Jeff park begins his article by making the important point that ELA is no longer composed of two components; literature and composition, but instead, "Most curricula now recognize six strands in a modern English language arts course - reading, writing, listening, speaking, representing, and viewing - as well as acknowledge a move towards cultural studies and the integration of social justice issues in the classroom." Park argues that these changes are related to the responsibility teachers have to help students navigate in an ever changing world of technological advances. One way for teachers to do this is to incorporate visual media, such as graphic novels, in their classes.
Park points out that graphic novels are a great option because they are affordable, and give students an opportunity to engage with texts in different ways than traditionally practiced. He says, that teachers must teach students "the skills required to engage with graphic novels" so that students are equipped to engage with a "merging of visual and textual information."
I certainly agree with Park that today's culture is saturated in forms of visual literacy, and its important for students to learn to search for meaning in types of literacy other than text alone. It's important for teachers to be able to adapt their teaching styles to be relevant. However, I am still hesitant about throwing traditional copies of Macbeth out the window to be replaced by graphic novels. I believe, although it may be valuable to add graphic novels to the curriculum, its important to retain traditional texts too. There is still value for students to be able to navigate Shakespeare's old english, and I think this is important in order for them to be prepared for University.
No comments:
Post a Comment