Teaching Historical Agency: Explicitly Connecting Past and Present with Graphic Novels
Social Studies Research and Practice
ISSN: 1933-5415
Article publication date: 1 November 2014
Issue publication date: 1 November 2014
Abstract
The use of six non-fiction graphic novels to teach historical agency in a social studies methods course was examined in a critical action research study. Pre-service social studies teachers were asked to read one graphic novel and to discuss it with classmates, first in literature circles, then as a whole class. Data revealed graphic novels engaged pre-service teachers in thinking about historical agency, and helped them make connections between historical agency and their own agency. There were three overlapping ways pre-service teachers connected to historical agency in all six graphic novels: upbringing and personal experience, unpredictability of historical situations, and injustice. The findings highlight the value of graphic novels for teaching about historical agency in social studies courses because of their focus on historical agents’ positionality.
Keywords
Citation
Clark, J.S. (2014), "Teaching Historical Agency: Explicitly Connecting Past and Present with Graphic Novels", Social Studies Research and Practice, Vol. 9 No. 3, pp. 66-80. https://doi.org/10.1108/SSRP-03-2014-B0005
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2014, Emerald Publishing Limited