Dive Brief:
- Fostering a classroom culture that celebrates students and engages them beyond papers and tests is crucial for improving students' motivation and joy for learning, experts say.
- Learning is a social experience, so celebrating student efforts, projects or progress is part of what builds a community of learners, said Nathan Holbert, an associate professor of communication, media and learning technology design at Columbia University.
- “People like to learn, they just don't like to learn necessarily in the form that we often ask them to do in a classroom,” said Holbert. “Young people can definitely find joy in learning, just like the rest of us do, but we need to sort of open up the space of what we think learning can be.”
Dive Insight:
Incorporating aspects of play into the classroom is one approach to making learning more engaging, said Natalia Ortiz, director of the Office of School and Community Partnerships at New York University’s Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development.
There is often the misconception that play is no longer necessary as students transition out of elementary school, Ortiz said, but play is one of the best ways to foster joy in the classroom and joy for learning.
One way to incorporate play in the classroom is by providing opportunities for movement. For example, Ortiz recommends the "four corners” exercise, where each corner of the room or area is designated as "agree," “strongly agree,” “disagree” or “strongly disagree." The teacher then makes different statements, and students move to the corner of the room that represents their opinion on each statement.
This activity gets students out of their seats and introduces content in an engaging way, as it provides space for their opinions and encourages interaction with peers.
Ortiz also uses music to bring joy into the classroom. She recommends creating a classroom \playlist where every student can contribute a song that helps them focus. Then, during independent work time, educators can play the playlist in the background.
This helps foster a sense of community in the classroom and makes them more motivated during independent work time, because they have contributed to the environment.
During testing and midterm season, Ortiz ensures that there are wellness spaces available for her students. This involves setting aside the first 15 minutes of class for students to partner in a relaxing and fun activity, which she provides, such as crossword or word search puzzles, origami and coloring books. This creates a space where students laugh, talk and connect, she said, so that when it's time to wrap up, they are ready for learning.
Holbert also emphasized that motivation ebbs and flows for students just as it does for adults.
“I think it's OK if sometimes kids aren't motivated or sometimes kids aren't feeling joyful. I think the systems that we find ourselves embedded in and existing in are sometimes really unpleasant,” said Holbert. “The kids aren't broken, it’s systems that are.”
That’s why he emphasizes the importance of taking a holistic approach to thinking about how to build schools and communities to be places that value young people and care for their well-being, not just their academic achievement.
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