The problem with comics in the classroom

[swl13]

As a teacher I love the use of graphic lit in my classroom. The problem is that while I don't always get to pick what selections we use, those decisions are often being left up to publishers and school board members, or department of education officials. The result of which, means that the selections are usually poor and to be honest painfully boring for the students. It is not interesting just because it is a comic. Crap is still crap, and great works are still great works regardless of the format.

[Danielle]

So true! When I was younger (about 8 or 9), my mom owned some old versions of Classics Illustrated comics. I just devoured them. By the age of 10, I had read Oliver Twist, The Count of Monte Cristo, David Copperfield, Macbeth, and others. The illustrations helped me understand the plots, which were rather more advanced than what I was used to reading.

I think there should be more graphic versions of great works available, and those should definitely be used in the classroom. The selectors of said works really need to be educated about what is available, as well as what would be suitable and (key word) interesting to the students.

[Amanda]

I was working in a school library last year when it received a shipment of a bunch of graphic lit titles for various Shakespeare works that had the language written in plain English (well, plainer English, I suppose)...

Personally, I thought they were pretty cool (and I'm, sure the teachers thought the same, or else they wouldn't have asked the librarian to order them), but I'm wondering what the response of the students was. If they're not being used by students, then what was the point in ordering?

[Charlene]

I taught a group of students who jumped at the chance to read Shakespeare in graphic lit format. I was teaching Romeo and Juliet at the time and one of the students showed up with a copy of the graphic novel. A bunch of other students went out and bought their own copies that very afternoon and I've got to say, they were far more keen on learning the play after that.

However, despite my insistence, the school wouldn't even consider bringing such graphic novels into the library. Sadly, most were stuck in the "images = noneducational" mentality and refused to accept the educational value in such things.

[Amanda]

What school were you teaching at?

That sucks, though... I mean, if junior high/high school students are HAPPY to be reading Shakespeare, you'd think the school would bend over backwards to accommodate it, since it features so prominently in the curriculum across all the upper grades.

[swl13]

Nice to see my post generated some discussion. Last year while teaching in a High School our Resource Center brought in a number of graphic adaptations of Shakespeare's work. As an experiment we brought them into the class to see if it would enable a deeper understanding of the original text. To my surprise some students did not respond well to them at all and in fact found them confusing. Of course, other students not only enjoyed them, but thought they helped to better understand the plays. The difference between the two groups became apparent during exit interviews when it was discovered that those who did not enjoy the graphic version had no previous exposure to comics as children and in fact found them hard to follow. So while I've long understood that the reading of comics is a skill, like that of any active consumption of media, has anyone else noticed the relationship between a lack of exposure to the format as a child and a difficulty or dislike with the format as a adult.

[Charlene]

Amanda: I'll tell you the school's name next time we're talking. Once you hear it, you'll understand immediately.

swl13: It makes sense that some kids would react that way. I often forget that reading such things requires a certain acquired skill. Having been raised with comic books, I sometimes neglect to consider that there are others who've never been exposed to the format before. I didn't experience that reaction whilst teaching, but I have met quite a few adults who insist they don't "get" comics or graphic novels. At first I thought they meant they simply didn't get the appeal, but I soon discovered that they found it difficult to follow the structure. All of them grew up without exposure to comic books. It only further proves the argument that comic books and graphic novels are not some literary medium that can be easily shrugged off. There's a skill involved and I think that fact is overlooked far too often.