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"It can be a funny old game this teaching lark and many of us survive the day-to-day stresses by laughing, rather than crying. As a social species, humour is a fundamental part of developing group cohesion, yet I have never seen it mentioned in teaching or in insets, although perhaps I don't get invited to that kind of party! But can a teacher 'learn' humour or is it something innate, and how can humour be deployed to enhance relationships and learning?"

A great book reminding us that humour and laughter are key in the classroom

"In his new book, Adrian Bethune explores different angles of the life of children who are of primary-school age. For example, in a fascinating first chapter, Bethune examines our tribal roots, tapping into our pupils' primitive social instincts and their powerful effects on wellbeing and ability to learn. Citing the work of Louis Cozolino (Click here to view The Social Neuroscience of Education: Optimizing Attachment and Learning in the Classroom by Louis Cozolino on Amazon UK - worthy of a read itself) a tribal classroom embodies tribal qualities including a tribal leader, cooperation, teamwork, equality, fairness, trust and strong personal relationships. Such qualities enable everyone to feel valued and a feeling of a big family, helping secure positive relationships - the role of the teacher in this relationship is to help pupils feel like they belong, which is fundamental to learning. Developing this tribal theme, Bethune the proceeds to share ideas to be implemented in the primary classroom to help cultivate such positive relationships, including the design of a team flag, greetings and endings, teaching social skills, and building humour and games into the setting."