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Vocational training programmes in higher education encompass, as learning objectives, the development of relational skills and professional judgement, especially in welfare professions such as policing, teaching and healthcare, where know-how about managing close contact with people is a prerequisite. Based on a cross-professional analysis, the current article explores how students from three different professional education programmes – teacher education, police training and medical education – construct professional judgement in group discussions and interviews. The results show that participants construct professional judgement as relationships between three different dimensions: personal ethics, educational standards, and professional practice. When discussing professional dilemmas, students utilise these three different dimensions to argue for the moral or ethical soundness of their choices. The results of the study shed light on the importance of providing students with opportunities to reflect openly on professional judgement in different ways, even though such reflections may not always be formally assessed. Furthermore, the analysis demonstrates similarities between the three programmes that we analysed, as well as similarities in students’ reflections regarding essential aspects of the professions.

Empathy is generally fostered within education, through a variety of materials. Here, we explore how students can use a comic text in upper secondary school to construct empathy towards ‘the other’. The study builds on observations of 91 Swedish students discussing the comic story “Report from Ukraine”. Results show that students construct empathy through ‘otherness’ as being both similar and different to themselves, and how imagery is used to construct this, related to students’ previous knowledge. This is indicative of how comics can engage students in discussions on empathy, relating current global events and issues of ethnicity and otherness., Trikåklädda hjältar i klassrummet - Att använda serietidningar för normkritiska diskussioner i klassrummet

Research topic/aim Ambitions to promote empathy has been discussed from different angles and contexts, and empathy is generally seen to be fostered within the realm of education, achieved through a variety of materials. Researchers have analyzed the ways in which empathy can be enhanced through art (Phillips, 2003), literature (Rydén Gramner, 2022), and photography (Lorenz, 2011). This article sets to contribute to this research by including comics; a medium that has been granted sparse academic attention in education (see Wallner & Eriksson Barajas, 2020). Theoretical framework Identity construction can be seen as establishing a border between the self and the other by articulating who we are not; while fiction enables us to see ourselves through others (Felski, 2008). Therefore, the purpose of this article is to explore how students can use a comic text in upper secondary school to construct empathy towards ‘the other’. Methodological design This article builds on data from five Swedish upper secondary classes in Year 10 (16 years old), with 91 students and 4 teachers. The students read a comic story in Swedish called “Report from Ukraine”, a freely accessible online comic from Swedish publisher Galago. Students read the comic and discussed it in small groups during a one-hour lesson. Some group discussions lasted only about 15 minutes, while others talked for almost the whole hour. Video and audio were recorded, resulting in a total of 13 hours and 18 minutes of data. This was then analyzed using thematic analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2006), focusing on students’ verbal and non-verbal actions, in order to explore how students construct empathy. The category of ‘them and us’ turned out to be the most common (n=38 out of 218), wherein students compared, e.g., Swedes and Ukrainians. Expected conclusions/findings The results can be summarized through three themes: 1) Portrayal of the other, wherein students construct otherness as being both similar and different

Research topic/aim Popular culture (henceforth: pop culture) is part of children's everyday expressions in creating social relationships. This study focuses on children's interests and needs as the central starting points of school-age educare (SAEC) centres (Skolverket, 2022), allowing the child to share their interests. This article explores children’s use of play activities as boundary objects, and the transmedial boundary work done in Swedish SAEC centres as children bring their experiences of digital media into SAEC. Theoretical framework Previous research indicates the problematic relationship between children’s free time interests and the pedagogical and social mission of the SAEC (see, e.g., Fast, 2007; Sparrman, 2002). Star and Griesemer’s (1989) boundary object concept is utilized here to analyse children’s free time activities as objects that they ‘carry’ from home, and how these objects are negotiated and constructed at the SAEC. Methodological design Through field observations in an SAEC centre in southern Sweden, we collected ethnographic field data, together with two groups of children in Years 2-3, aged 8-9, and their teachers and other personnel. In total, 47 children and 7 staff took part in the study. This case study is ethnographically inspired, and fieldnotes have been used for the collection of data, focusing on interaction between children and staff. Based on a thematic analysis, data has been coded, labeled, categorized and thematized (Braun & Clarke, 2006). Expected conclusions/findings The results demonstrate that children’s digital free-time activities are either ignored, banned, or reconstructed in the SAEC centre as analogue activities, including drawing, dancing, and more. Furthermore, digital activities considered inappropriate due to, e.g., violence or sexual content are ‘cleaned up’ in this process. These results indicate that children’s activities are objects that change to fit within the institutional limitations. Teachers of S

Att som barn gå på fritidshem innebär att möta många andra barn med olika intressen. Pedagoger i fritidshem behöver möta olika behov, intressen och erfarenheter, men även utmana barn att utvecklas i sina intressen. Populärkulturen erbjuder barn möjlighet att dela erfarenheter och kunskap. I denna artikel undersöker vi populärkulturens funktion i barns sociala möten på fritidshemmet. Studien bygger på fältobservationer med fritidshemspersonal (n = 7) och barn (n = 47), i åldrarna 8–9 år. Resultatet visar hur barn genom populärkultur kan ”skapa” sig själva och andra i aspekter som exempelvis genus, ålder, individualitet, grupptillhörighet, värderingar och status. Detta kan ses som problematiskt, då barn inte alltid själva väljer vilka attribut som skapas utifrån den populärkultur de förknippas med. Viss populärkultur kan även strida mot fritidshemmets sociala och pedagogiska uppdrag. Det är därför viktigt att inte oreflekterat begränsa populärkulturen, utan skapa samtal kring detta för att medvetandegöra både barn och vuxna om populärkulturens betydelse i barns liv., Attending school-age educare for a child means meeting many other children with varying interests. Teachers, therefore, need to respond to children’s different needs, interests, and experiences, but also challenge them in developing these interests. In this article, we explore how popular culture expressions are constructed in school-age educare. The study was done through field observations with staff (n = 7) and children (n = 47), aged 8–9 years. Results show that children use popular culture to “create” themselves and others by displaying, e.g. gender, age, individuality, group affiliation, values, and status. This could be potentially problematic as children do not always choose what attributes are constructed from the popular culture they are associated with. Furthermore, certain popular culture conflict with the social and pedagogical mission of school-age educare. Thus, it is important to not unreflectively limit popular culture, but rather create discussions and awareness, in both children and adults, of the importance of popular culture in children’s lives.

Populärkultur som film, musik, tv, m.m. är en del av barns vardagskultur. Då fritidshemmet har barns intressen som central utgångspunkt undersöks i denna studie hur verksamheten kan främja meningsskapande kring barns populärkulturella intressen. Vilken populärkultur förekommer i fritidshem och vad uppstår i mötet mellan barn, vuxna och populärkultur? Fältobservationer har utförts under sex veckor, där barns och fritidshemspersonals aktivitet var i fokus och data har kodats tematiskt. Studiens resultat visar att populärkulturella aktiviteter, som t.ex. datorspel, inte behöver vara traditionellt könskodade, även om en del populärkultur är det i högsta grad. Dessutom visar resultaten att barn möter andra genom kulturen och de aktiviteter som den erbjuder, samt skapar egna aktiviteter utifrån etablerad populärkultur. Det finns dock en risk att vuxna inte bemöter elevers olika intressen och populärkulturella uttryck, p.g.a. t.ex. institutionella regler där exempelvis vissa spel, teknik eller liknande, inte är önskvärda i fritidshemmet – här är t.ex. förbudet mot mobiltelefoner och restriktioner av sociala media en faktor. En slutsats i studien blir därför att barnens intressen och populärkulturella uttryck i fritidshem i högre grad bör diskuteras, och att delandet av populärkultur som symbolbärande utgångspunkt kan ha som syfte att skapa dialog i mötet mellan barn och vuxna på fritidshem.

Sedan 2022 ingår evolutionsundervisning och undervisning om biologisk mångfald i naturvetenskapsundervisningen för åk 4–6 (LGR22). Eftersom det är ett nytt innehåll för många lärare finns ett behov av nya undervisningsverktyg. Vi har, tillsammans med en professionell illustratör, tagit fram en serietidning som illustrerar evolutionära mönster och tre nyckelkomponenter för evolutionära processer: variation, ärftlighet och naturligt urval. Tidningen bygger på naturvetenskaplig ämnesdidaktisk forskning (Frejd, 2019), forskning om serier i undervisning (Wallner, 2017) och ämnesforskning om evolution (t.ex. Werdelin et al., 2010). Evolution är ett resultat av enkla men samtidigt komplexa processer som är svåra att förstå för både elever (Legare et al., 2013), universitetsstudenter (se, t.ex., Fiedler et al., 2017; Meir et al., 2007) och vuxna (se, t.ex. Spiegel et al., 2006). Samtidigt visar flera studier (t.ex. Emmons et. al, 2017; Frejd et. al, 2020; Jégou et al., 2022) att det finns goda förutsättningar för att barn ska förstå grunder i evolutionära processer om de får möta ämnet i ålderanpassade aktiviteter. Något som visat sig viktigt är att barn i undervisning får tillgång till material, som till exempel bilder, som de kan använda som multimodala resurser i meningsskapandet och i samtal med varandra och med lärare (Frejd, 2018; 2019; se också Jégou et al., 2022). Serier är ett multimodalt medium som kombinerar flera uttrycksformer (t.ex. text och bild. se, t.ex., Magnusson, 2005; Strömberg, 2003). Forskningsprojektets syfte är att undersöka elevers och lärares interaktion med seriematerialet, vilka evolutionära processer som kommer till uttryck och vilka aspekter av innehållet i serien som verkar främja meningsskapande om evolution, samt lärares och elevers upplevelser av att använda seriematerialet. Vid konferensen kommer vi att presentera forskningsprojektet och preliminära resultat från en innehållsanalys (David & Sutton, 2016) av ca 150 mellanstadieelevers

Research on comics has leaped tall buildings and run faster than a speeding train in the past decade (Aman & Wallner, 2022), but there is still a lack of research focusing on teaching with comics (see, e.g., Tilley & Weiner, 2017; Wallner & Eriksson Barajas, 2020). Furthermore, research on norm-critical pedagogy with comics is also something that has been lacking attention. With comics being a popular graphic and textual literary media among children and youth, they are a valid source for learning about and discussing norms in educational practice (Wallner, 2017). This presentation details an ongoing project where we explore classroom talk on comics and graphic novels in secondary school – primarily focusing on aspects of norms, i.e., class, gender, and ethnicity, asking how students construct norms when using comics as a literary medium. Methodologically, we utilize conversation-analytical methods with video observations (Mondada, 2001, 2006) to capture close-knit situated interaction. Data has been collected in collaboration with three different schools, with students aged 14-19, working primarily with Swedish language and literature courses, or the social sciences. Students work in dyads, groups and whole class, and lessons of 30-90 minutes have been recorded. Using gender as an example, results so far indicate that students working with Disney comics and superhero comics deconstruct and criticize gender binaries from comics’ imagery. However, this critique remains superficial, revolving around the hypersexualized body imagery of the muscular superhero or outdated cartoon femininity (Wallner & Aman, (in press)). Although comics provide opportunity for discussions of norm critique, we suggest that more social-realistic comics, containing critical views on norms, be used for furthering the research on this topic and allowing student discussions more width. As analysis turns to work on more social-realistic comics, we are intrigued to see what studen, Trikåklädda hjältar i klassrummet

I detta paper utforskar jag lärarstudenters samtal kring Peter Høegs bok De kanske lämpade (2015, Dan: De måske egende). Forskningen är bristfällig kring pedagogisk användning av skönlitteratur för undervisning inom allmändidaktik och kurser utanför språkområdet i lärarutbildning. I detta paper används en skönlitterär roman för fokussamtal i en kurs i utvecklingspsykologi och lärteori, relaterat till elever med särskilda behov. Data samlades in med hjälp av videokamera och diktafon, och två grupper á fem studenter deltog i studien. Totalt spelades tre timmar samtal in som en lokal fallstudie, och samtalen analyserades med diskursiv receptionsteori (Eriksson Barajas, 2009, 2016). Resultaten visar att studenterna konstruerar sitt lärande genom vad jag kallar ”moments of insight” (stunder av insikt): sociala handlingar där deltagarna demonstrerar hur läsning av romanen skapar en upplevd kognitiv skiftning. På detta sätt konstruerar studenterna sig som genomgåendes en transformation igenom läserfarenheten, vilket kan göras aktuellt både i rollen som praktiserande lärare och som studenter. De diskuterade passagerna vid dessa ”stunder” är ofta sådana som relaterar till bokens mer övergripande teman som ensamhet, relationer och personlig utveckling – snarare än de mer kursrelevanta aspekterna av psykosocial skolmiljö, elever med särskilt stöd, eller liknande. Detta visar dels hur boksamtal möjliggör för lärarstudenterna att reflektera över sina egna läserfarenheter som något som utvecklar deras lärande, men dels också hur skönlitteraturens pedagogiska möjligheter kan vara svåra att ringa in och styra – om det ens är önskvärt. Dessa resultat demonstrerar vikten av att vara selektiv när det gäller valet av läsmaterial i högskolepedagogisk undervisning, att vara medveten om möjligheterna till diskussion kring olika material, och, som lärarutbildare, att vara öppen för studenters möjligheter att reflektera fritt kring olika typer av berättelser. Om vi som lärarutbildare kan va

This edited collection analyses the use of comics in primary and secondary education. The editors and contributors draw together global research to examine how comics can be used for critical inquiry within schools, and how they can be used within specific disciplines. As comics are beginning to be recognised more widely as an important resource for teaching, with a huge breadth of topics and styles, this interdisciplinary book unites a variety of research to analyse how learning is 'done' with and through comics. The book will be of interest to educational practitioners and school teachers, as well as students and scholars of comic studies, education and social sciences more broadly.

The aim of this article is to increase knowledge on the use of comics as materials in K-9 education (ages 6-15). This is examined through an integrative, systematic literature review of research. Systematic database searches, as well as manual searches of reference lists and websites, were analysed and cross-referenced, to find common areas of research and possible gaps in knowledge. 55 texts (research articles and doctoral theses) were found, with 40 first authors from 14 countries. Results show that most of these studies were done in North America, were so called ‘staged’ studies where the researcher introduces a material and observes the results, and most studies focus on students’ reading preferences comics, rather than, for example, composing comics. Several different gaps in knowledge were found: the main ones being that only three of the texts describe studies that have high ecologically validity; and there seems to be no cross-national study of comics in education, Serier i undervisning

This article explores how teachers and pupils construct and negotiate discourses around comic books as part of interaction in the classroom from a New Literacy Studies perspective. The combination of imagery and text, the essence of comics, makes them relevant tools for exploring how literacy is constructed in social interaction in the classroom. The analysis is based on video material from two different Swedish schools, one class in Grade 3 and one class in Grade 8. Nine interactional sequences were initially found, and these have been analysed using a qualitative discursive psychological approach, investigating how assessments are utilized to perform social actions – how participants use assessments of comics as easy or difficult reading, or assessments of themselves or others as being or not being comic book readers – to make something happen in interaction. The results show that participants utilize discourses of personal, visual and textual literacy to construct a comics literacy in which image and text are both construed as important for, as well as a difficulty in, reading comics. This demonstrates constructions of comics literacy and readership, how personal experiences of reading comics are important and the importance of broadening the view of comics as school literature., Framing Education: Doing Comics Literacy in the Classroom

This paper analyses and discusses ongoing comics literacy events where two 3rd Grade students and their teachers are working with comic books, focusing specifically on visual representations of sound. The purpose of the paper is to explore how these representations, as multimodal aspects of comics literacy, provoke literacy experiences in the classroom. Visual representations of sound come in different shapes and sizes, but are generally written outside of speech bubbles in bold letters. Using discursive psychology –allowing the researcher to view participants’ verbal and embodied actions as performing actions in social and situated contexts– the current paper analyses how pairs of students and teachers co-construct visual aspects in comic books, translating them into verbal sound and embodied action. Results show that embodied motion, sensation, and audible sound are utilized to interactively display comic sound effects to enhance the reader’s experience of the narrative. This is done as co-construction between adult and child through re-enactment of the visuals as real-life sound and action –also connecting this to other visual aspects of adjacent panels in order to make this meaningful. The paper argues that this challenges both teachers’ and students’ perceptions of what literacy can be and how sound effects –through the shape, colour and font of the graphic text– influence and enliven the comic narratives created in the classroom., Este artigo discute e analisa as situações de alfabetização em que dois alunos da terceira série e seus professores trabalham com quadrinhos, concentrando-se especificamente sobre as representações visuais do som. O objetivo deste artigo é explorar como essas representações, tais como aspectos multimodais de quadrinhos de alfabetização, causar experiências que desenvolve alfabetização em sala de aula. representações do som são mostradas por diferentes formas e tamanhos, mas geralmente escrito off bolhas de diálogo com letras em negrito. Usando a psicologia discursiva –e, assim, permitindo que o pesquisador para ver ações e representações de participantes e as medidas tomadas em certos contextos sociais verbais– este artigo analisa a forma como pares de alunos e professores co-construir visuais em quadrinhos, traduzi-las em sons vocais e movimento incorporado. Os resultados mostram que o movimento embutido, sensação e som audível são usados para exibir de forma interativa, quadrinhos, efeitos sonoros para melhorar a experiência narrativa do leitor. Isso é feito como co-construção entre adulto e criança através de recriação de ação visual e sonora e da vida real, também conectar esses outros aspectos visuais de painéis adjacentes de modo que isso é significativo. O artigo argumenta que esta desafia as percepções de professores e alunos sobre o que pode ser a alfabetização e como os efeitos sonoros através da forma, cor e texto gráfico fonte, influência e incentivar narrativas de quadrinhos criado na sala de aula., Este artículo discute y analiza las situaciones de alfabetización en las que dos niños de tercer grado y sus profesores trabajan mediante cómics, centrándose específicamente en las representaciones visuales del sonido. El propósito del artículo es explorar cómo estas representaciones, como aspectos multimodales de la alfabetización con cómics, provocan experiencias en las que la alfabetización se desarrolla en el aula. Las representaciones del sonido vienen mostradas por diferentes formas y tamaños, pero generalmente escritas fuera de las burbujas de diálogo con letras en negrita. Utilizando la psicología discursiva –y permitiendo así al investigador ver las acciones verbales y representaciones de los participantes como acciones que se realizan en determinados contextos sociales– el presente artículo analiza cómo parejas de estudiantes y maestros co-construyen aspectos visuales en los cómics, traduciéndolos en sonidos vocales y movimiento incorporado. Los resultados muestran que el movimiento incorporado, la sensación y el sonido audible se utilizan para mostrar interactivamente, en el cómic, los efectos de sonido para mejorar la experiencia narrativa del lector. Esto se hace como co-construcción entre adulto y niño a través de la recreación de lo visual como sonido y acción de la vida real, también conectando esto con otros aspectos visuales de paneles adyacentes para que esto sea significativo. El artículo sostiene que esto desafía las percepciones de los profesores y de los estudiantes sobre qué puede ser la alfabetización y cómo los efectos de sonido, a través de la forma, el color y la fuente del texto gráfico, influyen y animan las narrativas del cómic creadas en el aula.

Litteraturvetenskap innebär studiet av den diktade, skapade litteraturen - dess tillkomst, historia, utformning och mottagande. Studier av mottagandet, hur litterärt innehåll tas emot och värderas av läsare, kallas receptionsforskning eller läsarresponsforskning. Inom detta fält har dock det bokstavliga mötet mellan bok och läsare nästan inte studerats. När vi tänker på någon som läser tänker vi kanske på en person som tittar i en bok, men innebär sättet som läsaren i boken något särskilt? Det en typ av fråga som studerats i detta kapitel.

Serien är en bred populärkulturell fiktion som de allra flesta kommer i kontakt med och knyter olika upplevelser till. En del kastar sig över Katten Gustaf och Nemi i dagstidningarna, andra är trogna prenumeranter på Kalle Anka eller Fantomen och några samlar de absoluta Batman-favoriterna på bästa plats i bokhyllan. Överallt i samhället möter vi serier – och ändå finner vi dem nästan ingenstans i skolans läroplaner. Att arbeta med serier är en multimodal praktik, en praktik som innefattar flera sinnen, där kombinationen av de olika modaliteterna är avgörande för tolkningen – om det ena förändras eller tas bort så förändras förståelsen av det andra. Som fiktion ligger serien kanske närmast till hands för svenskläraren, men även andra ämnen kan med fördel fångas i rutnätsform. Det kan gälla allt ifrån klimatförändringar och teknikens utveckling till värdegrundsfrågor om makt, genus och utanförskap. Den här boken ger grundläggande kunskap om serier utifrån ett skolperspektiv. Författaren redogör för forskning som gjorts om serier i skolan och beskriver hur lärare kan använda serieläsning i sin undervisning, men också hur de kan låta elever skapa egna serier för att lära och förstå. Boken vänder sig till såväl lärarstuderande som verksamma lärare i grundskolans alla ämnen.

This paper analyses and discusses ongoing comics literacy events where two 3rd Grade students and their teachers are working with comic books, focusing specifically on visual representations of sound. The purpose of the paper is to explore how these representations, as multimodal aspects of comics literacy, provoke literacy experiences in the classroom. Visual representations of sound come in different shapes and sizes, but are generally written outside of speech bubbles in bold letters. Using discursive psychology –allowing the researcher to view participants’ verbal and embodied actions as performing actions in social and situated contexts– the current paper analyses how pairs of students and teachers co-construct visual aspects in comic books, translating them into verbal sound and embodied action. Results show that embodied motion, sensation, and audible sound are utilized to interactively display comic sound effects to enhance the reader’s experience of the narrative. This is done as co-construction between adult and child through re-enactment of the visuals as real-life sound and action –also connecting this to other visual aspects of adjacent panels in order to make this meaningful. The paper argues that this challenges both teachers’ and students’ perceptions of what literacy can be and how sound effects –through the shape, colour and font of the graphic text– influence and enliven the comic narratives created in the classroom., Este artículo discute y analiza las situaciones de alfabetización en las que dos niños de tercer grado y sus profesores trabajan mediante cómics, centrándose específicamente en las representaciones visuales del sonido. El propósito del artículo es explorar cómo estas representaciones, como aspectos multimodales de la alfabetización con cómics, provocan experiencias en las que la alfabetización se desarrolla en el aula. Las representaciones del sonido vienen mostradas por diferentes formas y tamaños, pero generalmente escritas fuera de las burbujas de diálogo con letras en negrita. Utilizando la psicología discursiva –y permitiendo así al investigador ver las acciones verbales y representaciones de los participantes como acciones que se realizan en determinados contextos sociales– el presente artículo analiza cómo parejas de estudiantes y maestros co-construyen aspectos visuales en los cómics, traduciéndolos en sonidos vocales y movimiento incorporado. Los resultados muestran que el movimiento incorporado, la sensación y el sonido audible se utilizan para mostrar interactivamente, en el cómic, los efectos de sonido para mejorar la experiencia narrativa del lector. Esto se hace como co-construcción entre adulto y niño a través de la recreación de lo visual como sonido y acción de la vida real, también conectando esto con otros aspectos visuales de paneles adyacentes para que esto sea significativo. El artículo sostiene que esto desafía las percepciones de los profesores y de los estudiantes sobre qué puede ser la alfabetización y cómo los efectos de sonido, a través de la forma, el color y la fuente del texto gráfico, influyen y animan las narrativas del cómic creadas en el aula., Este artigo discute e analisa as situações de alfabetização em que dois alunos da terceira série e seus professores trabalham com quadrinhos, concentrando-se especificamente sobre as representações visuais do som. O objetivo deste artigo é explorar como essas representações, tais como aspectos multimodais de quadrinhos de alfabetização, causar experiências que desenvolve alfabetização em sala de aula. representações do som são mostradas por diferentes formas e tamanhos, mas geralmente escrito off bolhas de diálogo com letras em negrito. Usando a psicologia discursiva –e, assim, permitindo que o pesquisador para ver ações e representações de participantes e as medidas tomadas em certos contextos sociais verbais– este artigo analisa a forma como pares de alunos e professores co-construir visuais em quadrinhos, traduzi-las em sons vocais e movimento incorporado. Os resultados mostram que o movimento embutido, sensação e som audível são usados para exibir de forma interativa, quadrinhos, efeitos sonoros para melhorar a experiência narrativa do leitor. Isso é feito como co-construção entre adulto e criança através de recriação de ação visual e sonora e da vida real, também conectar esses outros aspectos visuais de painéis adjacentes de modo que isso é significativo. O artigo argumenta que esta desafia as percepções de professores e alunos sobre o que pode ser a alfabetização e como os efeitos sonoros através da forma, cor e texto gráfico fonte, influência e incentivar narrativas de quadrinhos criado na sala de aula.

Serietidningar i skolan gör det möjligt för elever att arbeta med handling och känsla i berättelser och visar hur lärares och elevers personliga erfarenheter med serier bidrar till klassrumsarbetet., Framing Education: Doing Comics Literacy in the Classroom

Interest in comics as Swedish school material has risen in the last few years and the publication of comics for children and adolescents has also increased. Meanwhile, although research around new literacies has taken an interest in combinations of image and text, there is still little research on comics as a literacy material, especially as part of school practices. With comics’ rise in popularity, and their quality as examples of new literacies, this points to the relevance of exploring how meaning making with comics is done in schools. The purpose of this study is to contribute knowledge on how locally situated literacy practices are done, practices in which pupils and teachers make meaning with comics. The study combines literacy, comics and discursive psychology to investigate aspects of literacy not as individual, inner workings, but as part of participants’ social constructions, in line with New Literacy Studies. With this perspective, it is possible to investigate literary concepts such as narrative, and participants’ construction of story elements, through the way in which these aspects are utilized by participants to construct social action – what participants do with their utterances. To study this, video recordings have been made in one primary and one secondary school, in two different Swedish cities. The results of the study show constructions of a comics literacy, where participants engage with both visual and textual aspects of the material and negotiate focalization of narrative perspective and construction of narrative structure as well as narrative devices such as speech and thought bubbles. Furthermore, meaning making of comics literacy also includes the construction of discourses around comics as a specific type of story telling, either for material or literary reasons. The thesis discusses how participants construct classroom literature, and provides insight into how interaction around comics enables participants to construct and negotiate disc, Intresset för serier som svenskt skolmaterial har stigit de senaste åren och publiceringen av serier för barn och ungdomar har också ökat. Även om forskning om new literacies har intresserat sig för kombinationer av bild och text så finns det fortfarande lite forskning på serier som literacymaterial, speciellt som en del av skolpraktik. Med det stigande intresset för serier och deras kvaliteter som exempel på new literacies, så pekar detta mot att det finns en relevans i att utforska hur meningsskapande med serier görs i skolan. Syftet med denna studie är att bidra med kunskap om hur lokalt situerad literacypraktik görs där elever och lärare skapar mening med serier. Studien kombinerar forskning om literacy, serier och diskursiv psykologi för att, i linje med New Literacy Studies, undersöka aspekter av literacy som en del av deltagarnas sociala konstruktioner – inte som ett individuellt, mentalt fenomen. Med detta perspektiv är det möjligt att undersöka litterära koncept som narrativ och deltagares konstruktion av berättelseinslag, genom det sätt på vilka dessa aspekter används av deltagare för att interagera – vad deltagare gör när de säger något. För att studera detta har videoobservationer använts i en lågstadieskola och en högstadieskola i två olika svenska städer. Resultaten från studien demonstrerar konstruktioner av serie-literacy där deltagarna engagerar sig i både text och bild i materialet, diskuterar berättandeperspektiv och konstruktioner av narrativ struktur, såväl som berättarverktyg, t.ex. prat- och tankebubblor. Därutöver inkluderar serie-literacy också deltagarnas skapande av seriediskurser där serier görs till en specifik typ av berättande, antingen på materiell eller litterär basis. Avhandlingen diskuterar hur deltagare konstruerar klassrumslitteratur, och studien erbjuder en insikt i hur interaktion runt serier möjliggör för deltagare att konstruera och förhandla diskurser om vad serieliteracy är och vad det erbjuder för möjligheter, såväl som hu

This article investigates teachers’ and pupils’ use of speech and thought bubbles in a classroom literacy project involving comics. Through studying video data on naturally occurring classroom interaction whereby participants in Grade 3 (ages 9–10) talk about bubbles, the aim of this article is to increase knowledge of how bubbles are constructed as devices of literacy. The analysis focuses on the action-oriented aspects of discursive psychology: emphasis, word repetition, uptake and the use of signs, symbols, and text in the comics. Results show how participants negotiate combinations of shapes, symbols and text to construct common knowledge concerning bubbles. Furthermore, teachers use pupils’ drawn bubbles, adding to them a variety of multimodal expressions, thereby illustrating how narrative focalization and character prosody are constructed in the reading of comics. The study of how bubbles are constructed contributes to a larger theme of studying classroom instruction using comics as resources for doing literacy.