By Timi Alabi
Does every lesson need to be fun to be impactful? This is a question I stopped to ask myself a few years ago (2018 to be precise). I reflected on my practice and the motive behind some of the decisions I made whilst planning and teaching a lesson and I realised that I sometimes prioritised ‘fun’ over ‘impact’. I would include some unnecessary activities in my lessons without a clear purpose, just because they were fun. I would ask random questions during my lessons that were completely unrelated to the learning, just because I wanted to force enjoyment. I would go home at the end of the day feeling fulfilled and happy because the children enjoyed the lesson. Little did I know that enjoyment isn’t always equivalent to impact.
Have you ever walked into a classroom that’s full of energy—children laughing, chatting, completely immersed in an activity, only to realise that while they’re having a great time, they have very little understanding of what they’re meant to be learning? Sometimes, it’s just a case of them enjoying the mess or the novelty of the task, without any real connection to the intended outcome. It looks lively on the surface, but beneath it, the learning is lost.
I’m not here to advocate for dry or boring lessons. Fun is not a bad thing – it can be a powerful catalyst – but it cannot be the sole metric; it can’t be the main standard of measurement of impact. It is important to always make the ‘impact’ the main focus of the learning. It’s ok to include fun activities in a lesson but they need to be meaningful and deepen the learning.
I learnt something profound from a 13-year-old girl in Year 9. She shared with me that she had enjoyed her German lessons in Years 7 and 8 much more than she is currently enjoying them in Year 9. Curious, I asked if it was because her current teacher wasn’t enthusiastic or the lessons weren’t fun. Surprisingly, she said that wasn’t the issue at all — in fact, she described her current teacher as the most enthusiastic German teacher she had ever had, with lessons filled with fun games and varied activities.
Puzzled, I asked her why she still preferred the previous teachers’ lessons. She explained that although the previous teachers’ lessons weren’t as lively or entertaining, they spent more time teaching content in depth, and she felt she made much more progress with them. The current lessons, while enjoyable, lacked the depth of learning she experienced before.
Her reflection was a powerful reminder: fun does not automatically equal effective learning. True impact often comes from depth, clarity, and meaningful teaching — not just from entertainment. I now understand, as Daniel Willingham (2009) explains in Why Don’t Students Like School? that learning is most effective when it is effortful.
What I’ve come to understand is this: a lesson can be immensely enjoyable and still leave very little lasting impact on student learning.
Not all learning is fun and that is just the reality of life. If we reflect on our own experiences as adults, we can likely recall things we learned that were enjoyable, but also many things that were far from fun, yet necessary. I for one, learnt to swim as an adult. As someone who had a fear of water from childhood, the process wasn’t enjoyable at all. It was uncomfortable, slow, and at times frustrating. But I knew it was necessary; swimming is a life skill. On the days I wanted to give up, it was that deeper purpose, the why, that kept me going.
We need to be mindful not to give children the impression that all learning is fun. If we do, we risk setting them up for disappointment when they encounter challenges in the future. It’s the understanding of why the learning matters that builds resilience, especially when it’s difficult or less exciting. So, if you’ve ever left a lesson feeling like it didn’t have the ‘wow factor,’ don’t be too hard on yourself. A lesson doesn’t need to be fun to be valuable. What matters more is that it’s engaging and impactful. And those two things are not the same as fun.
Engagement means designing tasks that invite students to think critically, discuss with peers, ask meaningful questions, observe patterns, or reflect on ideas. These are the kinds of activities that draw students in because they are mentally stimulating, not just entertaining.
So next time you sit down to plan a lesson, start with impact. Then think about how you’ll engage your learners. And if an element of fun fits naturally within that, that’s a bonus—not the goal.
