Comics belong in the classroom | Gene Luen Yang

Comic books and graphic novels belong in every teacher's toolkit, says cartoonist and educator Gene Luen Yang. Set against the backdrop of his own witty, colorful drawings, Yang explores the history of comics in American education — and reveals some unexpected insights about their potential for helping kids learn.

Check out more TED Talks:

The TED Talks channel features the best talks and performances from the TED Conference, where the world's leading thinkers and doers give the talk of their lives in 18 minutes (or less). Look for talks on Technology, Entertainment and Design — plus science, business, global issues, the arts and more.

Follow TED on Twitter:
Like TED on Facebook:

Subscribe to our channel:

49 Comments on Comics belong in the classroom | Gene Luen Yang

  1. Oh boy he thought comics would make him look cool. Yeah I made the same mistake with my velcro shoes in 5th grade. Good thing the what are those meme wasn’t a thing.

    • donald laube when did i mention boredom? My point was that many republicans are always saying “video games not guns cause mass shooting and delinquency” which is similar to “comics cause delinquency”

    • I read well above my grade level, mostly novels, but I would have benefited from reading comics in classrooms, as would so many other kids bored to tears by dismal reading curricula where children are forced to read Piers Plowman, fgs. The hero’s journey, the nature of sequential storytelling, the use of color theory… so many things you can teach to kids if you’re not boring them.

  2. Too much social justice warrior theme in Marvel comic books is hurting its sales. A little bit of SJW is fine. But too much forced down on us and taking over original characters seems a bit much.

  3. Real history stories belong in the classroom, but they still not there, and talking about comics… Hope is lost…

  4. Hey, with my last girlfriend. She had a hard time reading but when I showed her comic books, she found out that she loved reading and started to read more traditional books after that.

  5. School doesn’t work, it’s a fact. So teachers need to be more innovative and this one guy is doing a pretty fine job. My respects, sir!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.


*


Shares
Share This