Panels with a Purpose: How Comics Changed Teaching

“We push classic literature onto students because of their technical aspects but it can stifle growth or creativity. When we open reading to comics, we don’t just foster better readers but future creators.”

-Ronell Whitaker

Comic books are a wonderful fusion of word and art, brimming with complex stories, characters, and themes throughout their pages. Though they are rarely used in the classroom to teach reading comprehension and grammar—one educator has been challenging the narrative, one panel at a time.

In Chicagoland, comics have been used as an educational tool for more than 15 years thanks to an initiative from English educator Ronell Whitaker. This endeavor has not only increased reading engagement and literacy skills, but has also boosted confidence in high schoolers and given them a positive experience with reading.

To understand how comic books came to be part of Whitaker’s teaching style, it’s important to start from the beginning. Like all great comic book origin stories, this one begins with a kid. 

At just 3 years old, Whitaker was already known to be a fan of reading comic strips in newspapers. “I was a voracious reader from the start and my mom always encouraged that. She grew up reading Archie Comics, so she would incentivize me to go to the store with her in exchange for getting a comic,” said Whitaker, chuckling. “I guess my mom being an undercover nerd is part of my comic book origin story.”

While Whitaker’s love of comics remained unshaken throughout the years, their presence in his life had its ups and downs. “I remember taking a break from bagging and boarding my superhero comics when I was about nine to read my latest comic book haul. At the time, the stories [to me] were becoming outlandish and I remember thinking–okay, this is getting a little too crazy. It was the 90s if that helps you understand!” said Whitaker. 

Whitaker would soon trade his copies of X-Men and Superman in exchange for classic literature such as Catcher in the Rye. As he grew up and went to college, comic books stayed in the back of his mind. Being the typical budget-conscious college student, Whitaker sought ways to find new reads without breaking the bank. The local library was critical to providing access to thousands of books and of course, comics. 

Unlike comics from Whitaker’s youth, the stories on the shelf had something different about them. “I fell in love with the comic 100 Bullets and it opened a whole new world of what comic books could be. Whether it was slice of life, horror, or fantasy, comics could be more than what I remembered as a kid, they could be deep and rich.”

This reawakening for Whitaker wasn’t just an introduction to new comic book titles; it felt deeply meaningful. “People often talk about male figures who got them into comics or their favorite male creators, and I value how that wasn’t the case for me. My mom bought me my first comic, and professionals such as Shelly Bond didn’t just reignite my love for the medium; she strengthened it through her work as the editor of Vertigo.”

After completing his degree in teaching from Chicago State University, Whitaker’s first job was at a school on the west side of Chicago. While classical training for educators doesn’t consider comics in its curriculum, Whitaker kept comics as an option for teaching.

“I had this kernel in the back of my brain that told me comics could be a way to hook kids into reading. I started coming up with ways to find legitimate use of comics without administrators being concerned,” said Whitaker.

The first time Whitaker used comics in the classroom was for a grammar lesson with comic strips from the critically acclaimed series, The Boondocks. To teach context clues and help students understand sentence structure, Whitaker cut out the panels and had students work to determine the sentence orders.

“I’ll never forget that moment I used comics in the classroom. In just one 50-minute class period I saw a change in my students. Kids who needed extra help with literacy were now reading closely for details and making inferences. It started a deeper level of trust between me and my students because someone gave them a new way to try reading.”

Whitaker would go on to expand to graphic novel adaptions of Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka or Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck and premier indie titles such as March by John Lewis, Lumberjanes by N D Stevenson, I Kill Giants by Joe Kelly and many more.

The inspiration that comics provided didn’t stop with reading—soon Whitaker was having kids practice their writing skills or having them read from a book and work together to make a short comic based on a specific scene.

“I had students asking to be the writer or the artist, or create the storyboard. In addition to bettering their reading skills, they were also low-key becoming comic book nerds and using webtoons they would read to bring back into the classroom.”

As his students became new comic book fans, Whitaker would hear stories of them reaching out to creators and hearing back. “With classic literature the authors are deceased, but with comic books, a lot of modern creators are still around and active on social media. I saw how students would talk about connecting with creators like they just met a celebrity,” said Whitaker.

“We push classic literature onto students because of their technical aspects but it can stifle growth or creativity. When we open reading to comics, we don’t just foster better readers but future creators,” said Whitaker. “Suddenly these kids see themselves as a writer or an artist, and that is such a powerful gift to give to students—this sense of democracy where anyone can create a comic.”

It’s been nearly 20 years since Whitaker started introducing comics and the initiative has grown. More teachers include comics in their curriculum, and while Whitaker now serves as an administrator, he does his best to support comics in classrooms where he can.

“I’ve run into students at C2E2 who are no longer kids but full-grown adults who carried their fandom from my classroom into their lives,” said Whitaker. As the program has evolved, Whitaker has even taken his students to comic conventions and coordinated a few of them being on their first panel. “I am so proud to see kids from my district speaking and being heard. It feels like a full circle moment for me.”

Whitaker’s journey from a comic book-loving kid to using comics to empower young minds is nothing short of inspirational and serves as a reminder of why comics don’t just belong in the classroom, but are for everyone.

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This interview was edited for clarity and flow. More about Ronell Whitaker:

Ronell Whitaker is a high school English Curriculum Director in Chicagoland with over 15 years of experience and is a champion for comics in the classroom. He is a founding member of the Lit-X Teacher Cohort. Ronell believes in comics, and he likes to think that comics believe in him.

Ronell Whitaker can be found on Instagram at @thecomicbookteacher.

Watch the full interview here: