Joyful Resilience as Educational Practice

This book offers a foundation from which to reframe obstacles to teaching as opportunities for personal and professional growth. As this book demonstrates, a perspective that acknowledges the tensions and realities of various teaching contexts prepares educators to teach for the long haul, and to teach with joy.

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Teaching is hard work. Teaching is rewarding work. An abundance of research on teachers’ mental health, teacher burnout, and attrition in the profession has proven the truth of the first claim. And, without reading a word of academic research, teachers know the truth of the second: there are numerous challenges and complexities involved in this noble profession. Teachers also know the truth of our second claim—that teaching is immensely rewarding work.

The editors and authors of Joyful Resilience as Educational Practice: Transforming Teaching Challenges into Opportunities argue that the reciprocities of teaching keep them and countless other teachers in the profession. While teaching is one of the most demanding professions on earth, it is also one of the most rewarding professions. Editors Michelle C. Hughes and Ken Badley hope readers and teaching colleagues alike will be reminded of the rewards and the unexpected paybacks found in teaching. Joyful Resilience as Educational Practice is offered as a love letter, a "hang-in-there, you’ve got this" message to teacher colleagues everywhere.

May readers be reminded that teaching is a calling. The editors invite readers to wrestle with, take courage, and find joyful resilience in the professional challenges named in this book.