A team of educators from the U of A College of Education and Health Professions is celebrating the release of their new book, Joyful Literacies in Secondary English Language Arts.

This comprehensive guide is designed to help secondary English language arts educators create fun and engaging learning environments for their students.  

The book is the product of four authors who came together during their time at the U of A. Holly Riesco, a recent Ph.D. graduate and secondary English teacher at Rogers Heritage High School, joined forces with Katie Hill and Megan Grizzle, both doctoral students in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction. Working alongside co-author Chris Goering, a professor of English education in the department, Riesco, Hill and Grizzle began the process of creating the book in 2022. With all four authors having an extensive background in secondary English education, there was no shortage of teamwork throughout the book's development.

"It was a very collaborative experience as we created the book. Yes, we all wrote our own sections, but we also collaborated on all parts of it by reading over it and encouraging expansion of some ideas throughout," Goering said.

The book features units with lessons and activities for secondary English language arts educators based on the concept of "deep fun" in the classroom. Hill said that means creating a space where students are thoughtfully engaged and sometimes even laughing while working on projects they are personally interested in with a deep sense of engagement. By promoting "deep fun," the book aims to inspire teachers to teach with joy and create an environment for their students to experience joy through English education.

Rather than simply combining and reporting research statistics in the book, the authors took their experiences and built strategies. The practical materials in the book are based on research and the authors' experiences as educators.

"We want teachers to be able to take away practical activities and practical instruction that they can do with their students that challenges them, gives them joy, allows them to be deeply engaged and deeply intellectual, and allows students to explore spaces of literacy so they can see the practical uses of English class outside of English class," Riesco said.

Using theories of learning from their Ph.D. classes, the authors also looked for ways to promote critical thinking in English classrooms. The new literacies and flow theories inspired the authors to take what they were learning and create the book through the lens of a teacher and for teachers.

"I am really proud that this book doesn't approach students or teachers with a deficit view," Grizzle said. "It takes a look at what our students are already doing and what they already know, and we think about how we can push them forward into critical thinking about the knowledge they already have."

The book focuses on giving students opportunities to be thoughtfully engaged while working on topics that interest them. It also addresses current challenges in education and provides educators with tools to keep students engaged and empowered in their learning. To keep students engaged, the authors call on educators to use students' own lived experiences, incorporate play into the curriculum and create opportunities for students to become "problem explorers" through projects. The authors designed Joyful Literacies to be used alongside an educator's current curricula or adapted to fit individual goals.

Throughout the book's development, the authors knew publishing through the National Council of Teachers of English would have the most impact on secondary English classrooms.

The authors worked with NCTE throughout the publishing process to refine the book and focus on new ideas like theories of teaching and deep fun. More than anything, the authors hope the book empowers teachers to allow students the opportunity to think about how they might change their world through literacy.

"To enact joyful literacies is to move beyond a binary of joy and seriousness and to see how being joyfully serious — or seriously joyful! — is deeply intellectual." ~ Joyful Literacies in Secondary English Language Arts