July 2025

Humour In Teaching

Experienced educators recognise that humour is an integral part of their teaching toolkit.

Humour helps students remember important details: witness programs like “Horrible Histories.”  Their toetapping tunes featuring a cranky King Henry and a cheerful Charles Darwin stick in viewers’ memories.

It’s no accident that Richard Gerver, former head teacher of some of the worst schools in the UK, takes “living, learning and laughing” as his motto. Interestingly, research suggests that humour is more effective when aimed at kids who show little interest than those who are already receptive.

Although further research needs to be done, studies evidence its advantages. In the early 2000s eleven lower secondary school teachers participated in a study examining how teachers used humour to fulfil a range of goals. The paper looked at humour in a holistic context, as part of what helps educators achieve pedagogical goals. It posits that laughing and smiling are reliable indicators of satisfaction.

When using humour consider:

• Jokes and banter specifically related to course content are effective. They build a positive atmosphere in the classroom and a strong relationship between pupils and instructors. Students are more willing to learn and engage. Humour lightens the cognitive load.
• Research shows that humour triggers creativity, collaboration, and a sense of commitment to a team or community.
• It increases job satisfaction among teachers.
• For best results, humour is inextricably linked with the task at hand. Otherwise, it can distract rather than boost productivity. Crucially, the right type of humour must be used. For example, in-group humour isolates and frustrates those on the outside. And Roger Waters’ warns: “No dark sarcasm in the classroom.” This kind of humour creates walls rather than breaks them down.
• Humour is a means to mitigate tension and reduce conflict between individuals. This allows you to break down barriers, focus on a solution and achieve collaboration. If one student falls into mud, teachers can say “That happened to me too. I looked like I just attacked and destroyed the local cake store.” Teachers can ease the stress of unfortunate incidents by using sensitive humour.
• Making jokes and encouraging students to try out their own jokes can reduce stress, particularly around exam time. Get the ball rolling with a prize for Joke of the Week.
• Wherever possible humour should be used consciously. Keep in mind the potential effect of humour on the class as a whole. Think about its purpose. What will it teach or show them? Is it an icebreaker or a way to encourage people to get involved in a potentially difficult task? While the use of humour in class could be planned, it often works better if it seems spontaneous.
• Humour can make dreaded group work more appealing and emphasise the fact that students can learn much from their classmates as well. As a former language teacher, I know that if my students can experiment by making their own jokes in the target language, they have a deep understanding of vocabulary and how they can use it in context.
• Humour is most effective when it reflects the teacher’s personality and is appropriate to the context and situation. Sticking to age-appropriate humour is also crucial to maximise understanding and create a positive atmosphere. As a tool, humour is most powerful when it is used selectively and surprisingly.
• Amusing cartoons or mnemonics can help students remember concrete examples effectively. When learning Italian, a teacher at high school used to show us music videos which showcased particular humorous expressions that she wanted us to learn in context. To this day I still remember most of these and how to pronounce them, thanks to this vivid demonstration.
• In language classes humour can be used to make students aware of intonation, stress, rising and falling speech patterns, and pauses in speech which can create different meanings. Humour is a great way to learn about indirect meanings which are hidden in syntax and the choice of expression or vocabulary used.
• Primary school teacher Katia Dupoirier-Vaccaro suggests that humour is something she uses frequently as students will more likely engage in activities and overcome fear or anxiety. She also uses it to teach turn taking and sharing attention. Students loved playing games with an element of surprise, including a hand that you pressed which may or may not give you a face full of shaving foam.
• According to Katia, humour helps regulate the nervous system, instilling calm and focus, ideal conditions for learning to occur. This is based on the Learning Pyramid theory, developed in 1991. She may use silly voices to deliver content or act it out to make concepts more accessible for her audience. Some learners have tactile defensiveness or a sensory processing disorder which means they are reluctant to touch certain substances. Katia tackles this by modelling herself getting the shaving foam all over her and making mistakes. Over time, students often feel safe to join in the activity, even if it means getting messy when doing things like painting flowerpots and making shaving cream worms emerge from them.

By thinking creatively, you can use humour to light up your class and create strong relationships with pupils. Cultivate the ability to laugh at yourself. Humour that is nonthreatening and purposeful is key to attracting learner interest and reinforcing or encouraging critical or nuanced thinking. Learners may need a funny image or demonstration to get them excited and humour can provide  it.

Bibliography

Bilokcuoglu, Hasan, and Emre Debreli. “Use of humour in language classes: an effective ‘filter’ or affective filter?” Journal of Language and Linguistic Studies, 14(3), 347-359. 2018. 4

Dupoirier-Vaccaro, Katia. Observations on the Use of Humour in Teaching. Collected 6 June 2025.  

Rareshide, Stephen W. “Implications for Teachers' Use of Humor in the Classroom.“ Curry School of Education. University Of Virginia. 1993.

Sahin, Ahmet. “Humor Use in School Settings: The Perceptions of Teachers.” SAGE Open

April-June 2021: 1–16. DOI: 10.1177/21582440211022691journals.sagepub.com/home/sgo

Toohey, Angela. “Spotlight on: Humour in Teaching.” Queenwood News Weekly. 14 June 2019.