Humor as Pedagody: Evidence from Bosnia and Herzegovina

• Author: Philip Aka - Sencer Yeralan
• Position: International University of Sarajevo
• Pages: 539-603

e Indonesian Journal of International & Comparative Law

ISSN: 2338-7602; E-ISSN: 2338-770X

http://www.ijil.org

© 2019 e Institute for Migrant Rights Press

Professor Aka thanks Dean Yeralan for his non-condescending ways marked by unmatched

skills in laughter and for introducing him to humor studies.

Humor as PEdagogy

EVIDENCE FROM BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA

Philip C. Aka & Sencer Yeralan

International University of Sarajevo

paka@ius.edu.ba

is article critically explores the pedagogical possibilities of humor in the tertia-

ry classroom, using Bosnia and Herzegovina, a small state in southeastern Eu-

rope (population: 3.5 million people) as case study, and the classical theories of

humor—notorious for their general contempt for humor as intellectual tool—as

point of departure. e paper makes an interrelated, three-fold, argument. First,

contrary to the teachings of the three major theories of humor, particularly In-

congruity eory which portrays jokes as in-consonant with logic and rational-

ity, humor has a key role in education. Second, just like many societies, Bosnia

and Herzegovina has within its cultural system and milieu, the wherewithal for

humor-based instructions that its educational policymakers at all levels need to

tap into. ird, building on the rst two points and reinforcing them, Bosnian

laws and policies do not forbid creative use of humor in higher education. Two

reasons make this study signicant. e rst is the concept of boundary that it

elaborates for judicious application of humor in the tertiary classroom in Bosnia

and Herzegovina and beyond. Second, while in no way sacricing rigor in a eld

sometimes disparaged for its intellectual lightweight-ness, this paper is informed

by multiple perspectives that include the authors’ subjective experiences in pri-

vate higher education as lecturers, mentors, and administrators at the Interna-

tional University of Sarajevo.

Keywords: theories of humor, tertiary teaching strategy, higher education, Bosnian

self-parody, pedagogy practice.

VI Indonesian Journal of International & Comparative Law 539-603 (October 2019)

540

Aka & Yeralan

INTRODUCTION AND

ARGUMENT

Humor is a technique that facilitates learning and engenders creativ-

ity in educational institutions,1 in our case of study is higher educa-

tion.2 Teachers can creatively use humor to “better manage their class-

room[s].”3 For in the onomatopoeic colloquialism of the scholastic

literature, ha-ha leads to aha!4 Used creatively, humor can serve many

positive ends, including: reducing the gap between learners and teach-

ers,5 and improving learner receptivity in the classroom by encouraging

students to listen more intently “so that they don’t miss the fun.”6 ere

are yet other potential benets. Humor can serve to create a relaxed

1. See Hicham Benjelloun, An Empirical Investigation of the Use of Humor in

University Classrooms, 2 E., B.  S’: C. M E

I 312-322 (2009), https://doi.org/10.1108/17537980911001134 (business

education); Kate Oer et al., “You Must Be Joking”: e Role of Humor in the

Law Classroom, 52(2) L. T 135-153 (2018) (legal education); James

D. Gordon III, Introduction: Humor in Legal Education and Scholarship, 1992

BYU L. R. 313-323 (1992) (same); Mary M. Chabeli, Humor: A Pedagogical

Tool to Promote Learning, 31 C 51-59 (2008) (nursing education).

2. Higher or tertiary education refers to any education beyond high school, i.e.,

from undergraduate to doctorate level, including professional studies. What

is Tertiary Education, L, https://learn.org/articles/What_is_Tertiary_

Education.html.

3. Oer et al., supra note 1, at 153.

4. Randall L. Garner, Humor in Pedagogy: How Ha-ha Can Lead to Aha!, 54 C.

T 177-180 (2006). Ha-ha is the sound of laughter or humor, while

aha! is eureka for any in a range of emotions that includes discovery, awareness,

understanding, and enlightenment. See John Morreall, e Rejection of Humor

in Western ought, 39(3) P.  H 243, 258 (1989) (“[T]he experience

of understanding a philosophical argument or position—the moment of

Aha!—is oen similar to getting a joke—the moment of Haha!”).

5. Chabel, supra note 1, at 54 (referring to a survey wherein participants felt that

“the more laughing, the smaller the distance between the learners and the

teacher.”). is can occur because, as Professor Gordon maintained, humor

“helps reduce tension and stress that can interfere with learning.” Gordon III,

supra note 1, at 323.

6. Gordon III, supra note 1, at 316.

541

Humor as Pedagogy

Aka & Yeralan

atmosphere conducive to learning by helping the teacher “to maintain

a lively and engaged relationship” that whets student participation and

eagerness to learn,7 engender “a trusting” student-teacher relationship

that enables students to take ownership of their own learning,8 promote

critical thinking,9 and “alleviate the strain of learning a dicult sub-

ject,”10 among others. In contrast, a tense and authoritarian environ-

ment hinders learning.11 Small wonder that many students of tertiary

institutions nowadays favor the use of humor in the classroom.12 Going

further, a good number of these students believe that, within judicious

boundaries, instructors should use jokes to enhance learning.13

7. Chabeli, supra note 1, at 51-52.

8. Id. at 51.

9. Id. at 51-52, 55-56 (analyzing critical thinking). Critical thinking refers to

“self-regulatory judgment which results in interpretation, analysis, evaluation,

inference as well as explanation of the evidential, conceptual, methodological,

criteriological or contextual considerations upon which the judgment is

based.” Id . at 55. “[T]he ideal critical thinker is habitually inquisitive, well-

informed, trustful of reason, open-minded, exible, fair-minded in evaluation,

honest in facing personal biases, prudent in making judgments, willing to

reconsider, clear about issues, orderly in complex matters, diligent in seeking

relevant information, reasonable in the selection of criteria, focused on inquiry

and persistent in seeking results which are as precise as the subject and the

circumstances of inquiry permit.” Id.

10. Oer et al., supra note 1, at 146; see also id. at 140 (stating that humor may

be useful when teaching topics students perceive to be “dicult” or “anxiety-

provoking.”).

11. Chabeli, supra note 1, at 51.

12. See Stephen Paul Halula, What Role Does Humor in the Higher

Education Classroom Play in Student-Perceived Instructor Eectiveness,

Ph.D. diss. Marquette University (2013), https://pdfs.semanticscholar.

org/300f/0a9aae5e0580173f7241d3a0d218e01777b8.pdf (abstract). Taking the

position that few of the existing studies “listened to the voice of the student,”

the Halula study sought “to hear what students actually had to say about the

importance of humor in their classrooms.” Id. e work used a qualitative

approach to data gathering involving 9 nonrandomly chosen students, ve of

whom assessed the teaching eectiveness of a history professor in a certain

university in the midwestern region of the United States noted for his sense of

humor. Id.

13. Benjelloun, supra note 1 (abstract). For what parameters rank as judicious, see

infra Section V.B.