“Stop Banning Books”: A Multimodal Analysis of Two Fifth-Grade Students’ Co-Authored Protest Comic

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Thursday 4:15 pm - Gold 4
  In Roundtable Session: Teachers and Children Responding to Policy and Political Contexts Through Multiple Literacies

Abstract

This study draws from qualitative multimodal analysis and interpretive research methods to examine how two fifth-graders co-authored an anti-censorship comic during a summer literacy program focused on social justice and civic engagement. This study is rooted in critical and multimodal approaches to literacy education and draws upon recent scholarship responding to the current increase in book bans and challenges across the US. Findings demonstrate how the two students constructed a sophisticated multimodal composition that engages reader-viewers in meaningful sociopolitical critique. The storytelling of these young authors is particularly relevant in this contemporary moment, when conservative legislators and parental rights groups are removing books from classrooms and school libraries and advocating for constrained curricula removed from culturally responsive or justice-oriented pedagogies.

Authors

• Stephanie F. Reid, University of Cincinnati

• Mengying Xue, University of Missouri