Joyful Teaching in Every Class: Why and How to Promote Flourishing for All
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Presenter Bio
Flower Darby (she/her) is an equity-focused college educator with over 30 years' experience teaching dance, English, psychology, and more in person and online. In her publications and work as an Associate Director of the University of Missouri's teaching center, Flower inspires teaching joy and student-centered practice in all disciplines and modalities.
Presentation Description
How can college faculty promote their own and their students' well-being in a time of unprecedented disruption and challenge to the educational enterprise? Given the rise of AI, increasingly polarized societal narratives, and widespread faculty burnout and stress, how can we nourish our teaching joy and find strength in so doing? Join us to explore the benefits of, and practical strategies for, intentionally promoting flourishing in our class and campus communities.
Pre-Session Materials
WATCH:
Overview of PERMA well-being theory (Oregon State University): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OWavCPydQ5k
READ:
“There’s a Specific Kind of Joy We’ve Been Missing” (New York Times)
Post-Session Exercise
Create and facilitate one new activity or assignment with the explicit goal of promoting flourishing for you and your students.
Example: Finding and Sharing Joy
Students have 1 week to go out and do something that brings them joy, enables them to spark joy or do something kind for another person/other people, or all of the above. This should be something that isn't already part of their daily/weekly routine. Take a selfie while engaged in the activity, post it on the class Padlet, and add a few words about what you did, why, and how you felt or how it impacted your day or week.
(Instructor's note: Consider assigning points for this activity to demonstrate your value of promoting flourishing for all).
Keywords
student well-being
Publication Date
10-20-2025
Campus
Berklee Online
Recommended Citation
Darby, Flower and Pedagogy Arts Collective, "Joyful Teaching in Every Class: Why and How to Promote Flourishing for All" (2025). Pedagogy Arts Collective. 27.
https://remix.berklee.edu/pac/27