‘If they laugh they will love the learning’: Experiences of the Use of Humor by Adult Education Practitioners in Egypt and the United States
Faculty Advisor Name
Dr. Edward Brantmeier
Department
Department of Learning, Technology and Leadership Education
Description
This project aimed to study the experiences of adult education practitioners with using humor in their work. Humor is a tool that is commonly used by educators and even in our daily life. However, humor and its impact are understudied unfortunately, this is in terms of how impactful it is, how it is perceived and how it is implemented in professional contexts. In this project, adult educators were interviewed to know more about their experiences with humor as learners, in terms of exploring situations where humor was used with them successfully, and how this impacted their learning experience positively. They were also asked about when it was used with them as learners yet it had negative impact on them. Participants were also asked about their positive and negative experiences with humor as educators. Then, they were asked to explain what needs they have that will help them to better use humor in the future, and what recommendations they have for other adult educators to improve their usage of humor.
The project focused on the experiences of adult education practitioners in Egypt and the United States, to be able to notice similarities and differences in experiences between the two countries.
The findings of the interviews showed very interesting themes regarding how participants perceived humor as learners and as educators, also some sharings were not common and were mentioned by specific participance. However, these sharings were also mentioned to give the space for future studies to explore them in more depth.
The project also explored three different areas of literature. The first area was literature about adult learning theory, as this project is regarding adult learning experiences, it was essential to review literature regarding this specific theory. The second literature area is humor in adult learning, which reviewed articles discussing the usage of humor in adult learning, some insights related to using humor in the workplace were also highlighted. The last literature area is humor across cultures, which explored articles talking about how humor is used and perceived by different cultures and countries.
At the end, the project was able to highlight how humor is useful when dealing with adult learners, also how it might be harmful if used in a wrong manner. The results also showed how the literature, participants experiences, and their recommendations agreed that it requires courage and risk taking to use humor as educators, also that it is a skill that one can develop with time and practice. The study opened the space for future studies to build on it and develop a methodology that can act as a guiding aid for adult educators to help them when trying to use humor in their work. Which was the main hope and purpose of why I started this project from the beginning, for me and other educators in the future to find resources that can help us when planning to rely on such a useful and commonly accepted and used tool.
‘If they laugh they will love the learning’: Experiences of the Use of Humor by Adult Education Practitioners in Egypt and the United States
This project aimed to study the experiences of adult education practitioners with using humor in their work. Humor is a tool that is commonly used by educators and even in our daily life. However, humor and its impact are understudied unfortunately, this is in terms of how impactful it is, how it is perceived and how it is implemented in professional contexts. In this project, adult educators were interviewed to know more about their experiences with humor as learners, in terms of exploring situations where humor was used with them successfully, and how this impacted their learning experience positively. They were also asked about when it was used with them as learners yet it had negative impact on them. Participants were also asked about their positive and negative experiences with humor as educators. Then, they were asked to explain what needs they have that will help them to better use humor in the future, and what recommendations they have for other adult educators to improve their usage of humor.
The project focused on the experiences of adult education practitioners in Egypt and the United States, to be able to notice similarities and differences in experiences between the two countries.
The findings of the interviews showed very interesting themes regarding how participants perceived humor as learners and as educators, also some sharings were not common and were mentioned by specific participance. However, these sharings were also mentioned to give the space for future studies to explore them in more depth.
The project also explored three different areas of literature. The first area was literature about adult learning theory, as this project is regarding adult learning experiences, it was essential to review literature regarding this specific theory. The second literature area is humor in adult learning, which reviewed articles discussing the usage of humor in adult learning, some insights related to using humor in the workplace were also highlighted. The last literature area is humor across cultures, which explored articles talking about how humor is used and perceived by different cultures and countries.
At the end, the project was able to highlight how humor is useful when dealing with adult learners, also how it might be harmful if used in a wrong manner. The results also showed how the literature, participants experiences, and their recommendations agreed that it requires courage and risk taking to use humor as educators, also that it is a skill that one can develop with time and practice. The study opened the space for future studies to build on it and develop a methodology that can act as a guiding aid for adult educators to help them when trying to use humor in their work. Which was the main hope and purpose of why I started this project from the beginning, for me and other educators in the future to find resources that can help us when planning to rely on such a useful and commonly accepted and used tool.
