Abstract:

The question that is raised in the present work is if indeed school and humor constitute incompatible, mutually exclusive entities. This question can be analyzed by examining two individual questions, which will also form the content of this paper. The first is connected with the current school reality and concerns the presence of humor and laughter in the classroom and the forms in which it is presented. The answer to the question is attempted by basing it on a theoretical approach to the problem, simultaneously taking into account the empirical data garnered from recent research. The second question, reduced to an ethical level, is particularized in the process of teaching and learning and it is focused on the advantages and the forms with which it can (and should it?) shape humor in instructive practice. For this question, we attempt to give an answer on the basis of, on the one hand, what is ascertained in the modern school reality and, on the other, the explanatory approach and the evaluation of data from relative studies and research on the positive effects of humor in classroom learning. At the end of the paper, certain proposals are formulated that could potentially activate schoolteachers to create and develop classroom learning situations with humour and laughter. This article constitutes part of a wider research effort, which aims at the empirical investigation of the presence of humour in Greek schools.

Keywords:

humor, teaching, teacher.