When the world became smaller and education began revolving around the kitchen table educators were, and still are, grasping for hope. JoyFE was born out of such need and aimed to open discussions by bringing together, originally, further education (FE) educators to celebrate and practice joy. Open educational practice includes the open sharing of teaching practice (Cronin, 2017) The JoyFE constellation of FE practitioners openly discuss their and their institution’s practice in the regular JoyFE Ideas Room. The Ideas Room follows Kline’s (2009) Thinking Environment principles where everyone has a voice, no role or rank are brought to the session. All are welcome to think or listen together. Participants rotate facilitation and the leading of these sessions in an organic organisational manner. The commitment to being inclusive is held at the heart of the practice.

Following the weekly session, the community celebrate the active listening that they have engaged in or celebrate the new ideas that they have collectively formed. This celebration often takes place on social media using the hashtag #JoyFE. The significance of the hashtag was highlighted in ALT’s Communities of Practice Sector Audit Report. (ALT, 2020) The JoyFE hashtag is used to promote many joyful encounters in FE. The JoyFE constellation self publishes a monthly magazine highlighting the freshest thinking in the sector from nationwide participants. This along with the weekly Ideas Rooms have seen JoyFE become a movement in itself.

The openness and care of JoyFE means that this has now expanded to all educators globally and a regular constellation of brilliance celebrating joy. The work that the constellation achieves is becoming the organisation, which is contrary to many traditional further education projects (Bennett & Smith (Eds.) 2018) and the workshop will unpack the meaning of this.

This workshop will share vignettes of examples of further education practice that has been changed individually and for institutions where employees have participated in JoyFE Ideas Rooms. JoyFE is a constellation of individuals from different organisations with no management or funding. The open sharing of the constellation happens across a variety of media to be as open as possible to all. The workshop will highlight and celebrate that in being device, platform, sector agnostic, a constellation of passionate educators have begun to change the future of FE.