The notion of making learning “fun” is often met with skepticism, particularly by educators who have witnessed superficial attempts to gamify education. As a teacher, the request to make handouts appear “fun” with happy fonts and decorative borders felt disingenuous. The idea that Comic Sans could trick students into enjoying grammar exercises was clearly misguided. This experience highlighted a deeper question: is “fun” the right goal for education, or is there something more profound we should be striving for?
Superficial attempts to inject “fun” into learning can often backfire. Sometimes, “fun activities” are simply thinly veiled excuses for teachers to disengage. Other times, they involve elaborate, time-consuming projects that shift the focus from learning to mere activity. The memory of spending hours cutting colored paper for Byzantine mosaic projects, only to have students more interested in Minecraft recreations, underscores this point. While crafts have their place, such activities can inadvertently place the burden of engagement on the teacher, rather than fostering intrinsic motivation in students.
The problem with simply trying to make learning “fun” is that it often condescends to students. It suggests that the subject matter itself is inherently boring and needs to be sugar-coated to be palatable. Whether it’s grammar, geography, or geometry, framing learning as needing to be “fun-ified” implies a lack of inherent value or delight within the subject itself. It becomes a shortcut, bypassing the opportunity to cultivate genuine delight. It subtly communicates that grammar, for example, is not inherently good, true, or beautiful, and therefore, requires artificial enhancement to become engaging.
However, the alternative is not to embrace a joyless, drudgery-based approach to education. The real answer lies in the opposite direction: discovering and teaching the inherent truth, goodness, and beauty within each subject. It’s about finding and modeling genuine delight in these aspects of learning. For instance, grammar, often perceived as dry and rule-bound, can actually be a source of fascination. Language itself is a playground, and exploring its structure and nuances can be genuinely enjoyable. By consciously choosing to avoid fabricated “fun,” we create space for students to experience the real joy of engaging with truth, goodness, and beauty in their studies.
A compelling model for this delighted, playful approach to learning can be found in figures like Bear Grylls. The adventurer, known for his survival skills and exploration of the natural world, embodies a deep and infectious enthusiasm for learning. Grylls isn’t “making survival fun”; he often emphasizes the hardships and discomfort involved. Yet, his passion for understanding and interacting with the natural world is palpable. He exemplifies how hard work and challenging situations can still be deeply delightful when driven by a love of learning and discovery. His approach showcases how the world is too rich and fascinating to be reduced to simplistic notions of “fun.” He operates in a state of “work-play,” where his engagement is driven by inherent interest and joy in the process of learning and problem-solving.
Respecting students means acknowledging their capacity to appreciate and love what is genuinely good without manipulation or artificial sweeteners. Truth, goodness, and beauty possess their own inherent appeal and do not require a veneer of manufactured “cuteness” to become attractive. The distinction between genuine delight and manufactured fun can be subtle, but the crucial question for educators is: Does this approach genuinely serve the subject’s inherent value – its truth, goodness, and beauty? Or does it attempt to supersede these qualities, trying to make the subject artificially more appealing?
Consider the example of a music teacher at a children’s violin rehearsal. To address the common issue of students playing a Mozart piece too fast, the teacher playfully donned an eighteenth-century powdered wig and instructed the class to play slowly so their “wigs wouldn’t fall off.” This imaginative approach, while lighthearted, was rooted in the beauty of the music itself. It wasn’t a trick, but a playful invitation to engage more deeply with the musicality and tempo of Mozart’s composition. This exemplifies how educators can foster delight in learning by tapping into imagination and playfulness in a way that enhances, rather than distracts from, the inherent joy of the subject matter. Ultimately, cultivating genuine delight, rather than manufacturing superficial “fun,” is the key to creating truly engaging and meaningful learning experiences.
