Whether your workplace is a school building or a downtown office, the workplace climate can be defined simply as "the way people feel when they're at work." Education in particular is one of the most stressful professions. This is not only because teaching is a difficult and demanding job, but also because of the different relationships that exist in a school. There are teacher-student, parent-teacher, administrator-student, administrator-teacher and parent-teacher relationships. These interpersonal relationships can be very complex. Studies have shown that humor can provide a fun-filled learning atmosphere and ease such complexity. The presentation will address questions like: What is humor? How can humor help improve relationships and what are the values of using humor in education? How can we appropriately use humor in schools and teaching? What type of humor should be avoided? What's the relationship between humor and the creative process?

The increasing complexity of life gives rise to humor to relieve stress, ease tension and build more collaborative working relationships. Through use of humor, schools can shift from the predominant authoritarian approach of classroom management to the collaborative model of learning. Humor can be an important element of the collaborative environment. In addition to its many other benefits, it has been noticed that humor helps students respond to questions and group discussions more freely. This can be achieved by simply telling a joke or a funny story, using cartoon pictures/jokes that relate to the topic at hand. Relevant humor can link certain concepts together, which helps student in understanding the topics discussed. Techniques on how to inject humor in schools will be highlighted.