Using Comics for Norm-critical Discussion in Secondary School

Abstract

Session: Normkritik och relationer i skola och fritidshem

Research on comics has leaped tall buildings and run faster than a speeding train in the past decade (Aman & Wallner, 2022), but there is still a lack of research focusing on teaching with comics (see, e.g., Tilley & Weiner, 2017; Wallner & Eriksson Barajas, 2020). Furthermore, research on norm-critical pedagogy with comics is also something that has been lacking attention. With comics being a popular graphic and textual literary media among children and youth, they are a valid source for learning about and discussing norms in educational practice (Wallner, 2017).

This presentation details an ongoing project where we explore classroom talk on comics and graphic novels in secondary school – primarily focusing on aspects of norms, i.e., class, gender, and ethnicity, asking how students construct norms when using comics as a literary medium. Methodologically, we utilize conversation-analytical methods with video observations (Mondada, 2001, 2006) to capture close-knit situated interaction. Data has been collected in collaboration with three different schools, with students aged 14-19, working primarily with Swedish language and literature courses, or the social sciences. Students work in dyads, groups and whole class, and lessons of 30-90 minutes have been recorded.

Using gender as an example, results so far indicate that students working with Disney comics and superhero comics deconstruct and criticize gender binaries from comics’ imagery. However, this critique remains superficial, revolving around the hypersexualized body imagery of the muscular superhero or outdated cartoon femininity (Wallner & Aman, (in press)). Although comics provide opportunity for discussions of norm critique, we suggest that more social-realistic comics, containing critical views on norms, be used for furthering the research on this topic and allowing student discussions more width. As analysis turns to work on more social-realistic comics, we are intrigued to see what students can make of these when it comes to social norms.

References

Aman, R., & Wallner, L. (Eds.). (2022). Teaching with Comics: Empirical, Analytical, and Professional Experiences. Palgrave Macmillan.

Mondada, L. (2001). Conventions for multimodal transcription. Retrieved 13 dec 2018 from https://franzoesistik.philhist.unibas.ch/fileadmin/user_upload/franzoesistik/mondada_multimodal_conventions.pdf

Mondada, L. (2006). Video recording as the reflexive preservation-configuration of phenomenal features for analysis. In H. Knoblauch, J. Raab, H.-G. Soeffner, & B. Schnettler (Eds.), Video analysis (pp. 51-67). Lang.

Tilley, C. L., & Weiner, R. G. (2017). Teaching and Learning with Comics. In F. Bramlett, R. T. Cook, & A. Meskin (Eds.), The Routledge Companion to Comics (pp. 358-366). Routledge.

Wallner, L. (2017). Framing Education: Doing Comics Literacy in the Classroom [Doctoral Dissertation, Linköping University]. Linköping.

Wallner, L., & Aman, R. ((in press)). Muscular superheroes and girly ducks: Gender talk using comics in the classroom. British Educational Research Journal. https://doi.org/10.1002/berj.3866

Wallner, L., & Eriksson Barajas, K. (2020). Using Comics and Graphic Novels in K-9 Education: An Integrative Literature Review. Studies in Comics, 11(1), 37-54. https://doi.org/10.1386/stic_00014_1