Teachers should use classroom humour cautiously, avoiding aggressive styles and topics touching on students' protected characteristics¶

Strategy · All strategies
Evidence · 3 claims (3 for) · 1 study (1 review), q2 · 0 of 1 report an effect size · 3 claims rest on one study

Description¶

Based on student reports across the reviewed studies, the review supports cautious, style-aware humour use: students suggested "teachers should use humour cautiously to avoid offence or timewasting", and in interviews highlighted aggressive jokes targeting hobbies, appearance, politics, and protected characteristics as topics to avoid. Positive reception was linked to good rapport, self-confidence, and being in tune with what the class finds funny.

Design Implications¶

Context¶

Requirements¶

• Teachers should have good rapport, self-confidence, mutual understanding with students, and be in tune with what their class finds funny for humour to be positively received

Constraints¶

• Students reported concerns about teachers overusing humour, meaning humour may be perceived as more effective when not overused
• Some students did not want humour oversimplified as fun or used as a learning tool

Target Learners¶

• Teachers of students aged 11-18 in secondary classrooms

Target Learning Goals¶

• Maintaining positive classroom climate, student-teacher relationships and student wellbeing while using humour

Claims¶

• Affiliative humour is associated with positive classroom climate, enjoyment and willingness to participate among adolescent students [+W]
• Aggressive humour has mixed effects on adolescent students' educational experiences, with reported increases in anger, boredom and resistance but some students reporting sarcasm improved rapport [+W]
• Observed teacher humour differs from self-reports: sarcasm and mocking accounted for nearly two-thirds of observed teacher humour although teachers and students reported aggressive humour as least common [+W]

Related Strategies¶

Examples¶

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Key Sources¶

• Hannah Robinson, Sarah E. Rose, Jade M. Elliott, Romina A. Vivaldi. (2024). Teachers' Humour Use in the Classroom: A Scoping Review. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-024-09913-x