Perspectivas, toma de conciencia y consolidación de la historieta en el mundo académico

By Toutatis! Trainee Teachers’ Motivation When Using Comics to Learn History

“…In close relation to the concepts and ideas described here, Saitua (2018b) points out an element which is fundamental for our interests: reading a comic can enable the student to deploy the necessary mental frameworks for historical thinking. Without doubt, this is an important step in considering this means of expression as a first-order tool in the teaching of history, as is stated in the studies by Aguilera (2011) , Boerman-Cornell (2015) and Souto and Martínez (2016) . These authors stress the importance of the identification, contextualisation and corroboration of all of the historical elements which appear in the comic, interpreting them via a critical, efficient reading, a characteristic of history teaching itself.…”

“…Nowadays, the educational resources at the disposal of teachers are not only more numerous and diverse than a few years ago, but they also require a greater degree of knowledge when they are confined to different subjects or heterogeneous nature, enriching a little more one of the most important professions in our society. In the case of history teaching, the methodological revolution which has taken place over the past two decades has been unstoppable and raises the issue of the total renovation of the teaching profession ( Boerman-Cornell, 2015 ; Souto and Martínez, 2016 ). This paper addresses the use of comics, and in some cases graphic novels ( Montenegro, 2012 ; Sebastián-Faubel, 2016 ; Williams, 2008 ), as an educational resource on the rise which aims to facilitate history learning in a motivating way, encouraging critical thinking and, in turn, stimulating students’ creativity.…”

“…In the words of Saitua (2018a) , history teachers should provide their students with materials and training resources which foster a clear understanding of complex historical processes, enable them to identify historical causality and to develop the skills associated with argumentation. Consequently, comics, as stated by many different authors ( Williams, 2008 ; Aguilera, 2011 ; Blay, 2015 ; Boerman-Cornell, 2015 ; Souto and Martínez, 2016 ), could be an ideal resource for history teaching and the development of historical thinking ( Ortega-Sánchez and Pagès, 2017 ) due to their recreational and motivational character, plot clarity and multi-modal nature. For Zagkotas (2019) and Sebastián-Faubel (2016) , the narrative formula of comics, an element which should, no doubt, be borne in mind, is another way of narrating the past which is closely linked with the narrative discourse of the historian.…”

“…Among the main advantages of using comics to teach history, it can be highlighted that not only must the student adopt a role as a researcher–reader, as mentioned by many authors ( Aguilera, 2011 ; Montenegro, 2012 ; Souto and Martínez, 2016 ; Zagkotas, 2019 ), evaluating sources, interpreting information and considering different perspectives, but also different key concepts can be worked on, such as identity-otherness, multiple causality, change and continuity, diversity, inequality and conflict, according to the pattern proposed by Sebastián-Faubel (2016) . Thus, comics, used as an educational resource, put into images what textbooks explain in words, fostering students’ creativity and increasing their interest in what is taught, as stated by Blay (2015) .…”