It is clear that pupil enjoyment of school is important. One of the key aims of the Every Child Matters green paper clearly stated that all pupils should ‘enjoy’ school (DfES, 2003), levels of school enjoyment for KS2 pupils are directly linked to levels of school engagement for KS2 and KS3 pupils suggesting that enjoyment in KS2 can lead to engagement at a later time and in KS2 enjoyment of school has been linked to academic achievement (Gutman & Vorhaus, 2012).
This ‘In Brief…‘ article first featured in the March 2015 Edition of UKEdMagazine – Freely read the Online Version by Clicking here.
As a teacher of fifteen years experience, it seems common sense that if a teacher is taking pleasure in his or her work it follows that this positivity will be transmitted to pupils. Teacher enjoyment and pupil enjoyment in classrooms are interconnected (Frenzel, Goetz, Ludtke, Pekrun & Sutton, 2009). Therefore it stands to reason that if I increase my own enjoyment of lessons the pupil’s enjoyment will also increase.
As professionals, we should also be mindful of the inverse, negative effects of the teacher not enjoying their work. Wellbeing and enjoyment of school clearly act as a barrier to burnout (Skaalvik & Skaalvik, 2009) and demotivated teachers demotivate students through what Hatfield, Cacioppo and Rapson call ‘emotional contagion.’
I believe I can increase my own enjoyment of teaching by playing to my key character strengths when planning and delivering lessons. Why wouldn’t I?
@GriffermansMark Teesside – Assistant Head
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