Enjoyment and learning: policy and secondary school learners’ experience in England

Abstract

Policy in England increasingly stresses the importance of enjoyment in education, both as a right in itself and as an essential support for learning. This paper draws on a large national dataset to focus on the perspective of young people aged 14–19 in England in 2007–2008. It considers alternative ways in which enjoyment and learning might be conceptualised. It analyses the evidence from young people to explore their experience of enjoyment at school or college and their perception of its relationship to learning. It concludes that the form of enjoyment most strongly perceived as enmeshed with learning is the least commonly experienced; and that policy that refers to ‘enjoyment’ as a general and undefined term fails to distinguish particular affective states that may or may not be supportive of learning.

Acknowledgements

The research was funded by the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority and the Department for Children, Schools and Families, being the baseline year of a six‐year longitudinal study (2007–13) as part of evaluation of 14–19 Reforms. The project was co‐directed by Stephen Gorard and Jacky Lumby. The research team also included Ann Briggs, Marlene Morrison, Ian Hall, Felix Maringe, Beng Huat See, Robina Shaheen, Susannah Wright with Chris Corcoran, John Fox, Pam Hanley and Richard Pring. Thanks are given to the case study organisations and research participants who contributed to the study. The opinions expressed in this paper are the author’s and do not necessarily represent those of the funders or the research team.