The purpose of this article is to show that health and physical education (HPE) teachers who implement humor in the classroom intentionally create a more relaxed classroom environment, build stronger relationships with students, and engage students in the learning process. Humor used as an instructional strategy eases teacher stress and engages…

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the opinions of primary school and high school students regarding the role of humor as a practice in the management of educational communication on the part of the teacher. More specifically, it is investigated whether and to what extent humor affects the students' behavior towards the teacher, the…

The use of humor has been a controversial research topic in language classrooms. Humor is pervasive; however, the functions of humor in primary English-as-a-foreign-language (EFL) classrooms is under-investigated. To analyze the distinct features of humor, this study explores the specific functions of humor in primary English teaching classrooms…

Guided by emotional response theory, this study examined how students' emotional responses mediated the relationship between their instructors' dramatic teaching behaviors (i.e., humor, self-disclosure, narrative) and their approach-avoidance behaviors (i.e., oral in-class participation, out-of-class communication, classroom citizenship…

There have been very few studies that apply the work of Mikhail Bakhtin and Norbert Elias to understand the underlying learning processes of young children. This article will explore the methodological similarities between Bakhtin's ideas about the carnivalesque and Norbert Elias's theory of established-outsider relations to explain how young…

This study examined the behaviors that teachers in eight large urban high schools in a Northeastern state considered important for good teacher-student relationships. A factor analysis of teacher (N = 103) survey responses revealed three factors related to student behaviors: (a) demonstrating engagement and interest in schoolwork; (b) being…

Based on an analysis of 137 texts written by pupils, this paper examines pupils' humour directed at teachers, its types and social functions. The collected data are divided into three categories that describe different modes of teachers as targets of pupils' humour. The first mode describes teachers as unintentionally comical, the second as duped…

Using rhetorical/relational goal theory as a guiding frame, we examined relationships between instructor misbehaviors (i.e., indolence, incompetence, and offensiveness) and the likelihood of students communicating antisocial behavioral alteration techniques (BATs). More specifically, the study focused on whether students' perceptions of instructor…

Pupils' humour aimed at teachers is all too often seen as baiting or misbehaviour. Suspecting that this was probably not the case, we took a sample. Looked at from the perspective of the intention behind the humour, it appears that pupils' humour directed at teachers makes a predominantly positive contribution to the relationship between pupil and…

This study investigates the notion of "inspiring" teaching. The research was commissioned by CfBT as part of a collaborative professional development initiative involving its schools. It arose from headteachers' suggestions that schools nominate a number of "inspiring" teachers so that their practice could be studied and the…

Discusses how one journalism instructor deals with disruptive students in her reporting, communication history, and ethics courses. Lists reasons for students' disenchantment. Notes that sometimes humor eases tensions. Addresses building respect in the college classroom. (RS)

Details (facetiously) a study that examines why English students do not turn their work in on time. Concludes that numerous distractions, such as "Dear Abby," are responsible for sidetracking students doing research. (NKA)

Explores developmental patterns in children from kindergarten through grade six. Highlights physical development, including height, activity level, motor skills, and health; mental development, including abstract thought, academic focus, learning difficulties, subject preferences, and creativity; psychosocial development, including interpersonal…