After my work this semester, conversations with Karen Keifer-Boyd, and reflecting on my personal teaching experiences and practices,  I have created a rough first draft of my research proposal. I intend to complete this research in the fall of this year with a local group  for LGBTQ+ teens and young adults, affiliated with Planned Parenthood through my work at an art museum. The focus of this study has narrowed, and I hope to hone it even more before the start of my study.

Title of Study :  Inclusive and Reflective Story Telling, LGBTQ+ Youth and Comics.

Statement of Problem:

The purpose of this arts-relationality study is to closely examine and reflect on my a comics curriculum for LGBTQ+ youth which will employ personal storytelling skills and inclusive, representative art references. I will pilot the comics curriculum over 6 weeks, and document student learning, self-expression, attitude, and interest in creating personal works and furthering LGBTQ+ visibility and representation in comics, as well as classroom comics resources.

Context of the problem :

In this study, I will be examining my own teaching practices and resources while teaching comics, particularly to LGBTQ+ youth. I will be reflecting on my previous teaching practices and resources from similar comics classes in the past, that I feel have not been as successful at giving students adequate representation of diverse character and story lines. In reflecting on my practice and resources that I have created over a number of years teaching comics, I discovered that my resources were not nearly as diverse or representative as I thought they were, even as an educator coming from what felt like an informed and sensitive position.  My purpose is to create a curriculum that can be used for both LGBTQ+ students, as well as all comics students at large, with the goal of students gaining more diverse resources to tell their own stories, or to appropriately represent other characters from outside their personal experiences in their comic creations.

Background of the problem (history that led to problem):

The lack of LGBTQ+ representation in children’s literature has been and continues to be a problem. When looking for comics and manga to share with students in the classroom, the lack of literature that was relatable and interesting for them was a challenge to me. Comics written for the middle and high school age group are often not inclusive, and LGBTQ+ comics often feature content that most educators would not deem appropriate for the classroom. When I have taught comics lessons in the past, many students in my classes self-identified as LGBTQ+, yet often created comics and wrote stories in class that were heteronormative and more closely reflected stories they had seen in comics, manga, and anime.

Preliminary Literature Review:

I will be searching for literature that discusses the accessibility of LBGTQ+ literature and comics to middle and high school students, action research, intersectional feminist art education resources for drawing bodies, story writing, and pedagogical reflecting practices.

In searching for journal articles and studies around this particular area, I found that the research done already was limited, or focused primarily on picture books aimed at young elementary, rather than middle and high school. Even when there are children’s books that depict LBGTQ+ characters, these character are often depicted as adults, or even animals, rather than children or teens closer in age to those reading.

 

Foreshadowed Problems
Will students that are participating in the study be able to attend this class/study on a consistent basis if they do not have parental permission?

Where will funding for this program come from?

Will I have support of senior staff in conducting this study?

 

Significance of the Study: 1. My purpose is to create a curriculum that is beneficial to self-identified LGBTQ+ students as well as informative for students outside of those identities. This study will serve as a guide to art educators who are looking to serve this audience in the most helpful and least harmful way possible.

2. It is my hope that the creation of this inclusive comics curriculum will allow other educators to build their library of resources as well as their practicum knowledge for reaching their LGBTQ+ students. The hope is that by creating easily accessible sources for them, it will become easier to serve their audience, and possible share these resources with other educators, librarians, and even parents.

 

Design of the Study/Methodology:

1. Suitability of Site or Social Network Selection

I will be conducting the research at the Michener Art Museum, in the classrooms. I will create a 6 week comic creation class for students who self-identify as LGBTQ+ in middle and high school. This site has all the materials and the structure I need to conduct the class.
B. Researcher’s Role – I will be teaching, observing, and reflecting.
C. Purposeful Sampling Strategies (& protection of the rights of human subjects) –  I will be selecting 10-12 students who are in middle and high school who self-identify as LGBTQ+. Subjects will have parental permission except where it may cause them harm. An alternative waiver will be available for those subjects.
D. Data Collection Strategies (describe use of multiple methods to corroborate data, length of fieldwork, and how data will be collected and managed)

I will create a comics curriculum that includes a resource pack for students. They will be creating sketches, brainstorming, creating comics and writing reflections over the course of the 6-week long comics class. I will make copies when maintaining possession of final works is not possible. I will also be reflecting using my own comics process.
E. Inductive Data Analysis (coding, developing categories, techniques of pattern-seeking, and how the results will be presented)

In reviewing their completed comics, in class sketches, notes, and short written statements, I will be looking for representation of LGBTQ+ characters and story lines. I will see how they perceive the references and resources provided to them. I will reflect on each class session with a short comic and written reflection. I will present my findings by

 

Definitions/Limitations: F. Limitations of the Design (scope of study, the design, and methodology)

References:

CAMPBELL, ALYSON, and STEPHEN FARRIER. “Queer Practice as Research: A Fabulously Messy Business.” Theatre Research International, vol. 40, no. 1, 2015, pp. 83–87, doi:http://dx.doi.org.ezaccess.libraries.psu.edu/10.1017/S0307883314000601.

 

Gretchen Schwartz. “Graphic Novels, New Literacies, and Good Old Social Justice.” The Alan Review, vol. 37, no. 3, Summer 2010, http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/ejournals/ALAN/v37n3/schwarz.html.

 

Hutzel, K. (2014). Participatory action research in art education: Possibilities for social change through collaborative visual inquiry. In M. L. Buffington & S. Wilson McKay (Eds.), Practice theory: Seeing the power of teacher researchers (pp. 266-270). Reston, VA: The National Art Education Association.

 

Martin, Adrian D., and Tamara Spencer. “Children’s Literature, Culturally Responsive Teaching, and Teacher Identity: An Action Research Inquiry in Teacher Education.” Action in Teacher Education, vol. 42, no. 4, Oct. 2020, pp. 387–404, doi:10.1080/01626620.2019.1710728.

 

Keifer-Boyd, K. ( 2012). Critique, advocacy and dissemination: I’ve got the data and the findings, now what? In S. Klein (Ed.), Action research: Plain and simple (pp. 197-215). Palgrave.

 

 

Levan, L. (2016). Thirteen: Recognizing and Representing Bodies of Difference Through Art Education. Counterpoints, 467, 133-140. Retrieved May 3, 2021, from http://www.jstor.org/stable/45157137

 

Nichols, Emma. “9 Queer Comics for Kids.” BOOK RIOT, 23 Nov. 2017, https://bookriot.com/nine-queer-comics-for-kids/.

 

“SLJ Diverse Books Survey.” School Library Journal, https://www.slj.com?page=slj-diverse-books-survey-2018. Accessed 3 May 2021.

 

Turner, Parrish. “When Animals Are Used as Stand-Ins for Transgender Humans, People Are Diminished | Essay.” School Library Journal, https://www.slj.com?detailStory=animals-substitutes-for-transgender-humans-is-diminishing. Accessed 3 May 2021.

 

Williams, Ashleigh. “Five Years of Flame Con.” School Library Journal, https://www.slj.com?detailStory=five-years-of-flame-con-LGBTQ-comics. Accessed 3 May 2021.

 

1. Chapter Outline for final report
   I. Proposed time schedule for completing the study

September – November 2021