Using Humor to Maximize Learning
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Morrison, Mary Kay (2008). Using Humor to Maximize Learning: The Links between Positive Emotions and Education. (Book Excerpt.) Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield Education.
This excerpt is posted here in the iae-pedia with the permission of the author given via email on 4/23/2008. This page is protected against changes by readers. Please make use of the accompanying discussion page (see top menu bar) for your comments and contributions.
[edit] Introduction
What is humor exactly? How do you get a sense of humor? Once you find yours, how do you use it to maximize learning? If it is so important, why is it rarely mentioned in teacher preparation without some clues for finding and using it?
The purpose of this book is to affirm, sustain and encourage educators in the practice of humor not only as a personal tool to optimize a healthy life style, but to maximize the benefits of humor in education. These benefits include current research-based data on the use of humor to nurture creativity, to increase the capacity for memory retention, to support an optimal learning environment and to build safe communities that reflect the relational trust necessary for collaborative learning.
Educators value humor. References to the importance of having a sense of humor are liberally sprinkled throughout the school-based literature. It is usually mentioned as a factor to look for when hiring, as well as one of the qualities of effective teachers. High school students will tell you humor is the trait they value most in a teacher. It is without a doubt the one quality that most of us agree is needed in education. However, the study of humor as a practice in education is rare.
[edit] What a healthy dose of humor might do for you
Just take a peek at what a healthy dose of humor might do for you!
1. Contributes to Mind/Body Balance
- “Worrying is like a rocking chair: it gives you something to do, but it doesn't get you anywhere.”
A sense of humor can create a remarkable feeling of control over one’s life. Learning to use humor as a lens for life challenges can increase confidence in one’s own internal ability to adapt. The optimistic energy that comes from humor enables individuals to embrace difficulties with resilience. Some individuals purposefully use laughter to ease pain and promote physical healing. There is some experimental research indicating that laughter/humor might actually cure illness and may provide effective therapies for numerous disorders. Some claim that laughter relieves pain, reduces stress, and improves the immune system response. (Harvey, 1998) Although these studies are preliminary, and no firm conclusions can be made as yet, many of the findings are encouraging as to the benefits and applications of positive humor.
Got stress? The purposeful use of humor can help you feel more optimistic about your life, knowing that you can choose how to respond to stress. Humor elevates mood and has been known to be a deterrent to depression. Stress reduction is considered to be one of the most important benefits of humor. A little humor will go a long way in helping educators balance the current focus on accountability, testing, standards and unfunded mandates.
2. Maximizes Brain Power
- “If you haven’t got a sense of humor, you haven’t any sense at all.” Mary McDonald
Humor has the ability to capture the attention of the brain. “Emotion drives attention and attention drives learning.” (Sylwester 1995) Our brain cannot learn if it is not attending. The surprise elements of humor alert the attentional center of the brain and increase the likelihood of memory storage and long term retrieval. Humor has the potential to hook the students that are easily bored and inattentive. It can help the stressed or shy student to relax. As brain food, humor can’t be beat.
Word plays, puns, stories, jokes and riddles all involve the creative use of language. Maximizing our capacity to use language through the skillful use of humor will increase the number and speed of the neural connections in the brain. Humor is often used as an indicator for the identification of gifted students.
Just how effective can humor be? The marketing industry gives us an indication. I must confess that I usually watch the Super Bowl just to see the commercials. The money that is spent for air-time is mind-boggling. Advertisers have less than 2 minutes to get your attention and put their product into your long-term memory. Zillions of dollars will be spent to capture the attention of this large viewing audience. Not only do people watch these commercials, but the next day animated discussion about the favorite super bowl commercial takes place around office water coolers. There is a good reason for humor in advertising. An analysis of the retention rate for commercials found that there was the highest rate of recall when humor was used. (Stewart and Furse, 1986)
3. Enhances Creativity
- “Civilization had too many rules for me, so I did my best to rewrite them. . . Bill Cosby
Creativity is the ability of the brain to bring together diverse ideas that will generate the thinking necessary for complex problem solving. Humor and creativity are great companions, each a perfect compliment for the other in nourishing thinking. Risk-taking is the nucleus of creativity and of humor. The freedom to express wild ideas will activate spirited conversation and spark the imagination. The creative process flourishes when accompanied with a sense of humor. Humor increases the potential for divergent thinking and the ability to solve complex problems. By linking previously unconnected areas of the brain, humor forges new associations involving existing concepts. Viola. Creativity flourishes.
4. Facilitates Communication “The person who can bring the spirit of laughter into a room is indeed blessed.. Bennett Cerf
Using humor to build and maintain relationships is an invaluable skill. Emotional intelligence (EI), the ability to perceive assess and influence one’s own and other people’s emotions is essential for knowing when and how to use humor effectively. (Goleman 1998) The ability to use humor as a part of interpersonal dialogue requires confidence in one’s own humor strengths, a fun-loving playful spirit and the willingness to risk the extraordinary.
Humor generates trust among colleagues and can facilitate a reduction in tension, fear and anger. Leaders who have the ability to assist others in seeing the “humor” in difficult situations can nurture communication and ease tense situations. Exaggeration, puns, and self-deprecating humor are tools of the trade. Humorists are able to use reframing (example: the ridiculous or exaggeration) as a devise to facilitate a shift in context. This shift encourages both individuals and groups to think creatively through shared humor. Laughter can quickly dispel tension and increase the capacity for dialogue.
The use of humor as a tool in communication is rarely taught. It is a skill requiring multifaceted levels of knowledge and ability. Purposeful humor integration provides a distinct advantage in conversation.
5. Supports the Change Process
- “Nothing new should be done for the very first time.” Unknown
There are volumes written about change. Organizational change is a hot topic for school leaders. Whether we encounter everyday small disruptions or a major crisis situation, the way we respond to change varies greatly among individuals and organizations.
Humor can be an indicator of how we are responding to change. It is similar to taking the temperature of an individual or an organization. Our belief systems, our evolved coping skills, our physical being, our temperament, our experiences, our culture and gender all combine within our individual neurological system and are all involved in generating our individual response to change. The humor response of any group is a reflection of organizational thinking and can reflect the ability of that culture to adapt.
Our brains crave familiar patterns. We recognize what school bells mean. We understand report cards and grading systems. We are used to a certain structure, procedure and routine in education. However education has faced increasing pressure from a variety of stakeholders. The demands for accountability have challenged the very core of our system. Change happens frequently. Teachers have an amazing ability to find humor when faced with adversity. Here are some humorous responses from teachers to difficult situations:
- All teachers must now stay in their rooms until 4:15 p.m. Teachers caught leaving early will be trained in CRAB (criteria referenced abstract bologna).
- In order to combat obesity, the amount of food in the school lunch will decrease. A price increase of $2 is necessary to implement this change.
- Research shows that students need more sleep, so homeroom teachers are asked to monitor the amount of sleep of their students. Several teachers are volunteering to sleep during their class period.
Most of us experience unexpected change, suffering and loss in our lives. When we are able to find the humor in a situation, we can begin to heal and move ahead. Painful experiences, if met with hope and optimism can produce remarkable growth opportunities. In fact, humor frequently emerges from the down side of our lives. Laughter and tears are closely related. Many comedians began their careers by laughing through the tragedy in their lives. This ability for humorous optimism in the face of difficulty is truly a miracle tonic. Change is good-----you go first.
6. Creates an Optimal Environment for Teaching and Learning
- “You've got to go out on a limb sometimes because that's where the fruit is.” Will Rogers
Look for laughter, joy, spirit and enthusiasm in both the school and in the classroom and you will find an environment in which learning thrives. Humor contributes to that optimal learning environment. It is brain compatible both in creating an enriched context for learning and for assisting individuals in the learning process. This is described in depth in chapter three. When you find fun, laughter and teachers with a sense of humor, learning thrives.
Leadership is correlated with building relationships based on trust. Trust is considered to be the basis for creating successful learning communities. It facilitates teamwork and is the foundation for cultivating relationships. A strong bond of trust among members of the school community is essential for school improvement. In Trust in Schools: a Core Resource for Improvement, University of Chicago professors Anthony S. Bryk and Barbara Schneider reiterate the importance of improving the quality of instruction, measuring student performance, and reshaping education governance. In this groundbreaking study, they cite trusting relationships among teachers, principals, parents, and students as a critical component for success.
[edit] Stress and learning
Excess fear causes stress. There is mounting scientific evidence that suggests that excess stress has an adverse impact on learning. Yet, according to many teachers, we are exposing our children to stress at escalating rates. There has been increased high stakes testing in our schools. Many districts have implemented paper and pencil testing for students as young as 4 and 5 years old. There has been an increasing pressure to focus on what is tested (reading and math) at the expense of the arts, physical education and play. Grades are considered extremely important and actually drive most students learning instead of the desire to learn.
A look at some of the research heightens our awareness of the possible dangers that excess stress creates for our students. Although no firm conclusions have been made, here are some of the recent theories on the relationship between stress, depression, memory and learning.
An impoverished and stressful childhood may diminish learning by having a negative impact on the medial temporal memory of a child. Prenatal stress and the stress that comes from living in poverty have been found to have a negative impact on the neurological development and subsequent ability to learn. (Farah, 2005) Excess fear might lead to actual memory loss. Robert Sapolsky conducted a fascinating study examining the brains of World War II veterans who had survived intense trauma during the war. It was found that the hippocampus of these men was usually smaller than non-veterans in same age category. He noted an actual loss of part of the hippocampus in these veterans as well as a resulting memory loss. (Sapolsky, 1999) Current studies corroborate this relationship between excess stress, damage to the hippocampus and subsequent memory loss, but no firm conclusions can be made as of yet.
Overuse or misuse of the reflexive response system can escalate simple anger and assertiveness into reflexive physical aggression. Some students constantly live in an insecure fearful environment producing a learned helplessness response. (Sylwester, 2005) Often students just give up when they feel they have no control over their environment. “A reflexive stress response occurs unconsciously, and so reduces our ability to create factual memories.” (Sylwester, 2005)
- “Before giving anyone a piece of your mind, be sure you have enough to spare.”
[edit] Humor in creating an optimal environment for learning
The Value of Humor in Creating an Optimal Environment for Learning.
If you walk into your neighborhood school, do you find happy children, teachers and administrators? Is the emotional climate one of trust and positive energy? Schools can be measured by cultural indicators that are evident in looking at a framework that examines the where, how and what of learning. The belief systems of educators impact their emotional contribution to the level of happiness found in a school culture. The level of humor, laughter and fun will be evident in schools that have high levels of trust.
Humor; A Vital Tool for Educators.
The study of humor provides new perceptions into critical issues facing educators. It allows the freedom to not only think “out of the box” but to have fun while doing so. Significant areas of impact include the ability of humor to:
- ☺ Define the ability of a leader to build a culture of trust
- ☺ Maximize the capacity of individuals for effective communication
- ☺ Create an optimal learning environment
- ☺ Capture the attentional center of the brain
- ☺ Plant information into the long-term memory
- ☺ Reduce stress
- ☺ Promote a healthy positive lifestyle
Pump up your humor practice by purposefully increasing your awareness of the benefits of humor in your life as an educator!
[edit] Jest for fun!
[edit] Perspectives on Aging
Two elderly women were out driving in a large car – they could barely see over the dashboard. As they were cruising along, they came to an intersection. The stoplight was red but they just went right on through. The woman in the passenger seat thought to herself “I really must be losing it, I could have sworn that was a red light”.
A few minutes later, they came to another intersection and the light was red again and again they went right through. This time the woman in the passenger seat was positive the light had been red but thought, ‘maybe there’s something wrong with ME!”. She was getting nervous and decided to pay very close attention to the road and the next intersection.
At the next light, sure enough, the light was definitely red and again, they went right through. She turned to the other woman and said, “Mildred! Did you know we just ran through three red lights in a row! You could have killed us!”
Mildred turned to her and said “Oh! . . . Am I driving?”
[edit] Bumper Stickers
- Get a New Car for Your Spouse. It'll Be a Great Trade.
- I want to die peacefully in my sleep like my grandfather... not screaming and yelling like the passengers in his car.
- If at First You Don't Succeed, Skydiving Isn't for You.
- If we are what we eat, I'm cheap, fast, and easy.
- Old Age Comes at a Bad Time.
- Sometimes I wake up grumpy, other times I let him sleep.
[edit] References
AATH (n.d.). Association for Applied and Therapeutic Human. Retrieved 4/24/08: http://www.aath.org/. Here is a definition of Therapeutic Humor quoted from this Website:
- Any intervention that promotes health and wellness by stimulating a playful discovery, expression or appreciation of the absurdity or incongruity of life’s situations.
- This intervention may enhance health or be used as a complementary treatment of illness to facilitate healing or coping, whether physical, emotional, cognitive, social or spiritual.
- Officially adopted by the AATH Board of Directors on June 1, 2000.
Berk, Ron et. al. (2008). What everybody should know about humor & laughter. Retrieved 4/24/08: http://www.aath.org/documents/AATH-WhatWeKnowREVISED.pdf.
[edit] Author
This material was written and contributed by Mary Kay Morrison.
