Pathway to Progress: Empowering Educators for Today’s Classrooms

Are you interested in using and making comics in the classroom, but don’t know where to start? Based on research into children’s comics making, this workshop aimed at KS2 teachers (ages 7-11) will introduce you to creative and engaging ways of making, thinking and learning through comics. Through hands-on activities we will explore how ‘the medium we think in defines what we can see’ (Sousanis, 2015). Each part of this workshop will involve you thinking about the medium of comics through making comics. The language of comics will be explored, and we will look at how the medium of comics work. Through practical drawing activities, participants will have the chance to develop their understanding of how to simplify drawings and use symbols to communicate emotions. We will explore the panel and gutter through drawing and working collaboratively to make a comic strip. Participants will discover the power of drawing and writing for enjoyment and what is unique about comics as an art form.