Laughing and Learning: An Alternative to Shut Up and Listen

by Peter M. Jonas

In Laughing and Learning, leadership consultant and university professor Peter M. Jonas explores the ways in which humor can enhance the learning environment. Drawing upon empirical research and brain-based concepts, Jonas presents a theoretical model of humor, along with practical examples for use in schools and classrooms. Jonas demonstrates that humor is a natural and fundamental activity that teachers and administrators need to utilize properly to maximize their effectiveness.

156 pages, Paperback

First published October 16, 2009

Reviews

[Jean Schram · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am an elementary reading teacher who reads many books about education. Most of the books I read are responses to bodies of knowledge of knowledge that are already out there—either building on them or refuting them. But this is something totally different. In Laughing and Learning: An alternative to shut up and listen, Dr. Peter Jonas presents an in-depth look of the benefits (for students and for adults) of the use of humor in education. He accomplishes three things: 1) He informs readers about what the research says about humor in general and in the context of an educational setting, 2) He gives MANY examples of humor for the reader to use, and 3) He suggests books, web sites, and articles for further study on the topic (in-text in addition to in the references sections. The biggest take-away for me was to make sure to use relevant humor at the right time: “[R]esearch has shown that using humor in the classroom improves classroom instruction. However, you need to keep it simple, make your point, get in and get out, and always keep it connected to the content” (41).

[Graham Bates · Rating 4 out of 5]

Peter Jonas writes a highly-researched defense of using humor in the classroom. It's well thought through and mostly well written, but if you like using humor in classes/trainings, there's not much reason to go through more than the conclusion. The chapters, while labeled for different aspects of humor, are very repetitive and don't add much to the content - perhaps should have been sections in one chapter instead of individual chapters. Also, some of the resources suggested are either typos or obscure enough that they're not on Goodreads. If you have a colleague or boss who refuse to believe in or use humor in a classroom, refer them to this book. Otherwise, you already understand most of what is in Laughing and Learning and should spend your time searching for more collections of humorous material in class.