Exploring and Progressing the Concept of Joyful Teaching in Higher Education

This paper examines the concept of joyful teaching in higher education and discusses common themes associated with it, as well as presents challenges. It is this concept of joyful teaching that we believe should be discussed and explored in greater detail, especially as it is an emerging concept with decolonizing pedagogies. This study uses 29 qualitative interviews with university faculty to examine the following question: How do university faculty define and practice joyful teaching in higher education? Our paper arises from a study focusing on decolonizing teaching praxis at a Canadian, prairie university, in which the focus of ‘joyful teaching’ arose as a major point of discussion. Our study suggests that restructuring teaching practices around joy can lead to more supportive, creative, and human-centred classrooms. We believe it is critical for higher education to place an emphasis on joyful teaching to promote not only joy but also self-growth for university teachers and students in post-secondary educational institutions. Keywords: teaching, joy, playful, belonging, decolonization