To think this is an unusual trait to list in job advert

[Snowandsparkles12]

Under desirable there's a bullet point for sense of humour? The post is based in a secondary school.

Aibu to think this is an odd thing to list and didn't come across as professional?

How on earth do you score most qualities necessary for teaching though? Patience? Tolerance? Empathy? etc. Above all else, teachers need to be able to make a connection with others, persuade children to co-operate and comply before they can actually teach them, remain calm in challenging scenarios, have an air of authority and command respect, be engaging, show sincerity etc. You can have all the qualifications and measurable criteria you like on paper, but it won't necessarily make you a good teacher.

In this setting "sense of humour" means "not getting upset when faced with a situation that would normally lead an employee to sue their employer."

In most workplaces if you got hit, spat at, abused or had your property damaged, you'd take action against the employer for allowing it to happen. In a school these things are par for the course so you need to "have a sense of humour" about them and "laugh them off".

This.

I work in a primary school and can agree that a sense of humour is VERY important. Some of the sentences I've uttered over the years would make your minds boggle. Lots of you have to laugh or you'll cry moments. Solidarity and humour between colleagues so important in keeping you sane. Can only imagine it's 10x harder at secondary!

This
I've worked in education since 2009. Love my job, great team spirt. It's been hard during Covid for both staff and students.
You really need to have to want the best for our young people, even the challenging ones! Cost of living pressure, youth mental health and challenges for their families increasing. It's not an easy gig but worthwhile.

Let's face it, 'Humourless drone with no sense of personal boundaries so will work unpaid overtime without complaint and never take a lunchbreak because we're hugely understaffed' as secretly wished for by the most rapidly ascending member of SLT isn't going to fill the vacancy, is it?

But they do need somebody who can go from dealing with a distraught child that has had a parent admitted to hospital as an emergency to another who starts their explanation with 'Well, Miss, what happened was that - me an' Freya was talking about how Miss had too much to do in Food Tech to clean up after we'd finished, cos some people had messed around a bit in lesson. So we went back during Break and loaded up the dishwasher, then went to Maths. We couldn't find any dishwasher tablets, but there was washing up liquid...

This is correct. You can’t advertise for something that can’t be measured and is subjective. You have to include things like qualifications and experience only, as these can be verified.

When I interview, it’s easy to make a judgement about someone’s personality during the process, even if that can’t officially be used as a recruitment point.

Oh the the ability to swear and drink copious amounts of gin at weekends should probably be listed as well

YABVU. Any employer asking for a sense of humour in someone, would have me rushing to apply. (If I was looking for a job!) I love the idea of working somewhere that wants someone who likes a laugh. What on earth is wrong with it @Snowandsparkles12 ?

I do wish people would recognise that different people have different senses of humour, so asking for a sense of humour in a job advert or dating profile is asking for trouble. Practical jokers have a "sense of humour" but they should be the least employable people in the world because they would spend all their time annoying their colleagues.

Exactly this!
I have a friend who got a job in a ( Good reputation) Care home, and she says she spends much of the working day laughing- either with the residents or other staff.
She loves it.

It surprised her how much she enjoys it because of the people.

A pastoral school role will definitely need a person able to cope with all sorts of things- I can see why they asked for this.

It's utterly meaningless and I'm yet to meet someone that would self describe as humourless.
It's code for difficult and challenging, and in my experience you'll be getting minimal support from management to deal with it.

I mean it might be pointles to state as presumaly everyone thinks they have a good sense of humour. I imagine in reality it's trying to convey that they want someone who doesn't take themselves too seriously and isn't too formal.

If you're working in a school you'll definitely need a sense of humour come pay day.

Exactly this.
There was a hostel for vulnerable young people that had some staff that were so rigid, and it didn’t go well.
The staff that were flexible ( but still very boundaried) did much better.

Ours always says sense of humour - nhs acute hospital. You need it to survive!

Code for expect to put up with loads of crap and/or bullying colleagues.

All, "Come on, it was just a joke..." when they take your lunch out from the fridge and put it in the bin.

Completely agree the need to be wary.

any parent knows that dealing with children requires a sense of humour so working in a school in a pastoral role definitely would

But those things ARE measurable because you can give objective examples. A sense of humour is way more wishy washy as a criteria

I think that might be code that the role is extremely challenging.

As an retired Head of Maths I can assure you that a GSOH is essential, I have never forgotten teaching Pythagoras' Theorem and the word hypotenuse morphed into Harry Potter's Pubes by one boy and unfortunately every subsequent year I couldn't get it out of my head.

🤣

I say this as an ex teacher and with the best of intentions, if you’re forensically picking apart what a sense of humour is defined as, maybe working in a school is not for you.

Teens are strange, wonderful, frustrating & brilliant creatures. If you can do the job without being offended at the things they’ll throw at you, and in good humour, that’s a brilliant thing.

If your mouth forms into a cat’s arse at the smallest slight, in a school, you’re fucked.

Good humour isn’t gag telling, it could be being able to defuse a situation without escalating a conflict & making the situation a million times worse. Not taking what they say personally. And crucially, like with bears or lions, never show fear 😂

And a good sense of humour is most definitely not about excusing bullying behaviour with a, “But it was just a joke!”. Making a colleague (or teen) the butt of a joke isn’t humour, it’s being a bully.

@Snowandsparkles12 it is more likely to mean they want someone who won’t throw a strop or be moody when things don’t go to plan. Calm head in a crisis, can deal with things and make a joke to lighten the atmosphere when appropriate.

@JudgeJ If it helps them remember that the HP goes diagon alley then you're on to a winner.