Posted by: Emily DesJardins, M.A., SpED, UDL Content Lead, Open Access
The release of the updated UDL 3.0 Guidelines brought much-needed focus to learner identity and addressing biases in education. These additions have been crucial in expanding access to learning for all students. However, one new consideration that particularly excited me was "Nurture Joy and Play." When I saw this addition, I grinned. YES! How can we expect to cultivate lifelong learners without joy in learning?
Nicole Tucker-Smith, Lessoncast CEO and contributor to the UDL 3.0 Guidelines, released a video explaining the research behind this guideline. She outlines five ways learners experience joy in learning:
Exploration and Discovery: Learning through their own exploration of material.
Identity and Connection: Connecting classroom content to one’s own identity (For example: reading a book with a protagonist that shares a similar cultural background or life experience as you)
Collaboration with Peers: Engaging in group or partner work.
Play: Learning with games and engaging in play.
Shining as Experts: Having the opportunity to share understanding and knowledge with others.
Neuroscience supports this framework. "Research in cognitive neuroscience has shown that emotions play a crucial role in encoding and retrieving memories. When students experience positive emotions like joy, their brains release dopamine, which enhances attention, motivation, and memory retention." (Immordino-Yang & Damasio, 2007).
Allison Posey, research scientist from CAST, founders of the UDL framework, reinforces this idea: "Learning is, first and foremost, emotional." She explains in her TedTalk that our brains form neurological connections based on emotional experiences. If reading is frustrating from the start, a negative connection is made. If young children experience stories read aloud in joyful ways, a positive emotional connection with reading develops. Every classroom experience can create an emotional imprint—one that influences lifelong learning.
Joy in My Own Learning
Reflecting on my education, I vividly remember the best and worst moments. The times filled with worksheets and rote memorization? A blur. But the joyful moments? They remain etched in my memory.
Shining as an Expert: I have vivid recollections of studying the poem "Hiawatha" in fifth grade and presenting it to my classmates. The experience of performing a piece I had learned brought me great joy, and I still remember some lines from the poem. I also remember participating in a Living Wax Museum project in which I chose to represent the historical figure Anne Frank. My decision was influenced by my German heritage and the stories shared with me by my Oma regarding her experiences during the war. This selection not only enhanced my understanding of history but also allowed me to connect with my own identity. As part of the project, I conducted comprehensive research on Anne Frank's life, experiences, and perspectives, and then presented a five-minute speech in character while dressed as her. Our entire class was arranged in a Wax Museum format within the classroom, and students from all grades visited to experience our presentations, activating our speeches with the push of a button. (This example actually connects to “shining as an expert”, “connecting to my identity” and even “play” with the addition of the fun button activating our wax figures!)
Connection to Identity: I have vivid memories of a cultural fair during my elementary school years, where each student researched their heritage and brought a dish to share with the class. I come from a large, expressive German family, and while I have always felt a strong connection to them, I often found myself feeling embarrassed by the robust, spirited, and gruff language spoken by my mother and relatives. This cultural fair provided me with an opportunity to embrace and present an aspect of my identity that I had previously been hesitant to share. Watching my classmates enjoy a delicious Apfelkuechen (apple cake), which my Oma and I prepared together and which I had often relished at her home, filled me with pride and so much joy.
Play: In my 7th grade World History classroom, anytime an end of unit assessment was approaching, my teacher would create a Jeopardy game for the whole class. We would play for three class periods the week before a test as a means of reviewing material. As someone who often felt disconnected from history classes and overwhelmed by the memorization, this was exactly what I needed. My grades on those unit assessments were the highest history grades in my entire educational career and I truly looked forward to these review sessions because it made learning history fun and accessible for me.
Collaboration with Peers: I remember when my 3rd grade teacher decided to try Writer’s Workshop for the first time. She started with having us all peer edit each other’s work. I remember being so excited to read my friend’s writing and to share my own with her. It added a new level of joy to writing for me.
Exploration and Discovery: In high school, I took a photography class in a classroom with a dark room. Although we were given a tutorial of the machines, chemicals, and process of developing, we were given a great deal of independence when it came to the pictures we took, the strategies we utilized to develop pictures and that freedom allowed me to research ideas and trial strategies on my own. Given the freedom to explore, discover, and make mistakes gave me so much agency in problem solving how to make my photographs better. I experienced so much joy in learning how to take pictures that were important to me.
Why This Matters for Educators
Students remember joyful learning experiences. I want to clarify that joyful does not necessarily mean laughing louding, running around excitedly, or even being out of chairs. Joyful learning is just truly engaged learning. It is the positive opposite of compliance. When we create opportunities for exploration, identity connections, collaboration, play, and opportunities to shine as experts, we make learning more engaging and memorable.
So, how can you nurture joy in your classroom? Consider:
Building choice into learning experiences: Let students explore topics they love. Building choice into reading by providing a variety of protagonists is one great way to allow students to find connections to their identity.
Fostering a sense of play: Use games, role-playing, and creativity.
Encouraging collaboration: Learning is more meaningful when shared.
Celebrating student expertise: Give students opportunities to present and teach others.
Consider presenting materials from a variety of perspectives to allow all of your students to find connections. One simple way to do this is to consider the books read in your classroom and vary the protagonist’s perspectives and experiences.
Joy is not an extra—it’s essential for deep connections to learning to help create life-long learners. We would love to hear—what are your most joyful learning memories? How do you nurture joy in your teaching?
References:
CAST, Inc. (2025). The UDL Guidelines. The UDL Guidelines. https://udlguidelines.cast.org/
Immordino-Yang, M. H., & Damasio, A. (2007). We feel, therefore we learn: The relevance of
affective and social neuroscience to education. Mind, Brain, and Education, 1(1), 3-10.
Posey, A. (2018, April 26). UDL Stories to Support Our Core Values [Conference presentation].
2018 UDL-IRN International Summit, Orlando, FL, United States.