Teaching with comics

ValenciaComics have entered classrooms with a vengeance in recent years, resuming a path that began more than eight decades ago when the first studies on the possibilities that comics offered to the educational field began to be published. These studies, despite demonstrating the advantages and potential of comics, were relegated to the negative stereotypes that have always weighed on the ninth art.

Having overcome these prejudices, comics now enter a new era in which communicative competence must navigate a context of multimodal reading, in which the omnipresent image must also be interpreted from the perspective of critical thinking fundamental to this era. Comics are presented as engaging readings that integrate naturally into the new teaching methodologies of the curriculum and have easily become transversal protagonists in any discipline. Whether in science, humanities, or arts, comics can be adapted through strategies as diverse as inclusion in the recommended reading for a particular subject or creating comics in the classroom to foster both creativity and the medium's inherent capacity for synthesis. It is a tool that reaches all educational levels, from primary to higher education. In academic journals—or even in doctoral theses—comics are not only considered an interesting and engaging object of study but also a valid language for scientific communication.

At a time of genuine resurgence in children's and young adult comics, with multimillion-selling bestsellers such as those by Dav Pilkey and Raina Telgemeier, comics are a prominent option in reading promotion programs as a fundamental part of creating and developing reading habits that are no longer compromised. Comics are proving that they are not theoretical future possibilities but present realities that are growing successfully and effectively, opening up paths that must be explored through the synergy of creators and educators.