Humor use in school settings: The perceptions of teachers

Abstract

Abstract This study investigated teachers’ use of humor in school settings. Eleven lower secondary school teachers from different branches volunteered in this qualitative study. I collected data through individual, face-to-face interviews and used content and descriptive analysis methods for data analysis. In conclusion, the participants mostly said that they generally used positive humor types for useful goals in school settings. The results regarding the participants’ goals of humor usage indicated that using positive humor types in the styles of affiliative humor and self-enhancing humor can be useful for managerial and pedagogical efficiency in schools. As for the results of the metaphorical analysis, participants mainly use positive humor and, to some extent, situational humor. Affiliative humor style was the most preferred one. The results also implied that some participants use self-enhancing humor style and aggressive humor style as well. Overall, this research offers a more complete and detailed understanding of teachers’ use of humor in school settings and can be used to guide teachers and school administrators who want to use humor effectively in both managerial and educational contexts.