‘A case for interruption in the virtual English classroom with the graphic novel American Born Chinese
Abstract
This paper describes and interprets how preservice English teachers explore constructions of race and identity in the graphic novel, American Born Chinese, with a small group of adolescents from a mostly white community in the U.S. in the space of a virtual classroom. Findings indicate that the secondary students constructed characters’ feelings of racial and cultural inferiority as a matter of the individual rather than as a result of institutional forms of exclusion. The author argues for educators to attend more closely to the social, historical and political context within which a critical approach to teaching literacy is implemented. Implications for using technology to mentor preservice English teachers to explore systemic forms of oppression in their development as critical educators are discussed.
Reference
Schieble, M. (2011). 'A case for interruption in the virtual English classroom with the graphic novel American Born Chinese. Australian Journal of Language and Literacy, The, 34(2), 202.
Journal
Australian Journal of Language & Literacy
Analysis
Is this article part of a larger project or series of studies?
no
Does this study draw on a large, preexisting data set?
no
Research Approach
- Case study
- critical
- Descriptive study
- Qualitiative
Geographic Setting
Institutional Context
Certification Level
Programatic Focus
Research Location Context
- young adult literature course
Preservice Participants
- Undergraduates (university based program)
Preservice Sample Size
4
Other Participant Data
Duration of Data Collection
Data Sources
- Classroom Discussion
- course discussions
- course materials
- Focus group interviews
- Interviews
- journal entries
- online discussions
- student work
Data Analysis Tools
- internal and external codes
- interpretation in context (Graue & Walsh, 1998)
Researcher Positionality
- inside (staying their own students)
Research Questions
How do preservice teachers draw on American Born Chinese and other multimodal texts (e.g. internet sources, audio) as resources to examine racism and stereotyping with adolescents?
Is this research question explicit from the manuscript? Yes
To what effect do multimodal texts contribute to adolescents' critical awareness of the impact of racism on youth in U.S. society?
Is this research question explicit from the manuscript? Yes