Think about this: How often was joy the focus of your education as a student? How about your teaching program? Let’s take it one step further: How often is joy centered in your teaching?
Dr. Gholdy Muhammad asks teachers these questions in Unearthing Joy: A Guide to Culturally and Historically Responsive Teaching and Learning, eventually arriving at what is missing from education today: joy, especially in our education of students of color.
Students of color have ancestors with deep roots in using art and aesthetics to showcase joy through wellness, healing, and justice. We’re missing out, Muhammad posits, on prime opportunities to show moments of triumph within our students’ communities and histories, creating huge disparities in the education system for our students of color.
Here are the three most powerful takeaways as I read Unearthing Joy:
