Debbie Iancu-Haddad. Preliminary findings of my doctoral thesis. The purpose of this study was to discover if principals used humor as part of their daily interactions with their staff, what form these uses took, how it influenced the principal and teachers and what benefits or harm came from using humor. Qualitative analysis was used to draw themes from the interviews. Findings show that principals who use humor report positive results such as improving school atmosphere, better relations with their staff, diffusing conflict situations and the release of personal tenssion. principal's use of humor is influenced by their career stage, with veteran principals using more humor than novice principals.

1. Humor as a leadership tool for Israeli school principals Debbie Iancu-Haddad Department of education Ben-Gurion University, Israel