I agree that we’re going to have to do things we don’t like at every point in our lives. However, I think teaching with the joy of reading in mind doesn’t suggest that teachers and students only read what we “like” to read. Rather, it is a message to teachers to focus on the joy that reading has brought to their own lives when teaching. I keep hearing teachers use the following phrases in various permutations:

You HAVE to learn to read so you can get a good job.
You HAVE to learn to read so you can go to college.
You HAVE to learn to read so you can go the next grade.
You HAVE to learn to read so you can do well on THE TEST.
This makes me tired. It sucks the motivation out of some kids. Most elementary children won’t develop into abstract thinkers until 6th grade or later and don’t have the capacity to “prepare” themselves for college and a career. As John Dewey wrote, it’s the teacher’s job to look to the future and the student’s job to look to the present.

The previous statements also make an onerous task of reading for other students. Because they are adult-pleasers, some kids will want to do well on the test so they can get to the next grade. They’ll put so much importance on it that they’ll work, work, work to get things right. I think this gets in the way of learning, which we (thankfully) get wrong sometimes. Wise teachers take mistakes and create learning opportunities from them. Simple-minded teachers put daily pressure on kids to “get it right” and stymy our little “pleaser” kiddos.

All of the statement above are taking the responsibilities of the teachers and passing them on to the students, who deserve to have teachers who see both extrinsic and intrinsic value in learning and who don’t see human beings as job-getting functionaries of society.

So, I don’t think joyful teaching is a call for fun, fun, fun, but rather a plea for teachers to teach with an undercurrent of joy and a realization that we are teaching human beings.

Reading is like that. It can be fun in and of itself. No objective beyond enjoyment. And if we enjoy doing something we tend to get quite good at it. Except for golf, of course.