Explaining Joy

One afternoon, key members of the Innovate Dayton movement came together for a panel discussion to share the Innovate story with other educators.

During a break in the panel discussion we started chatting amongst ourselves while we were waiting for the audience to prepare their questions.

Jenni, a teacher from Dayton, mentioned that she sometimes found it hard to know what to say during these kinds of presentations. As she was sharing her stories about the Design Challenge classes that she is running, she would occasionally notice some eyes in the audience beginning to glass over. She was wondering how she could explain her experiences in a different way to make them more understandable.

We talked about how hard it is for someone to understand the learning experience that she is describing. In fact, if someone has never experienced Agile Learning, it is very hard, if not impossible, for them to understand it.

All of the explaining in the world can never replace the experience. It's a chasm of understanding. But once it is experienced, the understanding happens very quickly. What is seen cannot be unseen.

According to Brené Brown, joy is our most vulnerable emotion. Along with love and belonging, it lies at the foundation of our wellbeing.

Joy breaks forth in Eureka Moments.

Joy matters. It gives us the Courage to make a Wholehearted Commitment to that which makes the learning real and gives our lives purpose and meaning.