Rising from the Ashes of Academic Burnout: Beneficial Effects of Humor in Adult Education

Abstract

Humor is often treated as a white elephant in the classroom. It is a taken-for-granted aspect of education in a negative sense: Some teachers and researchers frown upon humor as a trivial by-product of class interaction and a digression from the serious business of adult learning. They are predominantly hardwired to disregard humor as off-task, disruptive behavior that should be avoided or briefly laughed away (Bell, 2011). In more humanistic educational contexts, humor may be welcomed, and having a sense of humor might even be encouraged. Nevertheless, the beneficial effects of the fun factor are not usually well-understood and well-invested in such contexts (see Bell, 2011; Heidari-Shahreza, 2021).Humor is largely perceived as and categorized under those I know it when I see it concepts; most teachers assume they are already familiar with humor. More often than not, we underestimate how far humor can go in education (see Banas et al., 2011). In Mark Twain’s words, “laughter is the greatest weapon we have and we, as humans, use it least.”About 5 years ago, I had almost the same intuitive assumption and teaching practice with regard to humor. However, the academic burnout I experienced (and witnessed) was a turning point in my teaching practice and research. I began to appreciate the farreaching potential of humor. In what follows, I will reflect on my 5-year experience of engaging in pedagogical humor, from the perspective of a teacher and researcher who works in the adult language education of Iran.