The Joy Principle is a fictionalised novel about teachers and teaching in neoliberal times. It addresses the themes of teacher agency within a context of critical and creative praxis. The story centres on Alex, a graduate teacher who decides to disrupt the mandated pedagogical practices of literacy education. As an agent of transformative change, Alex provides an examination of how children learn best and how teachers can re-author themselves in their work within the constraints of contemporary practice. The novel is accompanied by a commentary on arts-based, narrative fiction as research.