Blog 3: Does the use of comics and graphic novels within the primary literacy curriculum undermined the values of the classroom or do they offer opportunities for learning?

The issue of whether to include comics and graphic novels within classrooms has been widely discussed. Whitehead (1977) viewed the genre of comics and graphic novels as ‘deplorable’ and argues that teachers should do their best to counteract their influence within the classroom. This is supported by Marsh and Millard (2001) who state that ‘those who choose to read books in graphic forms are seen as denying themselves encounters with more ‘nourishing’ material’. However, theorists such as Stafford (2009) and Dean (2010) believe that children should be exposed to these reading materials as they can gain many skills from studying the genre of comics and graphic novels.

Lewis (1996) has acknowledged that comics are created from an ‘interaction of image and text’ but recognises that it is their drawings which ‘predominate and define the genre’, and it is this essential component which has caused such debate over their use within classrooms. As Marsh and Millard (2001) note, teachers have long been educated to view the transition from reading picture books to more text heavy books as a matter of ‘intellectual progression’ and children have also been brought up to view that their reading ability relies upon ‘the density of print and length of the texts’ that they read, suggesting that introducing comics and graphic novels would have a detrimental effect. 

Stafford (2009), however, argues that the use of comics and graphic novels within classrooms can give children the opportunity to be creative, for example by sequencing the events in the text or by reading images as a source of information. It has also been found that the study of comics and graphic novels can allow children to ‘lend themselves to rich word level’ by exploring the use of puns, alliteration, assonance and onomatopoeia (Marsh and Millard, 2001) and gives children the opportunity to study layout, emotion, characters and how different use of language can affect an audience (Bowkett and Hitchman, 2012).

It is imperative that schools provide a range of reading materials to ensure that ‘the interests of all children are reflected’ in schools (Marsh and Millard, 2001) and that ‘comic readership should be seen as contributing to the development of young readers’ due to the range of literacy skills required to read and understand such texts (Marsh and Millard, 2001). Therefore, the use of comics and graphic novels support the values of the curriculum by producing confident readers of a wide range of texts ‘drawn from a variety of cultures’ (National Curriculum, DfEE, 1999).

Bowkett, S & Hitchman, T. (2012) Using Comic Art to improve Speaking, Reading and Writing Abingdon: David Fulton

Dean, G. ‘Rethinking Literacy’ in Bazalgette, C. (ed.) (2010) Teaching Media in Primary Classrooms London: Sage

DfEE/QCA (1999), The National Curriculum Handbook for primary Teachers in England and Wales, London: DFEE/OCA

Lewis, D. (1996) pop-ups and fingle-fangles: the history of the picture book, in Millard, E. and Marsh, J. (2001) ‘Sending Minnie the Minx Home: comics and reading choices’ Combridge Journal of Education 31 (1) pp25-38

Millard, E. and Marsh, J. (2001) ‘Sending Minnie the Minx Home: comics and reading choices’ Combridge Journal of Education 31 (1) pp25-38

Stafford, T. (2009) ‘Teaching Comics’ in Duncan, D. (2009) Teaching Children’s Literature: Making stories work in the classroom Abingdon: Routledge

Whitehead, F., Capey, A., Maddren, W. And Wellings, A. (1977) Children and their books. The final report of the schools council project on children’s reading habits 10 -16, in Millard, E. and Marsh, J. (2001) ‘Sending Minnie the Minx Home: comics and reading choices’ Combridge Journal of Education 31 (1) pp25-38