Chapter 4: Graphic Novels: New Sites of Possibility in the Secondary Curriculum

The world changes—that seems obvious. Students do research and socialize online. Many no longer wear watches; their cell phones tell the time. People seldom go to stores to buy the latest hit music, and many young people depend on the Comedy Channel for their knowledge of current events. However, the response of the schools to the new mediated age has been slow. Many would argue that the response has been entirely inadequate. Much new technology has entered the schools, from computers to smart boards, but today’s curriculum, especially at the secondary level, remains much the same. Students in English classes still read the same “classics” and write traditional research papers. Social studies courses still depend on recall demonstrated on multiple choice tests, and math and science may seem as irrelevant as ever to many students. At the same time, adolescents outside of school are creating videos and putting them on You-Tube, writing and editing fan fiction online, and playing complex video games with other players around the world. New media require not only new teaching technologies but new curriculum—new and multiple literacies and ways of teaching across disciplines. In short, the Digital Age requires a different kind of classroom. While the traditional focus on print texts remains significant, worthy traditional goals need to be coupled with new aims to direct the curriculum. The graphic novel offers new ways to achieve traditional goals and serve as new sites of possibility across the curriculum for educators willing to learn along with their students.