Abstract
This theoretical study is a contribution to the vast and often overlooked topic of humour and its relevance and role in the process of education and school as an institution. The aim of this study is to develop these endeavours and describe the principles relating to a function of humour highly relevant to the aforementioned environment. This will then demonstrate that a reflection on the nature and use of humour is a necessary part of the teaching profession.
The study begins with a brief introduction to the issue of defining humour and a relevant typology of theories of humour. Subsequently, current studies on the role of humour in education are discussed, with a special regard to a Czech monograph Humor ve škole by Klára Šeďová. Several conclusions from this work are then combined with the definition of liminality and communitas in the works of Victor Turner and Radek Chlup. All these steps should provide a new perspective on this phenomenon and its functions.
In the last part of the study, previous findings are applied to the particularities of school environments and especially to the different roles connected with the profession of a teacher.