Costumed Heroes in the Classroom - Using Comics for Engaging in Norm-critical Discussions in School

This project aims to increase knowledge on how comics can be used in secondary and upper secondary school to engage students in norm-critical discussions.

The study seeks to answer the following: 1) In what ways can students and teachers utilize the visual and linguistic content of the comics medium for norm-critical discussions? 2) In what ways do students challenge vis-á-vis reinforce social norms in interactions with teachers and peersaround comics? 3) What pedagogical implications can be identified in comics as a vehicle to teach norm-criticalperspectives?

Comics have long provoked discussion about racial inequality, gender issues, social class, sexuality and ability. For many students, comics are an accessible and reader-friendly format for storytelling on social issues.

Thisstudy explores how classroom participants utilize comics to construct ideas around a broad intersectionalperspective including class, ethnicity, sexuality and ability.

Recently, some examples of lesson plans with comics have become available from Skolverket, and within academia, publishing, and the public eye, interest in comicshas also increased.

Through video observation, classroom interaction can be studied in detail, focusing on howparticipants socially construct ideas of ethnicity, gender, sexuality, class, and ability in their reception of comics.