本人將在此論文報告中說明，戲劇教室裡的「笑聲」可以是有益的，具有教育功效。當然，「笑聲」也可能無益於教學、無情、也讓老師頭大。我的意思是，當「笑聲」有助於教學的時候，笑與美兩者的優點，彼此間有強大的潛在關聯性。或是說，笑最起碼與美的某個特別的面向，像是「魅力」或「迷人」有關。畢竟，有誰會不高興被稱為是有魅力的老師呢？本人將簡述哲學家Kant對「優美」與「壯美」的理論分析，以國中、小戲劇教學課程案例，及時下流行戲劇為例，探究前述命題，並以Alan Bennett 的精彩舞台劇《不羈吧！男孩》（The History Boys）作為結論。該劇現已改編成電影並有DVD 上市。

In this paper I will make a claim that laughter in the drama classroom can be healthy, an educational virtue. But it can, of course, also be unhelpful, callous and make life very difficult for teachers. When it works educationally, I am suggesting that there is a strong potential link between the virtues of laughter and the virtues of beauty – or at least a particular aspect of beauty, the virtues we associate with charm being charming. Which of us would not, after all, delight in being called a charming teacher? I will explore these issues by referring briefly to the philosophy of Kant and in particular his theorising of the beautiful and the sublime; to examples of drama teaching drawn from both primary and secondary classrooms; and to examples of popular drama, concluding with Alan Bennett’s The History Boys, a wonderful play, now a film and available on DVD.