Can you live without joy?
Can you teach without joy?
These are the questions we were asking at the recent ECA National Conference in Melbourne.
My presentation was fizzing (excuse the pun) with educators, experiencing all the feelings - exhausted, overwhelmed, hopeful and genuinely curious.
We all know that things are hard at the moment, for a wide range of reasons. We have all experienced those days where things just don’t go to plan and the team can end up in tears. Frustrated by what unfolded, disappointed that we couldn’t change the outcome and honestly not sure where to go next.
Joy is our response.
Our team began with one word on the wall - JOY - and a commitment to find one joyful thing in the day. Just one.
One joyful moment turned into two, three and more. We listened, we observed and then we documented these joyful moments.
We leaned into literature and research. Our first article is a blog post on the REAIE website:
https://reggioaustralia.org.au/reframing-learning-a-pedagogy-of-joy/
We added this article to our wall of JOY, which served not only as a reminder to ourselves, but it also shared some of the pedagogical decision making for families, community and visitors to our classroom.
Loris Malaguzzi is often quoted as saying 'nothing without joy', and certainly a phrase that comes to mind when we consider joy in the context of education. The article, drawing on Malaguzzi's thinking is a call to action during the covid crisis of 2020.
It invites us to make ethical choices which reflect our values, to consider our image of the child and asks the question: of all the strategies you choose to embrace, could you include the values of engagement, enchantment and joy?
We have moved beyond the covid crisis, but these concepts are still relevant and now, more than ever, we are at a tipping point. Is there joy in our future?
I invite you to consider three shifts in your practice to find your fizz!
Seek joy: actually look for it, every day. You know it’s there, sometimes you have to look a little harder to find it. Start the conversation!
Make fun: this is a tool to help reset your day, not to be confused with entertainment. It’s an opportunity to laugh at a funny book, play a game, sing a song, roll down a grassy hill and create opportunities for connection. Join in!
Find Your Professional Fizz: seek out learning opportunities that you find joyful, find your ‘thing’. It might be literacy or nature pedagogy or visual arts. When you find your ‘thing’, you will also find people to share this joy with you.
In the words of poet Donna Ashworth:
“If you want to feel joyful in this life,
you have to wake up every day seeking it.”
FIND YOUR FIZZ!!!
References:
Ashworth, D (n.d) https://donnaashworth.com/
Little, C., & Karaolis, O. (2024). The lost art of joy in early childhood education. Australasian Journal of Early Childhood, 49(1), 81-90
Reframing learning: A pedagogy of joy. Reggio Emilia Australia Information Exchange.
https://reggioaustralia.org.au/reframing-learning-a-pedagogy-of-joy/
