collaborative comics storytelling as a tool for fostering leadership skills

Collaborative Comics Storytelling as a tool for fostering leadership skills

Lida Tsene, PhD & Betty Tsakarestou, PhDDepartment of Communication, Media and Culture

Panteion University, Greece

Wednesday, August 27, 2014

✤ “we need to move away from the institutionalized logic of the school as a factory, to the network logic of

the learning community”, Futurelab


✤ “arts has much to teach managers about creativity, imagination, vision, communication and dealing with

insecurity”, Olivier (2001)


Comics have the supernatural power of

transferring knowledge


✤ popular entertainment “introduce characters, contexts, and challenges that textbooks cannot while business and

management textbooks are limited to “a typical case study method,” which focuses on applied knowledge rather

“paradox, ambiguity, and contradiction” that is offered through fiction”, Fraiberg (2010)


creativity


“My name is Charles Xavier. I am a mutant. And once upon a time I had a dream... of a world where all Earth's children, both mutant and

baseline human, might live together in peace. This isn't it. This is today's reality”

Leaders&

Teams


Our Research

✤ we will describe the methodology of collaborative comics storytelling as having been applied to:

- elementary school children with a focus on creativity- companies and leaders with a focus on team building, brainstorming, collaboration and creative problem solving


Our Research

✤ we will also present and discuss findings of an ongoing research regarding the dynamics of the medium of comics as an educational tool promoting leadership skills (creativity, team building, collaboration, creative problem solving).


Comics in Elementary Schools


✤ Children using the power of pictures were able to produce their own creative content individually or in teams.

✤ During the particular workshop we didn’t observe clearly any strong leader figures, but we did observe leadership skills such as motivation, collaboration, creative thinking and problem solving.


Comics in Corporate Environments


✤ Regarding team work and collaboration, most of the teams scored highly

✤ Most stories were based on good allocation of powers and their excellent use

✤ We also observed high competitiveness between teams

✤ We observed some strong leader- figures within the teams.

✤ All teams came with a clever and creative idea in order to solve the problem posed by the scenario


a) Creativity

We are living in the era where the terms creativity and innovation have become crucial to almost every aspect of our lives. In comics universe there is a common practice creating stories based on existing characters but with a “what if” twist. Think of a problem or challenge you might face in your professional field. Tell the story of “the problem” in comic form (outline the problem, sketch the main characters, have them arrive at some solution). Put the first comic aside. Then ask “what if” questions. Draw a simple comic story based on each option and see where it leads you. Compare the stories with the original story and then try to replace each “superpower” you might have given to your character by real powers and creative thoughts. Do this 3-4 times if possible.


b) !Collaboration

In comics we often meet teams of superheroes. People from different backgrounds and with different abilities work together towards a common scope. Fantastic Four, Avengers or X-Men are some from the most popular superhero teams. What makes them so successful? Pick a superhero team (Avengers, Fantastic Four, X-Men etc) and describe each member (abilities, character, contribution to the team etc). Try to find out why and how the team works successfully. Notice if there is a team leader and write down his characteristics as well. Find and present examples. Then, apply your findings to real life team members and describe the perfect team. Finally, create your own superhero team. Each of the member of your group has to draw and describe his/her superhero. All members should decide collaboratively what is the purpose of the team and which is the role of each member. Give your team and characters names and present them to other teams


c) Leadership

An important skill for a leader is to be able to inspire his/her team. A leader must understand the power of a great story. A good story can motivate, inspire and ignite action. We will take as an example Professor X, leader and founder of X-Men. Xavier's students consider him a visionary, he is respected by various governments and trusted by several other superhero teams. The character is considered to have been inspired by Martin Luther King and according to Business Week, Charles Xavier is listed as one of the top ten most intelligent fictional characters in comics. Professor X gathers all the characteristics of a good leader, among them, inspiring others. Spot and write down examples how and if Professor X manages to motivate others. Analyze the way he does it. Find other leaders (from political, economical, cultural or other sector) and spot their defining moments. Compare the stories, gather the motivation techniques they use and write a short summary (collaborative activity). Then, become Professor X and write a short inspirational speech in order to motivate your team protect the society from racism and create an equal environment for all.


✤ comics can be used as a learning tool for leadership and collaboration skills inside and outside the classroom.


Lida Tsene, PhdTeaching Associate, Advertising & PR Lab

Department of Communication, Media & CulturePanteion University

Art and Educational Programs DirectorComicdom Press

[email protected]

Betty Tsakarestou, PhDAssistant Proffessor

Head of Advertising & PR LabDepartment of Communication, Media & Culture

Panteion [email protected]


mailto:[email protected]




collaborative comics storytelling as a tool for fostering leadership skills

Presentations & Public Speaking

team leader

team building

hisher team

team work

perfect team

creative problem

superhero team avengers

teams of superheroes