Introduction
It is very common for a teacher to interpret a joke by the class clown as a threat to his or her authority, which it sometimes is. Moreover, it is often believed that children become class clowns because of feelings of low self esteem. In these situations being the class clown has a negative connotation and often is seen as irritating and disruptive. Thus, sometimes class clowns call attention to themselves in ways that are not really funny. In However, this is often not the case. In the most complete (and, indeed, one of the very few) systematic studies of class clowns, William Watson Purkey (2006), points out the many ways in which the class clown can be a valuable asset to teaches and classrooms; this section is largely based on Purkey’s observations, research and suggestions. Purkey’s book [1] is based not only on his personal experience but also on a systematic study of 96 eighth-grade class clowns who were identified after screening 3500 public school pupils. Purkey decries the fact that such little research and reflection have been devoted to class clowns, since, on average, there is one in every school classroom of 30-35 pupils.
Purkey begins by commenting on the many ways in which humour can contribute to a classroom environment and to learning. Humour, he correctly reports, has been linked in scientific studies to optimism, self-esteem and physical health, whereas many humourless people are stressed and depressed. Lamenting what he sees as a steady decline in decorum and a concomitant increase in routine. bureaucratic tasks for teachers to complete and standardized testing that determines the content of teaching, Purkey notes that class clowns can help schools “lighten up”, which he thinks they need to do. When they ply their trade in positive ways, class clowns can help us laugh at ourselves. Laughter, Purkey remindsus that laughter helps people, young and old, face and cope with challenging situations. If their energy can be channeled into positive outlets, class clowns can make this possible for many teachers and fellow students. To do so, they need to encounter teachers who consider having fun part of successful teaching and classroom management.
In delineating the fundamental characteristic of class clowns, Purkey describes them as students who consistently and successfully induce laughter. Very often, they quickly and successfully say out loud what many of the people in the situation are thinking or feeling. In order to understand the ability of class clowns, it is important to analyze the structure of a humorous situation. Unlike a television comic or stand-up comedian, the class clown must find humour on the spot, instantly, capitalizing on a situation that has arisen in school. He or she has no time to “set the stage”, to prepare or recite a scenario to which he or she can then add a funny ending. Unlike circus clowns, they are not assisted by funny costumes or make-up. Invoking humour on the spot in this manner requires a special talent that, Purkey insists, must be admired. Needless to say, many class clowns are very bright, even gifted in terms of verbal and social intelligence. Whatever their reasons for wanting to be at the centre of attention, they thrive on that attention, which does not necessarily mean that they are always entitled to it.
[1] Purkey, W. W. (2006). Teaching class clowns (and what they can teach us). Thousand Oaks, CA; Corwin Press.
The child often shows off, tells jokes, or makes inappropriate remarks in public. This behaviour is most prevalent in middle childhood and early adolescence.
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- Child entertains class with jokes that are funny and that are completely non-malicious and do not interfere with the functioning of the classroom. Child may use props or costumes to “dress up” and entertain, but in a totally non-offensive manner. Research on humour indicates that a special talent for entertaining people with benevolent humour can begin as early as the age of two years.
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- Child’s jokes are fairly frequent and somewhat inappropriate, immature or offensive but their content is not necessarily any more inappropriate than the content of most classmates’ conversation
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- Child’s jokes are constant and markedly offensive, including foul language and/or inappropriate sexual words that would not be used regularly by most classmates
- In his/her jokes, child makes derogatory remarks about other children.
- Other children stay away from the child who makes these jokes.
- Child’s jokes become silly to the point of irritating other children often resulting in the child being rejected
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- Child entertains class with jokes that are funny but that are completely non-malicious. The clowning does not interfere with the functioning of the classroom.
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- Child’s jokes are fairly frequent and somewhat inappropriate. The clown sometimes makes jokes at his/her own expense, sometimes at the expense of others but does not consistently attack a specific classmate or the teacher.
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- Child’s jokes are constant and often malicious. They target a classmate so specifically and regularly that they could be considered a form of verbal bullying. Hostile clowns, in contrast with friendly clowns, project their humour on vulnerable children and on teachers. They do not seem to understand how much it can hurt to be belittled; they need help in learning that. Their sense of humour may be used as a tool to help them bully others. Off-colour language and sexual references are frequent.
- Child’s jokes become silly to the point of irritating other children and resulting in the child being rejected.
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- Child’s jokes may come at a time that the teacher finds inconvenient but they are truly funny. Child makes jokes at his/her expense at least as often as he/she makes jokes at the expense of others.
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- Child’s jokes are not constant but fairly frequent. They may occur at the wrong time in terms of the class. Sometimes they are at the expense of a specific classmate whom the clown does not like.
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- Child insists on being the centre of attention. His/her jokes target a classmate so specifically and regularly that they could be considered a form of verbal bullying. Off-colour language and sexual references are frequent. Jokes seriously and genuinely undermine the authority of the teacher and the proper functioning of the classroom. Hostile clowns, in contrast with friendly clowns, project their humour on vulnerable children and on teachers. They do not seem to understand how much it can hurt to be belittled; they need help in learning that. Their sense of humour may be used as a tool to bully others.
- Child’s jokes become silly to the point of irritating other children and resulting in being rejected.
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- Child makes jokes that really are funny. The jokes are not intended as serious threats to the teacher or school. The clown knows when to stop, e.g., at critical moments in the academic program. Child makes jokes at his/her expense at least as often as he/she makes jokes at the expense of others.
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- Child’s jokes are not constant but fairly frequent. They may occur at the wrong time in terms of the routines of the class. Sometimes they are at the expense of a specific classmate whom the clown does not like. Jokes made about the teacher go somewhat beyond good-natured “kidding”.
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- Child insists on being the centre of attention. His/her jokes target a classmate so specifically and regularly that they could be considered a form of verbal bullying. Hostile clowns, in contrast with friendly clowns, project their humour on vulnerable children and on teachers. They do not seem to understand how much it can hurt to be belittled; they need help in learning that. Their sense of humour may be used as a tool to bully others. Off-colour language and sexual references are frequent. Jokes seriously, frequently and genuinely undermine the authority of the teacher and the proper functioning of the classroom.
- Child’s jokes become silly to the point of irritating other children and results in the child being rejected.
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It is difficult to specify a general reason for needing the attention received by the class clown. Such behaviour might occur because other kids encourage it. The class clown may have no other way of getting this much attention.
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A few preliminary studies, some of which have been conducted in Canada, indicate that a sense of humour may be somewhat inheritable from parents. These studies do not really distinguish between positive and negative expressions of children’s sense of humour, which is a definite limitation of the research. As well, some individual characteristics that are known to be highly heritable– such as intelligence and an uninhibited, outgoing personality – may have a lot to do with children’s and adolescents’ displays of humour. The trait of cheerfulness is discussed in some research and may be somewhat heritable. Other heritable traits such as irritability or shyness may result in the unhealthy absence of a sense of humour.
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There has also been a limited amount of research on the backgrounds of children who display a keen sense of humour. This limited data base is not very conclusive. There is some suggestion of a modeling effect by which children whose parents display humour imitate what they have seen at home. Many of the same parents provide praise and encouragement for their children’s first attempts at being funny. However, some studies indicate a very different compensation effect by which children who come from homes in which they are subject to many restrictions and/or considerable stress cope by developing what is truly a healthy sense of humour. As mentioned in the Introduction above, these children may need the help of adults including teachers in steering their emergent sense of humour in positive directions.
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Some outstanding professional comedians are people with disabilities who use humour to cope with their disabilities. This is, in essence, an example of the healthy tendency to laugh at oneself. However, some forms of disability interfere with the capacity to understand humour at an age-appropriate level of to distinguish between malicious and benevolent humour. This applies particularly to children with learning disabilities and children with intellectual/developmental disabilities. Many of these children may need the help of teachers and other adults to learn the important skills of recognizing when a joke and is not malevolent or annoying to others and knowing how to respond to jokes aimed at them (maliciously or not) without escalating the situation.
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Many children who are known for their humour are intellectually very bright or have outgoing, extraverted personalities. This does not mean, however, that they know the difference between the appropriate and inappropriate expression of humour without being taught.
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Although humour occurs in some situations in all cultures, there are cultural differences in terms of the situations in which humour is appropriate. Of particular relevance to the teaching situation is the fact that in some cultures, children are expected to be submissive and inexpressive in situations controlled by adult authority. There are also cultural differences in the content of what people find funny. For example, in cultures in which great value is placed on the autonomy and distinctness of individuals (which includes the majority North American culture whose roots are in the British Isles or Western Europe), more jokes are likely to contain reference (benevolent or malevolent) to either the individual making the joke or someone else who is present. In other cultures, the content of jokes is based more on the general environment, situation or perhaps a common enemy who is not present. In the multicultural Canadian context, it is important for children (and adults) to recognize that a joke made about a member of another cultural, racial or ethnic group is considered “high risk”. In other words, such jokes are more likely than other jokes to be interpreted as malevolent because of the confounding intercultural aspects of the situation.
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As mentioned under Family Factors, above, developing a sense of humour can be a healthy way of coping with an unfavourable home environment.
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The most tempting response to the class clown is a humourous one in which the teacher responds with humour that the other children will find more amusing than the clown's. This may not be a bad course to follow if you are lucky enough to be able to produce this kind of humour whenever the situation arises. Even if you are so lucky, one problem with this response is that it serves as a challenge to the class clown.
A more reliable response might be to simply say in public that you will speak with the class clown later. You then schedule a private interview with the child and indicate that you find his or her remarks very disruptive. You might make it clear that you are not amused. Subsequent incidents of clowning can be ignored unless they become too frequent or disruptive.
Responses that should definitely be avoided are sarcasm or belittling the clown in public.
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- As a successful teacher would do with regard to children with many other talents, it is appropriate for the teacher to help a child cultivate an endowment with the gift of humour that is directed in a positive way (i.e., with jokes not intended to harm anyone). Educator William Purkey (see Introduction) objects strongly to the traditional admonition to the beginning teacher “not to smile before Christmas”. The price of that is a gloomy classroom. As well, the teacher fails to encourage some of its most talented pupils. A pupil who makes a truly funny and truly benevolent joke is no threat to the teacher’s authority. Therefore, the best thing a teacher can do is probably to laugh along.
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- During the middle childhood years and into adolescence, one useful long-term strategy is to help channel the talents and outgoingness of the class clown into positive directions. One way of accomplishing this during the middle childhood years is to assign special responsibilities around the school to the class clown whose humour is starting to be misdirected. It is also appropriate to point out inappropriate expressions of humour with a hand signal “stop”.
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- Repeated, hurtful misuse of humour that causes harm to other children should not be accepted in any case. Before invoking any form of consequence, it is important for the teacher to make sure that the behaviour is clearly hurtful. If so, in a private conversation, this fact should be explained to the misguided class clown. If it persists after a warning, a proportional, appropriate, mild consequence should be invoked. It is important for the class clown who has offended another pupil to apologize to that pupil. In any case where a negative intervention is used, the teacher should be on the lookout for subsequent opportunities to praise the same child for improved behaviour; this step is crucial.
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- Beginning in early adolescence, pupils’ benevolent jokes may be truly funny to adults as well. If the teacher finds a joke funny, it is not inappropriate to laugh along with the class.
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- Some teachers misinterpret any kind of joke by an early adolescent or adolescent as a threat to their authority. It is important for the teacher to reflect carefully as to whether this is in fact the case. Educator William Purkey (see Introduction above) emphasizes that no matter what a teacher does, he/she will not be able to stamp out the humour of the class clown. Therefore, the teacher’s job is to distinguish between malevolent and benevolent jokes and to help the clown learn the same distinction.
- The class clown’s outgoingness and talents of self-expression need to be channelled in positive ways. The “clown” might be encouraged to join a performing group, the school “radio” or “TV station” or the school newspaper.
- Purkey (see above) notes that class clowns are known for their perceptiveness. This talent is not only evident when detecting opportunities for a joke but also, and particularly, in detecting situations in which pupils are not treated equally. When faced with the problem of a class clown whose humour is beginning to go astray, the teacher needs to redouble his/her efforts at making sure that all disciplinary interventions with the class are seen as fair by as many students as possible.
• Purkey (see above) notes that a perceptive class clown is likely to be more respectful of a classroom environment in which routines are clear, expectations are positive but still reasonable and in which lessons are well prepared and interesting.
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- Repeated, hurtful misuse of humour that causes harm to other children should not be accepted in any case. Before invoking any form of consequence, it is important for the teacher to make sure that the behaviour is clearly hurtful. If so, in a private conversation, this fact should be explained to the misguided class clown. If it persists after a warning, a proportional, appropriate, mild consequence should be invoked. It is important for the class clown who has offended another pupil to apologize to that pupil. In any case where a negative intervention is used, the teacher should be on the lookout for subsequent opportunities to praise the same child for improved behaviour; this step is crucial.
- Some class clowns are initially funny but persist in repeating the same jokes or actions to the point where others become irritated. It is important to make the child aware of this in a private moment and then use a prearranged signal, such as a stop signal, to indicate to the child that they are no longer funny and should stop.
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- Beginning in early adolescence, pupils’ benevolent jokes may be truly funny to adults as well. If the teacher finds a joke funny, it is not inappropriate to laugh along with the class.
- Adolescents’ rebelliousness is often expressed by negative attitudes towards school. Humour can help adolescents feel that school is an enjoyable place to be. This can be accomplished not only by the teacher making positive use of humour (if she/he is endowed with that gift) but also, for example, by studying humorous literary works, creative writing exercises in which the object is to produce something funny, etc. ‘Improvs” can be a good way of teaching foreign languages.
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- Some teachers misinterpret any kind of joke by an early adolescent or adolescent as a threat to their authority. It is important for the teacher to reflect carefully as to whether this is in fact the case. Educator William Purkey (see Introduction above) emphasizes that no matter what a teacher does, he/she will be able to stamp out the humour of the class clown. Therefore, the teacher’s job is to distinguish between malevolent and benevolent jokes and to help the clown learn the same distinction.
- Although it is very appropriate to laugh at a truly funny and truly benevolent joke, it is important for the adolescent to see his/her teachers as adults, not as “pals”. Purkey (see Introduction) emphasizes the critical skill for high school teachers of maintaining boundaries. This means, ideally, being seen as friendly and fun to be with but not to be seen as a peer.
- The class clown’s outgoingness and talents of self-expression need to be channeled in positive ways. The “clown” might be encouraged to join a performing group, the school “radio” or “TV station” or the school newspaper.
- Purkey (see above) notes that class clowns are known for their perceptiveness. This talent is not only evident when detecting opportunities for a joke but also, and particularly, in detecting situations in which pupils are not treated equally. When faced with the problem of a class clown whose humour is beginning to go astray, the teacher needs to redouble his/her efforts at making sure that all disciplinary interventions with the class are seen as fair by as many students as possible.
- Purkey (see above) notes that a perceptive class clown is likely to be more respectful of a classroom environment in which routines are clear, expectations are positive but still reasonable and in which lessons are well prepared and interesting.
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- Repeated, hurtful misuse of humour that causes harm to other children should not be accepted in any case. Before invoking any form of consequence, it is important for the teacher to make sure that the behaviour is clearly hurtful. If so, in a private conversation, this fact should be explained to the misguided class clown. If it persists after a warning, a proportional, appropriate, mild consequence should be invoked. It is important for the class clown who has offended another pupil to apologize to that pupil. In any case where a negative intervention is used, the teacher should be on the lookout for subsequent opportunities to praise the same child for improved behaviour; this step is crucial.
- Some class clowns are initially funny but persist in repeating the same jokes or actions to the point where others become irritated. It is important to make the child aware of this in a private moment and then use signals, such as a stop signal, to indicate to the child that they are no longer funny and should stop.
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