Attitude of Higher Secondary School Teachers towards the Use of Magic Tricks in the Classroom

Abstract

Research shows that motivation and engagement are essential for effective learning and it is not an easy task to achieve. The latest technique to attract the students is to integrate humour in classroom teaching. Humour is an often-overlooked skill in teaching as the teachers are not trained in the use of humour and it is not a part of any curriculum and they consider teaching is a serious business and they are not supposed to be entertainers. Magic tricks represent one of the humour items that can be effectively used at all levels of teaching from schools to colleges. Also, it can be used as teaching aid and it can be termed as‘ice-breaker’. The ‘Primacy and recencey effect’ and ‘Zeigarnick effect’ gives a strong theoretical basis for the use of magic as an ‘ice-breaker’ in the class.  Magic tricks have many benefits in teaching such as it can break the monotony of a lecture, captures and retains student attention, make the students more receptive, expands student comprehension, increases opportunity for memory retention, creates nurturing environment for learning, improving communication skills, providing stress relief and creating an environment of trust. Teachers’ attitude towards the use of magic tricks in the class has an effect on their performance. An attitude survey was conducted to see the attitude of higher secondary school teachers towards the use of magic tricks in the classroom by using an attitude scale. The data collection for this study is limited to only 165 teachers who belong to higher secondary school of Wayanad District of Kerala, South India. Subject-wise comparison of the teachers also was done. The study exposes that the teachers’ positive attitude towards the use of humour especially magic tricks in the classroom. Magic tricks and other humour items are not a compulsory skill to be mastered and used on a regular interval by all teachers in the class; instead if it is used appropriately, it will definitely add an additional golden feather in the teacher’s cap.