Unearthing Joy: A Guide to Culturally and Historically Responsive Teaching and Learning, by Dr. Gholdy Muhammad is a book I have excitedly been waiting for! Now that it has arrived, I am savoring every chapter, both the content and the beauty. The playlist that accompanies every chapter and the images to color with each chapter are inviting and inspiring. The language is like poetry and I can hear Dr. Muhammad’s voice as I read her words. In this post, I want to summarize some of my first impressions.

“To unearth means to dig into the ground and bring excellence to light – to the sun. Unearthing requires digging, mining, and uprooting, and, ultimately bringing genius to the surface.” – Dr. Muhammad

As a teacher, it is my job to build relationships with students and get to know them deeply to discover all of their talents and interests, their genius. They are geniuses – every single one of them. Dr. Muhammad compares this genius to the beauty that is in every unique flower. I cultivate the environment so that all of my students can grow. When a flower isn’t growing, I nurture it with just the right amount of water. When I consider my students whose needs I am not yet fully meeting, I ask myself why, of all the possible things to teach, am I teaching this? And why am I teaching it this way?’ I intentionally design learning experiences to better meet their needs, experiences that demonstrate that I have high expectations for every student and will do whatever is needed to help them meet their goals. When I ask for, and listen to their voices and unique stories, they will tell me what is working and what they need.

“Joy is the embodiment of sustained happiness and having knowledge of the world – centering wellness and the gifts.” – Dr Muhammad

What I am doing is striving to use culturally and historically responsive lesson/unit design. It is composed of the Pursuits that Dr. Muhammad introduces in Cultivating Genius, including: Identity, Skills, Intellectual, and Criticality Development. The Pursuit of Joy has been added to the framework since Cultivating Genius was published. Joy is the water that nurtures the plants. Joy is “sustained sense of fulfillment and happiness….a long-lasting form of happiness, self-liberation, and self-beauty of the mind and heart” (Dr. Muhammad). We strive to provide light and joy in our environment and our lessons, we strive to provide positive learning experiences and identities as learners.

Why is Joy so important?

“Joy of people of color is such an urgent pursuit because of efforts to erase it in school.”- Dr. Muhammad

Joy is part of being human. It brings us together in community, it heals us, and it helps us feel ready to learn and to celebrate learning. It is also what our students are telling us they want.

“Diverse young people want: purpose and connection; learning to reflect their lives and explore the self; to grow, thrive, and experience beauty and joy in learning; and social justice, criticality, and an education that helps to better word and humanity for all.” – Dr. Muhammad

Joy comes from seeing yourself in the learning and seeing what you can become. It comes from knowing the truth about the beauty and genius of those who have been, and are, oppressed. It means knowing the harm that has been caused and finding joy to heal and overcome the pain. It means being empowered to transform and act, to collaborate and explore multiple views and beliefs, in order to develop cultural and sociopolitical consciousness.

“Black people have brilliantly created, innovated, and found joy amid the harshest oppressions.” – Dr. Muhammad

I will continue to explore and write about this amazing book, Unearthing Joy. It intersects with Disciplinary Literacy, which I have written about recently. For example, with the Pursuits, students explore identity, including learner identity; with Disciplinary Literacy students are engaged in the work of mathematicians, artists, writers, people in each field. The learning is meaningful and empowering. I will continue to strive to use intentional lesson planning to provide our genius, our flowers, what they need to feel joy and experience rich learning. For they truly are all capable of, and deserve, just that.

Resources:
Unearthing Joy: A Guide to Culturally and Historically Responsive Teaching and Learning, by Dr. Gholdy Muhammad
Cultivating Genius: An Equity Framework for Culturally Responsive and Historically Responsive Literacy, Gholdy Muhammad