How humor makes or breaks student-teacher relationships : a classroom ethnography in Belgium

Humor characterizes daily classroom interactions and strengthens or weakens student-teacher relationships. Making use of ethnographic classroom observations, we examine how humor relates to student-teacher relationships. Results show that humor in the classroom serves different functions. While teachers use humor to facilitate teaching and learning, students apply it to express their attitudes towards school and teachers. The use of humor varies across classrooms and tracks. Our findings suggest the importance of analyzing the use of humor in classrooms for teachers (in training), and point to broader implications in relationship to the maintenance of and resistance to social inequalities in education.