Abstract
In the concept of contemporary education, pupils are no longer passive recipients of information. In progressive pedagogy, humour is perceived as a natural part of classroom communication.
Humour is considered to have various positive functions influencing educational process - from increasing motivation to provoking divergent thinking (Bell, 2016, Mareš, Křivohlavý, 1995; Šeďová, 2013). According to Peter Woods (1979) laughter in schools can also become a remedy for routine, rigidity and boredom experienced by pupils or teachers in educational institutions.
The aim of the contribution is to present partial results of research project (GA UK), which is focusing on describing humorous situations emerging during lessons of art education (lower secondary education). The qualitative research study is based on school ethnography (Woods, 1979, Kučera, 1992) and ethnographic approaches in previous studies in art education (Brenne, 2004; Uhl Skřivanová, 2011, Brűcknerová, 2011).
Data are collected by direct observation, interviews with teachers and photographic documentation of process and results of observed artistic activities. A qualitative content analysis by P.
Mayring (2000) is used to make research findings. In accordance to the theme of this conference, the presentation of research findings will be concentrated on some humorous elements of pupils' artworks, which are related to digital technologies.
Teachers in contemporary schools often agree that new technologies influence lives of children and adolescents. The ongoing field research has revealed a number of pupils' artworks with motifs from the virtual world.
For example, some adolescents' artworks include elements of graphic design of social network websites or various emojis. The goal of pupils inserting these elements into an school artwork is often to amuse their classmates.
Humorous incongruence is often caused by using traditional media (crayons, pen, collage) to depict objects known only from the digital environment. The contribution is devoted to the pedagogical reflection of these new visual signs in teenage artistic expression.