Exploring the pedagogical potential of graphic novels in developing Grade 7 students’ multiliteracy skills in St. Vincent and the Grenadines

Abstract

This thesis explored the pedagogical potential of graphic novel texts through a case study of their use to develop 98 Grade 7 students’ multiliteracy skills in three classrooms in one school in St. Vincent and the Grenadines. Pedagogical practices in these classrooms had not previously included multimodal texts like graphic novels. Therefore, I held a professional learning workshop with three teachers to develop strategies for the inclusion of graphic novels in the English language curriculum. Then, teachers used my pre-designed Teaching Unit plan to formulate lessons for instruction on graphic narrative storytelling over a school term. These involved the study of one graphic novel text followed by the construction of conventional narratives, storytelling via words only, which were then adapted into graphic narratives, storytelling via words and images, like that of a comic. Students’ and teachers’ experiences, and students’ mono- and multimodal text productions were captured through a mixed methods approach to case study research design. A framework comprising a multiliteracies approach to pedagogy and professional learning communities inform the results. One significant finding suggests that teachers actively sought ways of overcoming the dissonance created while integrating graphic novel texts into their current practice. Consequently, those teachers were mostly able to overcome the dissonance through collaborative interactions within a professional community. The findings also suggest that students actively negotiated the diverse demands of transferring their conventional narratives into graphic narratives by drawing on a number of multimodal resources for making meaning. Moreover, the process of graphic narrative text production validated the talents and abilities of some students whose ‘voices’ were previously silenced by conventional forms of storytelling practices in their classrooms. These findings will contribute to the wider debate on the ways in which the integration of graphic novels into classroom curriculum can problematise or enhance existing pedagogies and ways of learning.