Sarcasm Is a Useful Teaching Tool--NOT
Heather Rader
Imagine you have tickets to see an award-winning show and you are going with your hilarious friend that makes every outing memorable. All day you've been looking forward to leaving after you clean-up your classroom at 4:00 so you have plenty of time for a smooth drive and dinner.
On your way out, Mrs. Spite down the hall says, "Where are you going?" You pause to tell her about the show and your friend.
"Well, go have a good time while the rest of us stay here and work. Maybe I should teach sixth grade next year," she says with that tone. What did I ever do to her? You wonder. It's clear she doesn't want me to have a good time. Is she questioning my commitment to my students? Is she suggesting that my job is less challenging because I am leaving school after my contracted day?
Now imagine you are six and you are in one of the safest places in the world: school. Mrs. Spite has just settled down to read you a story; it's Junie B. Jones, your favorite.
"Digging for gold?" she asks you in front of the class as you realize you've been picking your nose. The other kids laugh. At recess, Samuel starts calling you a booger leprechaun. The nickname sticks.
Technically, sarcasm is defined in the American Heritage Dictionary as "a cutting, often ironic remark intended to wound" and "a form of wit that is marked by the use of sarcastic language and is intended to make its victim the butt of contempt or ridicule." From its Latin and Greek roots it means "to bite the lips in rage." These words: wound, victim and rage suggest that the speaker has poor intentions. On the contrary, I don't believe any teacher gets up in the morning and says, "I'm going to go be a negative influence in the lives of children today." Not at all. So why do teachers use sarcasm with kids? In our conversations here is what they tell me:
"I grew up with it. I don't even really notice it."
"The kids hear it on the sitcoms and they use it with each other. They get it."
"The kids think it's funny."
In general my first two years as an instructional coach, I was surprised at the pervasive use of sarcasm in the elementary classroom, but in particular I noticed a high correlation between sarcastic teachers and their classroom management difficulties. The consequences for using sarcasm with students are many. First of all, some students process information so literally that they don't understand it. In Allen's* K-1 multiage class, there were a few kids that got his "humor," but many, including new language learners, did not.
T- Please line up. Students get up, a chair gets knocked over, and three students argue for the line leader position.
T- Sit back down. Well that was a wonderful example of model behavior.
T- Yes, Maria?
S- What was wonderful? Student appears confused.
In addition, sarcasm is typically not funny to anyone else but the speaker. Comedian Lucas Molandes in his show "Live at Gotham" poses this question to the audience, "Do you remember in your relationship when sarcasm was funny? And then at one point it turns into mean, insightful commentary on the other person's failures as a human being." Truly, when we use sarcasm as a veil for venting and namecalling, we communicate our negative observations without risk because we can always follow up with, "It was just a joke."
Sarcasm is a virus. It starts with the teacher and quickly spreads student-to-student. Bernice*, a veteran teacher, told me her classroom culture was poisonous; the kids were cruel to her and each other. Sure enough within five minutes of being in her room transcribing on my lap top, a kid leaned back in his chair and said to me, "This class totally sucks." Bernice was right on about the toxicity; however, she didn't see her role with its development.
T- Take out your pencils and your journals.
S- I can't find my journal.
T- What a surprise, because you are always such a neatnik. Do you think people are going to follow you around cleaning up after you for the rest of your life?
Other students at group laugh and look at the overflowing desk, one repeats "neatnik".
Bernice's classroom rules state, "We do not use put-downs in this classroom" but her behavior was a contradiction. The student was obviously not neat so the teacher was saying "You are a slob" under the guise of sarcasm. I wonder if sarcasm has become the surrogate for underlying less acceptable emotions like frustration, anger, disappointment or confusion. From the look on the student's face, my interpretation was he heard it as a put-down and proceeded to disrupt the journaling lesson by poking his neighbor with a pencil. The same student later laughed inappropriately when a group member shared her personal journal entry out loud.
There are certainly times and places that sarcasm is a part of our social interaction. Comedians make a living off of this type of wit. Writers like David Sedaris raise sarcasm to an art form. We expect it. Sarcasm is passed around our dinner table like bread. I enjoy our banter saying the opposite of what we mean to emphasize our point. "Zucchini for the tenth night in a row-my favorite." Warm sarcasm is easy to receive in the right company.
The other side of sarcasm is, of course, cold sarcasm.
S- Sorry I'm late again.
T- Must be nice to have the universe revolve around you.
Since sarcasm can be unintentionally detrimental to our students and our classroom culture, let's save it for after-hours if we use it at all. While in school, say what you mean to say. Imagine if Mrs. Spite had given a private sign as a reminder about nose picking or if Allen helped students understand explicitly how the line-up behaviors needed to change. If Bernice had simply conversed privately with that student about organizing his desk, she may have changed the outcome of that entire lesson. It's not to say we won't mess up and say something we didn't mean to say-we will, we do, but don't wait or worry about saving face, just apologize and start again. In classrooms, I feel the same way about sarcasm as I do about using my middle finger to point out a location on a map: just don't do it.
*Teacher names and defining characteristics have been respectfully changed
Heather Rader is a writer and teacher who has landed her dream job as an instructional specialist for North Thurston Public Schools (Washington). She's taught all grades K-6 and now enjoys teaching adults and collaborating as an instructional coach. Her motto is "stay curious" for all that life has to offer.
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Jennifer Allen
