fact,
sometimes the ceiling lights are off, atid
the lamps warmly light the room.
And what about the public spaces
inside and outside the school—the hall-
ways, foyers, meeting areas, and school
grounds? Anyone who has spent time at
a university knows how integral these
spaces are to the learning and social
dynamics of the campus. The same can
be true for a school. Why not transform
these often unused and sterile spots into
places for small groups of students to
work or cozy nooks for kids to read or
write? How about filling a foyer with
plants and flowers? Why not give a large
wall to the students to create and paint a
mural? One colorful mural can trans-
ionn a barren hallway or entrance into a
\abrant and joyful sight. And schools
can turn outdoor spaces into gardens,
At Tinkering School, students are Sometimes the best ideas come irom sculpture parks, walkmg paths, and
allowed to dream. They come up with tinkering—and teachers, not just quiet reading areas.
their own ideas for an object, and the students, should be doing more of it.
faculty and staff help them sketch, We must push beyond the teacher-proof
design, and build it. When have you cunûculum the textbook industry has J O Y 7: Get Outside
seen a public school that encouraged created, which tries to plan every 1 am bewildered by how much time
students to come up with "grand subject for every hour of the day Far students spend inside schools. I don't
schemes, wild ideas, crazy notions, and from being think tanks or workshops, mean that the school day should be
intuitive leaps of imagination"? In fact, our schools continue to be assembly shorter; I mean that more of the school
schools actually work to prevent this lines. We need to free teachers to take day should be outside. We adults know
from happening. risks, experiment, play with the art of all too well how much we like to get
Our school days are too planned, pedagogy, and feel the joy that comes outside for a respite during the workday,
leaving no room for spontaneity and from tinkering with their teaching. and the same applies to students and
happenstance. Kindergarten is the last teachers in school. They need a break
refuge in school for letting kids tinker. from being confined inside a classroom
Once they enter 1st grade, students JOY 6: all day. Fresh air, trees, and a sunny day
must banish the joy of "fooling around" Make School Spaces Inviting can do miracles for the human spirit.
viáth objects and ideas and, instead, sit Why do classrooms need to look so Interacting vvith nature brings a
at their desks most of the day listening much like, well, classrooms, with desks unique joy Gavin Pretor-Pinney (2006)
to lectures, reading textbooks, and in rows or arranged in groups, with a writes, "1 have always loved looking at
filling out worksheets. chalkboard or whiteboard at the front? clouds. Nothing in nature rivals their

12 EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHip/SEPTtMBtR 2 0 0 8
variety and drama; nothing matches dig a hole in a patch of dirt, and they pleasure. Have 3rd graders read Dav
their sublime, ephemeral beauty" (p. 9). will witness the flourishing life in the Ptlkey's Captain Underpants, and the
Naturalist and artist David Carroll soil beneath their feet. Don't under- Perilous Plot of Projessor Poopypants
(2004) describes his childhood enthrall- estimate the power of sheer joy that (Scholastic, 2000). Have 5th graders
menl of seeking out turtles as he walked children—and adults—can experience read Jeff Kinney's Dicir>' of a Wimpy Kid
the ponds and marshes: from tipping over a large rock and (Amulet, 2007). Have young aduks read
The sheer joy of being there, of simply seeing the ground teeming with life. Sherman Alexie's very funny (and
bearing witness, continued to be para- serious) The Absolutely True Diary of a
mount, I went out neither to heal my Part-Time Indian (Little Brov^n, 2007).
heartbreaks nor to celebrate my happi- J O Y 8: Read Good Books Encourage students to read thrillers;
ness, hut to be in nature and outside romance novels; action-adventure
myself. Turtles, spotted turtles most Everyone loves a good story. We all
signifiL-antly, v^ere a living text moving know that if you ha\'e a 5-year-oId books; stories about sports, animals,
upon an endless turning of the pages of sitting on your lap and a good book in and pop culture; graphic novels and
the natural world, (p, 27) your hands, you will soon experience manga; and nonfiction on topics they
the magic of stories. And what amazing love. You will see plenty of joy
The easiest way lo get students stories there are! We are living in an
outside is simply to have recess. There is astonishing time of children's and young
a special joy in standing amidst the adult literature. Immerse students in a JOY 9:
Offer More Gym and Arts Classes
In recent years, with our zeal for
As educators, we have the responsibility increasing test scores, "specials" in
school have become nearly as rare as
to educate and inspire the whole child— recess. It is not uncommon, especially
in more impoverished schools, for
mind, heart, and soul. students to have no art, music, and
drama at all. and gym only once or
twice a week. In my son's previous
students as they burst from the school culture of good books, and you school in Chicago, he did not have gym
and spread out like a swarm of hungry surround them with joy. until January.
ants. Kids say that recess is their favorite For the past few years, IVe been With his work on multiple intelli-
time in school. Recess was also one of working on a grant with a Chicago gences, Howard Gardner has helped us
my favorite limes of the day as a teacher public school, in part to help teachers better appreciate the uniqueness of chil-
because I was outside and surrounded make literature an important feature of dren and has spoken to the need lo give
by children having fun. Tragically, recess their classrooms. I have brought loads of students opportunities to use iheir
has become a rare sight, which may say good books into the school. As I did varied strengths and interests in school.
more about our schools today than book talks in 4th and 8th grade class- For the legions of children who have a
anything else. Why do so many schools rooms about dozens ofnew titles we speciai affinity for the visual arts,
find it so difficult to allow children 20 ordered, the room was abuzz with theater, music, or sports, classes in these
minutes each day to play? students who could not wail to get their subjects are golden times for them lo
As a teacher, 1 would often take my hands on the books. When I walk into a experience joy in school. Bui how much
students outside to read, write, or have classroom now, I am met with the joy can they experience when it's limited
a class meeting. It is delightful for a excited voices of the students telling me
to 45 minutes each week?
student to sit under a tree and read or what books they're reading.
for a class to sit in a circle on the grass Of course, if we want joy in schools,
and talk. Much of our science curricu- then sometimes students should read J O Y 10! Transform Assessment
Iums could directly include the books thai aren't so "serious." I believe When 1 was a kid, 1 dreaded report card
outdoors. A school does not have to be that books with important themes can lime. When 1 was a leacher, many of my
near a forest or the ocean for students make a better world, but we must also students were anxious about their
and teachers to explore nature. Ecosys- sometimes allow—even encourage— grades. For far loo many students,
tems are all around us. Have students students to experience books for sheer assessment in ils dominant forms—

ASSOCIATION FUR SUPERVISION AND CURRICULUM DF-VEIOPMENI 13

tests, quizzes, letter grades, number days, and talent shows can help
grades, and standardized tests—is a everyone get to know one another
dark cloud that never seems to leave. better, tear down the personal walls that
Must it be this way? often get built inside schools, form more
The idea of assessment in school is caring relationships, and simply have a
not inherently bad; children assess wonderful time together.
themselves all the time. When they're
busy doing something they love outside Teaching As a Joyful Experience
school, such as tae kwon do, baking, or Recently, 1 visited a former gradúale
playing the saxophone—when they're student in her classroom. It is her third
experiencingjïow—they don'l mind year as a teacher, and 1 was excited to
assessment at all. In fact, they see it as see her creative and thoughtful teaching.
an important part of the process. But for But she said to me, "I never imagined
most students, assessment in school is this job would be so hard. I'm tired all
the enemy the time."
We can, however, make it a more posi- Yes, teaching is hard, John Dewey's
tive experience. We need to help quote—about school sapping our
students understand the value of assess- souls—can be as true for teachers as it is
ment. We also need to rethink "failure." for students. Considering the staggering
Our schools see failure as a bad thing. turnover of new teachers in urban
But adulls know that failure is a vital pan schools, it is in everyone's interest to
of leaming. Portraying failure as a bad card to include space for a photograph help teachers find joy in their work. So
thing teaches a child to avoid risk taking of the student inside; the cover was left teachers must strive in whatever ways
and bold ideas. Imagine if we graded blank so students could either draw a they can to own their teaching so that
toddlers on their walking skills. We picture or write something meaningful each morning they can enter their class-
would be living in a nation of crawlers. there. rooms knowing there will be golden
We should limit how we use quanti- opportunities for them—as well as for
tative assessments and make more use their students—to experience the joy
of narrative assessments and report JOY 11: in school. B!
cards, portfolios of authentic work, and Have Some Fun Together
student presentations and perform- Recently, when 1 was visiting a school, 1 References
ances. In addition, parent conferences was standing in the hallway talking to a Carroll, D. (2004). Self-portrait with turtles.
should not only include students, but teacher when a tall 8tb grade boy from Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
Csikszentmihalyi, M, (1990), flow. New
also encourage the students to do much another classroom exuberantly walked York: Harper Perennial,
of the talking, using the conference as up to that teacher. They began some Dewey,J, (1938), Experience and education.
an opportunity to present their work good-natured ribbing. Back and forth it New York: Collier.
and discuss their strengths and areas to went for a few minutes with smiles and Goodlad, J. (1984), A place called school.
focus on for grov^th. laughter. What was this about? The New York: McGraw-Hill,
teacher-student basketball game held Pretor-Pinney G, (2006). The cloudspotter's
As a teacher, I had my students regu-
guide. New York: Perigee.
larly do self-assessments - This gave earlier that week. Here were two Tulley, G, (2005, May 4), About, Tinkering
them some real power over the process. people—an 8th grader and his School. Available: www.tinkering
They assessed most of their schoolwork teacher—having a joyous good time. school.conVblog/?p=I 1
before I did my own assessment. And Schools need to find ways for Wölk, S, (2001), The benefits of exploratory
time. Educational Leadership. 59(2), 56-59,
during report card time, I passed out students, teachers, and administrators to
Wölk, S. (2007). Why go to school? Phi
photocopies of a blank report card and take a break from the sometimes Delta Kappan, 88(9). 648-658.
had my students complete it, for both emotional, tense, and serious school day
grades and behavior, before I filled it and have some fun together. Sporting Steven Wölk is Assistant Professor of
out. 1 don't recall a student ever abusing events, outdoor field days, movie Teacher Education at Northeastern Illi-
this opportunity. At another school in nights, school sleep-ins, potluck meals, nois University, 5500 N, St, Louis Ave.,
which I taught, 1 redesigned our report visits to restaurants, schoolwide T-shirt Chicago, IL 60625; [email protected].

14 EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP/SEPTEMBER 2008