Being a ‘fun’ teacher: An interaction ritual chains approach

Abstract In this article, I leverage the sociological insights of Randall Collins to examine contemporary accounts of “fun teaching” in teacher education: the pervasive mood of “fun,” “energy,” and “enthusiasm” in North American education faculties and popular teacher professional development literature. Focusing on Collins’ micro-sociological account of emotional energy in face-to-face interaction, I ask: What are the situational dynamics of “fun” teaching? Why have the related discourses of “fun,” “energy,” and “enthusiasm” become the obligatory mood of teaching and teacher education? As a starting point, I examine the highly-trafficked teacher professional development resource, Teach like a PIRATE (Burgess, 2012), and consider how an interaction ritual chains approach helps us understand underlying conceptions of “fun” as a situational dynamic. I conclude by outlining the implications of our current focus on “fun teaching” in a digitally-mediated world for scholars working in teacher education.