Comics belong in the classroom | Gene Luen Yang

Prevoditelj: Lidija Funtek Recezent: Sanda L

When I was in the fifth grade,

Kada sam bio u 5. razredu,

I bought an issue of "DC Comics Presents #57"

kupio sam izdanje "DC Comics predstavlja #57"

off of a spinner rack at my local bookstore,

s vrtećeg stalka u lokalnoj knjižari

and that comic book changed my life.

i taj strip mi je promijenio život.

The combination of words and pictures did something inside my head

Zbog spoja riječi i slika, u mojoj se glavi dogodilo nešto

that had never been done before,

što se nikad prije nije dogodilo

and I immediately fell in love with the medium of comics.

i odmah sam se zaljubio u stripove.

I became a voracious comic book reader,

Počeo sam proždrljivo čitati stripove,

but I never brought them to school.

ali nikada ih nisam nosio u školu.

Instinctively, I knew that comic books didn't belong in the classroom.

Instinktivno sam znao da stripovima nije mjesto u učionici.

My parents definitely were not fans,

Moji roditelji to nisu podržavali

and I was certain that my teachers wouldn't be either.

i bio sam siguran da neće ni moji profesori.

After all, they never used them to teach,

Ne koriste ih za poučavanje,

comic books and graphic novels were never allowed during silent sustained reading,

stripovi i grafički romani nikada nisu bili dopušteni kao štivo za čitanje

and they were never sold at our annual book fair.

i nikada se nisu prodavali na godišnjem sajmu knjiga.

Even so, I kept reading comics,

Unatoč tome, nastavio sam čitati stripove,

and I even started making them.

a čak sam ih počeo i izrađivati.

Eventually I became a published cartoonist,

Postao sam objavljivani crtač karikatura,

writing and drawing comic books for a living.

pisanjem i crtanjem stripova zarađujući za život.

I also became a high school teacher.

Postao sam i profesor u srednjoj školi.

This is where I taught:

Evo gdje sam predavao:

Bishop O'Dowd High School in Oakland, California.

Srednja škola Bishop O'Dowd u Oaklandu, Kalifornija.

I taught a little bit of math and a little bit of art,

Predavao sam malo matematike i malo likovnog,

but mostly computer science,

ali najviše informatiku

and I was there for 17 years.

i radio sam tamo 17 godina.

When I was a brand new teacher,

Kada sam tek postao profesor,

I tried bringing comic books into my classroom.

pokušao sam donijeti stripove na sat.

I remember telling my students on the first day of every class

Sjećam se da sam prvog dana svim učenicima govorio

that I was also a cartoonist.

da sam također i karikaturist.

It wasn't so much that I was planning to teach them with comics,

Nisam ih mislio podučavati pomoću stripova,

it was more that I was hoping comics would make them think that I was cool.

samo sam se nadao da će zbog stripova misliti da sam kul.

(Laughter)

(Smijeh)

I was wrong.

Bio sam u krivu.

This was the '90s,

To su bile 90-te

so comic books didn't have the cultural cachet that they do today.

i stripovi nisu imali takav kulturni pečat kakav imaju danas.

My students didn't think I was cool. They thought I was kind of a dork.

Moji učenici nisu mislili da sam kul. Mislili su da sam nekakav šmokljan.

And even worse, when stuff got hard in my class,

Još gore, kada bi došlo do problema na satu,

they would use comic books as a way of distracting me.

koristili su stripove kako bi mi odvukli pažnju.

They would raise their hands and ask me questions like,

Digli bi ruke i pitali me nešto poput,

"Mr. Yang, who do you think would win in a fight,

"G. Yang, što mislite tko bi pobijedio,

Superman or the Hulk?"

Superman ili Hulk?"

(Laughter)

(Smijeh)

I very quickly realized I had to keep my teaching and my cartooning separate.

Brzo sam shvatio da moram odvojiti predavanje i stripove.

It seemed like my instincts in fifth grade were correct.

Izgleda da su moji instinkti u 5. razredu bili točni.

Comic books didn't belong in the classroom.

Stripovima nije mjesto u učionici.

But again, I was wrong.

No, opet, bio sam u krivu.

A few years into my teaching career,

Nakon nekoliko godina predavanja,

I learned firsthand the educational potential of comics.

iz prve ruke sam naučio obrazovni potencijal stripova.

One semester, I was asked to sub for this Algebra 2 class.

Jedno polugodište morao sam mijenjati kolegu iz matematike.

I was asked to long-term sub it, and I said yes, but there was a problem.

Trebala je to biti dugotrajna zamjena na koju sam pristao, ali postojao je problem.

At the time, I was also the school's educational technologist,

U to vrijeme bio sam i školski edukator za tehnologiju,

which meant every couple of weeks

što znači da sam svakih nekoliko tjedana

I had to miss one or two periods of this Algebra 2 class

morao propustiti sat ili dva tih sati matematike,

because I was in another classroom helping another teacher

jer sam u drugoj učionici pomagao nekom profesoru

with a computer-related activity.

u odrađivanju aktivnosti na računalu.

For these Algebra 2 students, that was terrible.

To je bilo grozno za učenike na satima matematike.

I mean, having a long-term sub is bad enough,

Dovoljno je grozno što imaju zamjenu,

but having a sub for your sub? That's the worst.

ali imati zamjenu za zamjenu? To je najgora stvar.

In an effort to provide some sort of consistency for my students,

Kako bih učenicima dao osjećaj kontinuiteta,

I began videotaping myself giving lectures.

počeo sam se snimati kako predajem.

I'd then give these videos to my sub to play for my students.

Zatim bih te snimke dao svojoj zamjeni da ih pusti učenicima.

I tried to make these videos as engaging as possible.

Pokušao sam te snimke učiniti što zanimljivijima.

I even included these little special effects.

Čak sam dodao i male specijalne efekte.

For instance, after I finished a problem on the board,

Primjerice, nakon što riješim problem na ploči,

I'd clap my hands,

pljesnuo bih rukama

and the board would magically erase.

i ploča bi se sama obrisala.

(Laughter)

(Smijeh)

I thought it was pretty awesome.

Mislio sam da je to super.

I was pretty certain that my students would love it,

Bio sam prilično siguran da će se to učenicima svidjeti,

but I was wrong.

ali bio sam u krivu.

(Laughter)

(Smijeh)

These video lectures were a disaster.

Te snimke predavanja bile su katastrofa.

I had students coming up to me and saying things like,

Učenici bi mi prilazili i govorili,

"G. Yang, mislili smo da ste dosadni uživo,

"Mr. Yang, we thought you were boring in person,

but on video, you are just unbearable."

ali na snimkama ste nepodnošljivi."

(Laughter)

(Smijeh)

So as a desperate second attempt, I began drawing these lectures as comics.

U očajničkom drugom pokušaju, počeo sam predavanja crtati kao stripove.

I'd do these very quickly with very little planning.

Radio bih to jako brzo i bez previše planiranja.

I'd just take a sharpie, draw one panel after the other,

Uzeo bih flomaster, crtao sliku za slikom,

figuring out what I wanted to say as I went.

u hodu odlučujući što želim.

These comics lectures would come out

Ta predavanja u stripu imala bi

to anywhere between four and six pages long,

između četiri i šest stranica,

I'd xerox these, give them to my sub to hand to my students.

kopirao bih ih i dao svojoj zamjeni da podijeli mojim učenicima.

And much to my surprise,

Na moje veliko iznenađenje,

these comics lectures were a hit.

ta predavanja u stripu bila su pun pogodak.

My students would ask me to make these for them

Učenici bi me tražili da ih crtam

even when I could be there in person.

čak i kada sam bio na nastavi.

It was like they liked cartoon me more than actual me.

Kao da su me više voljeli u stripu nego u stvarnosti.

(Laughter)

(Smijeh)

This surprised me, because my students are part of a generation

Iznenadilo me jer su moji učenici generacija

that was raised on screens,

koja je odrasla pred zaslonima

so I thought for sure they would like learning from a screen

pa sam mislio da će im se više sviđati učenje preko zaslona

better than learning from a page.

nego s papira.

But when I talked to my students

No, kada sam s učenicima razgovarao

about why they liked these comics lectures so much,

o tome zašto toliko vole ta predavanja u stripu,

I began to understand the educational potential of comics.

počeo sam shvaćati obrazovni potencijal stripova.

First, unlike their math textbooks,

Prvo, za razliku od udžbenika iz matematike,

these comics lectures taught visually.

uz stripove su učili vizualno.

Our students grow up in a visual culture,

Naši učenici odrasli su u vizualnoj kulturi

so they're used to taking in information that way.

i naviknuti su tako primati nove informacije.

But unlike other visual narratives,

No, za razliku od ostalih vizualnih priča,

like film or television or animation or video,

poput filma, televizije, animacije ili videa,

comics are what I call permanent.

stripovi su nešto što ja zovem trajnim.

In a comic, past, present and future all sit side by side on the same page.

U stripu, prošlost, sadašnjost i budućnost nalaze se zajedno na istoj stranici.

This means that the rate of information flow

Znači da je brzina protoka informacija

is firmly in the hands of the reader.

u rukama čitatelja.

When my students didn't understand something in my comics lecture,

Kada učenici ne bi nešto razumjeli u mojim predavanjima u stripu,

they could just reread that passage as quickly or as slowly as they needed.

mogli su opet pročitati taj dio željenom brzinom.

It was like I was giving them a remote control over the information.

Kao da sam im dao daljinski upravljač za upravljanje informacijama.

The same was not true of my video lectures,

To nije vrijedilo za snimke mojih predavanja,

and it wasn't even true of my in-person lectures.

čak ni za moja predavanja uživo.

When I speak, I deliver the information as quickly or slowly as I want.

Kada govorim, dijelim informacije brzinom kojom ja to želim.

So for certain students and certain kinds of information,

Dakle, za neke učenike i neke vrste informacija,

these two aspects of the comics medium, its visual nature and its permanence,

ove dvije karakteristike stripa, vizualnost i trajnost,

make it an incredibly powerful educational tool.

čine ga nevjerojatno moćnim obrazovnim pomagalom.

When I was teaching this Algebra 2 class,

Kada sam podučavao matematiku,

I was also working on my master's in education at Cal State East Bay.

radio sam i diplomski rad iz obrazovanja na sveučilištu Cal State East Bay.

And I was so intrigued by this experience that I had with these comics lectures

Toliko me očaralo to iskustvo predavanja u obliku stripa,

that I decided to focus my final master's project on comics.

da sam odlučio pisati o stripovima u svom diplomskom radu.

I wanted to figure out why American educators

Želio sam otkriti zašto su američki profesori

have historically been so reluctant to use comic books in their classrooms.

povijesno toliko neskloni upotrebi stripova u učionicama.

Here's what I discovered.

Evo što sam otkrio.

Comic books first became a mass medium in the 1940s,

Stripovi su 1940-ih postali masovni medij,

with millions of copies selling every month,

kada su se mjesečno prodavali milijuni primjeraka

and educators back then took notice.

i tadašnji profesori su to primijetili.

A lot of innovative teachers began bringing comics into their classrooms

Oni inovativniji počeli su uvoditi stripove u učionice

to experiment.

u svrhu eksperimentiranja.

In 1944, the "Journal of Educational Sociology"

1944. godine, "Časopis o obrazovnoj sociologiji"

even devoted an entire issue to this topic.

čak je jedan cijeli broj posvetio toj temi.

Things seemed to be progressing.

Činilo se da dolazi do napretka.

Teachers were starting to figure things out.

Profesori su počeli shvaćati.

But then along comes this guy.

No, onda se pojavio ovaj tip.

This is child psychologist Dr. Fredric Wertham,

Ovo je dječji psiholog Dr. Frederic Wertham,

and in 1954, he wrote a book called "Seduction of the Innocent,"

koji je 1954. napisao knjigu pod nazivom "Zavođenje nevinih",

where he argues that comic books cause juvenile delinquency.

u kojoj govori da stripovi uzrokuju delinkvenciju kod maloljetnika.

(Laughter)

(Smijeh)

He was wrong.

Bio je u krivu.

Now, Dr. Wertham was actually a pretty decent guy.

Dr. Wertham je, zapravo, bio prilično dobar tip.

He spent most of his career working with juvenile delinquents,

Većinu karijere radio je s maloljetnim delinkventima

and in his work he noticed that most of his clients read comic books.

i u tom radu primijetio je da većina njegovih klijenata čita stripove.

What Dr. Wertham failed to realize was in the 1940s and '50s,

Ono što dr. Wertham nije shvatio, bilo je da je u 40-ima i 50-ima

almost every kid in America read comic books.

skoro svako dijete u Americi čitalo stripove.

Dr. Wertham does a pretty dubious job of proving his case,

Dr. Wertham je prilično nejasno dokazao svoju tvrdnju,

but his book does inspire the Senate of the United States

no njegova knjiga potaknula je Senat SAD-a

to hold a series of hearings

da održi nekoliko saslušanja

to see if in fact comic books caused juvenile delinquency.

kako bi vidjeli utječu li stripovi doista na delinkventnost maloljetnika.

These hearings lasted for almost two months.

Ta saslušanja trajala su gotovo 2 mjeseca.

They ended inconclusively, but not before doing tremendous damage

Završila su neodređeno, ali su nanijela ogromnu štetu

to the reputation of comic books in the eyes of the American public.

reputaciji stripova u očima američke javnosti.

After this, respectable American educators all backed away,

Nakon toga su se povukli svi američki profesori koji su držali do sebe

and they stayed away for decades.

i desetljećima se držali podalje.

It wasn't until the 1970s

Tek je 1970-ih

that a few brave souls started making their way back in.

nekoliko hrabrih duša počelo raditi na povratku stripova.

And it really wasn't until pretty recently,

I zapravo su tek od nedavno,

maybe the last decade or so,

možda u zadnjem desetljeću,

that comics have seen more widespread acceptance

stripovi šire prihvaćeni

among American educators.

među američkim profesorima.

Comic books and graphic novels are now finally making their way

Stripovi i grafički romani konačno se vraćaju

back into American classrooms

u američke učionice,

and this is even happening at Bishop O'Dowd, where I used to teach.

a to se događa i u školi Bishop O'Dowd gdje sam prije predavao.

Mr. Smith, one of my former colleagues,

G. Smith, jedan moj bivši kolega,

uses Scott McCloud's "Understanding Comics"

koristi knjigu Scotta McClouda "Razumijevanje stripova"

in his literature and film class, because that book gives his students

na satu književnosti i filma, jer knjiga učenicima daje

the language with which to discuss the relationship between words and images.

jezik pomoću kojeg mogu raspravljati o vezi između riječi i slika.

Mr. Burns assigns a comics essay to his students every year.

G. Burns svake godine učenicima zadaje esej o stripovima.

By asking his students to process a prose novel using images,

Tražeći od učenika da prozno djelo obrade koristeći slike,

Mr. Burns asks them to think deeply

g. Burns traži od njih da duboko razmisle

not just about the story

ne samo o priči,

but also about how that story is told.

nego i o načinu na koji je priča ispričana.

And Ms. Murrock uses my own "American Born Chinese"

A gđa. Murrock koristi moju knjigu "Američki Kinez"

with her English 1 students.

na svom satu engleskog.

For her, graphic novels

Za nju su grafički romani

are a great way of fulfilling a Common Core Standard.

odličan način da se ispuni Osnovni standard.

The Standard states that students ought to be able to analyze

Osnovni standard kaže da učenici moraju znati analizirati

how visual elements contribute to the meaning, tone and beauty of a text.

kako vizualni elementi doprinose značenju, tonu i ljepoti teksta.

Over in the library, Ms. Counts has built a pretty impressive

U knjižnici je gđa. Counts napravila prilično impresivnu

graphic novel collection for Bishop O'Dowd.

zbirku grafičkih romana za školu Bishop O'Dowd.

Now, Ms. Counts and all of her librarian colleagues

Gđa. Counts i njezini kolege u knjižnici

have really been at the forefront of comics advocacy,

bili su, zapravo, prvi zagovornici stripova,

really since the early '80s, when a school library journal article

još od ranih 80-ih godina, kada je jedan članak u školskim novinama

stated that the mere presence of graphic novels in the library

iznio podatak da je sama prisutnost grafičkih romana u knjižnici

increased usage by about 80 percent

povećala promet knjižnice za oko 80%

and increased the circulation of noncomics material

te posudbu ne-stripovske građe

by about 30 percent.

za oko 30%.

Inspired by this renewed interest from American educators,

Potaknuti ovim obnovljenim interesom američkih profesora,

American cartoonists are now producing more explicitly educational content

američki karikaturisti, sada više nego kada prije,

for the K-12 market than ever before.

stvaraju obrazovne sadržaje za škole.

A lot of this is directed at language arts,

Većina je usmjerena na jezike,

but more and more comics and graphic novels

ali sve više stripova i grafičkih romana

are starting to tackle math and science topics.

počinje se baviti matematikom i znanošću.

STEM comics graphics novels really are like this uncharted territory,

STEM stripovi i grafički romani su, zapravo, neistraženi teritorij

ready to be explored.

koji čeka da bude otkriven.

America is finally waking up to the fact

Amerika konačno prihvaća činjenicu

that comic books do not cause juvenile delinquency.

da stripovi ne uzrokuju maloljetničku delinkvenciju.

(Laughter)

(Smijeh)

That they really do belong in every educator's toolkit.

Da im je stvarno mjesto među nastavnim materijalima.

There's no good reason to keep comic books and graphic novels

Nema opravdanog razloga da se stripovi i grafički romani

out of K-12 education.

ne uvedu u sustav školskog obrazovanja.

They teach visually,

Poučavaju vizualno,

they give our students that remote control.

daju našim učenicima daljinski upravljač.

The educational potential is there

Obrazovni potencijal postoji

just waiting to be tapped

i čeka da ga iskoriste

by creative people like you.

kreativni ljudi poput vas.

Thank you.

Hvala vam.

(Applause)

(Pljesak)