WHEN I look back on my years of education — K-12 to university — and across cultures, and think of the good or outstanding teachers I had — and I did have some — among the many traits of such teachers, the one I find seldom talked about is their sense of humour. Without exception, all the teachers I remember as having a positive impact on me and my learning had a keen sense of humour. They used it to varying degrees, and in different ways, but they were also discerning: they could enjoy a good joke, see the funny side of things, and use humour when needed. But, it was always to create a more conducive learning environment or to enhance learning, and never to bring a student down. So, they could laugh with us, and did, but they never laughed at us.
I remember, with a lot of fondness, how one of our Urdu teachers had, with one phrase, brought a classfellow of ours out of his despondency when he was really down and out. A philosophy tutor was expounding on the limits of the possible. He was quite overweight, so he said that he could, of course, not outrun Ben Johnson (sprinter), but then he looked down, caressed his ample beer belly and said, “That does not mean I could not be a lot more fit than where I am right now.” The class had a good laugh. And understood what he was explaining quite well.
Literature that looks at the characteristics of ‘good and/or effective’ teachers finds that students do identify a ‘sense of humour’ as one of the traits that good teachers usually possess. But this should not be surprising. Humour is as basic a part of the human experience as any other. Good teachers have many traits that define good and balanced human beings. Why would humour not show up as a trait in good teachers?
However, research on whether humour helps with teaching and learning is more mixed. Humour can improve the class environment, enhance trust, help students open up, make material and context more memorable, improve retention, facilitate class management and sometimes even manage or resolve a clash.
Students do identify a ‘sense of humour’ as one of the traits that good teachers possess.
It can be a difficult tool to use as well. If teachers use it to make fun of students, put them down, laugh at them or others, or crack jokes in a way that makes students uncomfortable, it can turn students away from learning and may even make classrooms less effective.
Humour is difficult to define, though most of us do find something or the other humorous. Humour is difficult to use as a lot depends on how it is received by students. And student diversity, which is evident in all classrooms, means that the teacher has to be aware of a multiplicity of tastes and sensibilities. Some literature does show that course-related humour might work most easily as students are already attuned to this area.
This is no different from the use of humour in other aspects of our lives. Humour can be important in office settings, workplaces and meetings too. But, again, it can be used well or poorly; it can enhance comfort or reduce it; it can improve productivity or destroy it.
In the early years, when children are young, situations often turn amusing. And teachers have to be quite adept at managing them effectively. Not using these situations constructively and adopting strictness all the time is not an optimal state. Nor is letting go of class discipline. The ideal engagement with students lies in the reflective and effective use of humour.
In later years, especially at the university level, the use of humour has to be a lot more deliberate and thoughtful.
The use of humour is not subject-dependent. My good teachers specialised in different areas. In fact, one of the funniest teachers we had was a brilliant maths instructor. I have taught courses in philosophy, education, leadership, management, game theory and various sub-areas within economics. Classes, across all of these, have generated humorous situations or have afforded opportunities for the use of humour as a tool for enhancing learning and managing the class environment.
Prepared jokes or lines seldom work. They look too practised and come across as artificial. A genuine propensity for humour means recognising an opportunity— an opportune time and place — when humour can be used effectively. This is one reason why the use of humour as a technique and tool in teacher training is not often talked about. It is hard to train sensibility towards humour. But there is no reason why it cannot be cultivated through concerted effort and self-reflective practice on the part of teachers. If a teacher has many insecurities, it will be hard for him or her to be a good instructor or to use humour. Personality does play a role in this.
Parents know the value of humour when they interact and work with their children. The situation is not too different for teachers when they are interacting with young people for teaching and learning. Humour is an important part of human life. It should definitely be part of teaching and learning, and of our classrooms and intellectual interactions as well. But, as with other human capabilities, it can be used well or poorly — to build or to destroy. A teacher, a builder for sure, has to be extra vigilant in how he or she employs humour, but there can be no good teaching without some humour in the classroom.
Published in Dawn, February 13th, 2026.
