Abstract
Humor is an often overlooked skill that has many benefits, including providing stress relief, maximizing brain capacity for learning, increasing creativity, improving communication skills, and creating an environment of trust (Morrison, 2008, p. 19). With the possible positive educational implications of humor in mind, this study began in a large public school of Miami-Dade County, Florida as a quantitative correlational examination of the role of elementary and middle school teachers' sense of humor and its impact on their students' achievement. Based on the results of this study, research on the effects of humor in educational settings proliferated into a qualitative case study of teacher-candidates' beliefs of the purpose and value of humor in their teacher-preparation courses and in their future classrooms. The extension of the original research took place through the Department of Teacher Education's professional programs of two universities in the state of South Carolina. The focus of the qualitative portion of the study was on how the experiences of the utilization of humor in educational settings impacted the participants' perception of humor as an effective teaching strategy.
Recommended Citation
Fernandez, Susan
(2017)
"The seriousness of humor in educational settings,"
Teacher Education Journal of South Carolina: Vol. 11:
No.
1, Article 11.
Available at:
https://digitalcommons.coastal.edu/tejsc/vol11/iss1/11