By: Jesse A Metzger
Humor has long been recognized as having a valuable role in helping people cope with stressful situations and providing a change of perspective during times of difficulty.
Although
there is only a small body of work on humor in the school setting, past research has examined how children use humor (e.g., what are the
functions and role expectations of the ‘‘class
clown’’), as well as whether humor influences
children’s ability to learn in the classroom.
Research on humor has also illuminated the
extent to which it can be culturally mediated;
that is, informed and influenced by an individual’s sociocultural background.
Theory
and research has frequently highlighted the social nature and functions of humor
among children. Some see the role of class clown
as an avenue through which children negotiate
power in a social context. Humor offers a unique
way for children to join the classroom
‘‘discourse,’’ to contribute to or alter the classroom
environment (over which they may otherwise have no control). Some researchers
also suggest that class clowns may use humor to
overcome feelings of boredom or
disconnectedness, or as a way to compensate for perceived educational or social
inadequacies.
A
study that examined outcomes of perceptions of student humor, for instance, found that
being the class clown led to prestige among boys
attending private high schools. This finding
supports the notion that humor can lead to
desired social outcomes.
The
interaction of students’ and teachers’ use of humor has also been studied. Results show
that greater ‘‘humor-orientation’’ in teachers was associated with
increased student perceptions of learning, and that
students with a high humor-orientation reported
learning more with teachers who also had a high humor orientation. In addition,
this study found that humor was related to
teachers’ responsiveness to student needs.
Taken
together, these findings indicate that humor has an important role in children’s social
and academic development. This evidence is
contrary to the traditional belief that student
humor (whether in the form of ‘‘class clowning’’
or in terms of a general orientation toward and
receptiveness to humor) is something to be curtailed or subjected to discipline.
Given
the cultural diversity that characterizes many schools in the United States (U.S.), any
discussion of humor in the school setting must
give attention to the ways in which the
definition, meaning, and quality of humor can
vary greatly as a function of culture. Humor may
manifest itself differently and serve various functions within diverse ethnic,
racial, gender, and other sociocultural groups.
For
example, research has shown
that humor among boys in English secondary schools served as an organizing
principle for masculinity. Elizabeth Simons
found that among African American adolescents, joking (which included verbal contests often called ‘‘playing
the dozens’’) revealed information about their
attitudes and beliefs towards school that were
not easily available from other sources.
In
the Latino community, bromas are jokes
that may use sarcasm or
irony to express underlying anger. Bromas
may function as a way for children and adolescents to communicate defiant
feelings without directly defying authority. These examples all serve to illustrate
the importance of cultural context when understanding
the role of humor in the school environment.
Suggested Reading
Hobday-Kusch, J., & McVittie, J. (2002). Just clowning around: Classroom perspectives on children’s humour. Canadian Journalof Education, 27, 195–210.
Nayak, A., & Kehily, M. J. (2001). ‘Learning to laugh’: A study of schoolboy humour in the English secondary school. In
W. Martino, & B. Meyenn (Eds.), What about the boys?: Issues of masculinity in schools (pp. 110–123). Buckingham, England: Open University Press.
Simons, E. R. (1991). Students’ spontaneous joking in an urban classroom. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Berkeley: University of California.
References
C.
S. Clauss-Ehlers (Ed.), Encyclopedia of Cross-Cultural School
Psychology, DOI 10.1007/978-0-387-71799-9, Springer
Science+Business Media LLC 2010
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