Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
Journal of Childhood, Education & Society, cilt.3, sa.2, ss.151-167, 2022 (Scopus)
The purpose of this study was to examine humour from the perspectives of
60-72-month-old children and their teachers in Turkey. A phenomenological method was
used to collect data through semi-structured interviews, which included each child
making a drawing about something they thought was ‘funny’. Teachers were also
interviewed via semi-structured questions related to children’s humour. Data collected
from 22 children and five teachers were analysed using McGhee’s humour development
theory and Martin’s descriptions of four humour styles. The humour produced by our
sample mainly included items related to incongruity. Teachers described children’s
humour development in terms of how the children behaved within their social group, and
some believing that children who do not make jokes about their peers, have no humour
development. Our findings pointed to a lack of awareness of the benefits of humour to the
learning process and early years’ education, particularly with teachers needing to account
for age, developmental level and cultural differences.