Graphic Novels as a Teaching Tool

This semester the Saint Michael's College Education Department chose the graphic novel El Deafo by CeCe Bell as our department common read. El Deafo is about a young girl who becomes deaf at a four years old. The story follows her through her adolescent years which include complicated friendships, learning difficulties due to her hearing impairment, and eventually interest in boys. Keeping with Saint Michael's College tradition, the department hosted four separate events that were centered around the book. The event I attended was on October 24th and was a panel titled "Let's Get Graphic: An Introduction to Cartooning & Graphic Novels."

The panel included three cartoonists from the Center for Cartoon Studies and a teacher from Hunt Middle School. The panel spent a large portion of time discussing comic creation. They discussed that cartoonists rely on bravery to create and publish their comics, which is a quality we desire our students to develop. Another important aspect is that there is an entire comic reading community on the internet that essentially only cartoonist's and comic enthusiasts know about. Although students should never be encouraged to talk to strangers, students are able to see that they are not "different" for liking comics - in fact there is a whole comic loving world out there that they don't know about! Lastly, diversity is the key to comics. However, with diversity comes the responsibility of ensuring that the story is correct. This could mean collaborating with somebody more knowledgeable than the cartoonist to create an accurate storyline.

The performance criterion that this aligns most closely with is Performance Criterion 8.1: Candidates use a variety of instructional strategies to make the discipline accessible for diverse learners. This shows through the ways in which graphic novels can be incorporated in the classroom which I will discuss below. It also aligns with Performance Criterion 10.1: Candidates are prepared to collaborate with learners, families, colleagues, other school professionals, and community members to ensure student learning because some students may need to read graphic novels as a way of accommodating for a learning disability. 

The biggest takeaway I have from the event is that graphic novels are not cheating. Being raised in a generation where graphic novels were looked down upon by teachers and students were encouraged to read something with less pictures, I have most definitely conformed to the stigma that comic books are bad. However, that is clearly not the case and through reading El Deafo and attending the panel I have begun to see that.

First and foremost, graphic novels actually can be extremely difficult to read. They require reading in the gutter, or reading between the panels. Just as in a traditional text, authors cannot incorporate every individual detail or you would be reading the book forever. Graphic novels can, arguably, be more difficult to read between the lines, specifically if you are not a visual person. However, graphic novels, due to their illustrations are typically phenomenal options for English Language Learners, students on individual plains, and/or reluctant readers. English Language Learners often learn best through pictures, therefore, a book comprised primarily of illustrations with less wording is a great opportunity for students to learn about storylines and identifying language with pictures, but in a much different way than traditional flashcards. 

Lastly, many graphic novels include overarching lessons within them. For example, El Deafo was a true story that teaches students about empathy. The novel also teaches students that not everybody is the same and that is okay. Differences are not bad, they are something that should be embraced by all. Both students and teachers have a lot to gain from using graphic novels within the classroom; therefore, it is important that educators begin opening their minds, and their doors, to the option of teaching with graphic novels to enhance understanding within their content area.