Teaching Note—Comics in the Classroom: Teaching With Graphic Novels

ABSTRACT

The focus of this teaching note is on the use of graphic novels in social work classrooms. The article first discusses the unique learning needs of today’s digital native learners. It then provides justification for why these books are effective in reaching students who are well versed in image data because of heavy reliance on and use of the Internet and social media. Finally, we share our experiences using select graphic novels in three bachelor’s of social work and master’s of social work classrooms, connecting this teaching medium to the National Association of Social Workers Code of Ethics and competency and practice behaviors aligned with the Council on Social Work Education. Graphic novels allow students to more intimately connect with human experiences at the intersections of social identities, diversity and social justice issues, and policy and practice implications.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1 The authors use the term graphic novels to refer to any fiction, nonfiction, or memoir that is written in graphic form. This is consistent with the academic literature and categorization of the genre. All of the graphic novels discussed in this article are memoirs.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Shawyn C. Domyancich-Lee

Shawyn C. Domyancich-Lee, PhD, MSW, LGSW, is an assistant professor at the University of Wisconsin - River Falls. Leah R. Cleeland, PhD, LGSW, is an assistant professor at the University of Minnesota Duluth. Jennifer McCleary, PhD, LMSW, is an associate professor at the University of Minnesota Duluth.