Collaborative Comics Storytelling as a tool for fostering leadership skills

1. Collaborative Comics Storytelling as a tool for fostering leadership skills Lida Tsene, PhD & Betty Tsakarestou, PhD Department of Communication, Media and Culture Panteion University, Greece Wednesday, August 27, 2014

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3. ✤ “we need to move away from the institutionalized logic of the school as a factory, to the network logic of the learning community”, Futurelab Wednesday, August 27, 2014

5. ✤ “arts has much to teach managers about creativity, imagination, vision, communication and dealing with insecurity”, Olivier (2001) Wednesday, August 27, 2014

6. Comics have the supernatural power of transferring knowledge Wednesday, August 27, 2014

7. ✤ 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) Wednesday, August 27, 2014

11. creativity Wednesday, August 27, 2014

12. “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 Wednesday, August 27, 2014

13. 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 Wednesday, August 27, 2014

14. 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). Wednesday, August 27, 2014

15. Comics in Elementary Schools Wednesday, August 27, 2014

21. ✤ 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. Wednesday, August 27, 2014

22. Comics in Corporate Environments Wednesday, August 27, 2014

27. ✤ 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 Wednesday, August 27, 2014

29. 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. Wednesday, August 27, 2014

30. 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 Wednesday, August 27, 2014

31. 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. Wednesday, August 27, 2014

32. ✤ comics can be used as a learning tool for leadership and collaboration skills inside and outside the classroom. Wednesday, August 27, 2014

34. Lida Tsene, Phd Teaching Associate, Advertising & PR Lab Department of Communication, Media & Culture Panteion University Art and Educational Programs Director Comicdom Press ltsene@gmail.com Betty Tsakarestou, PhD Assistant Proffessor Head of Advertising & PR Lab Department of Communication, Media & Culture Panteion University btsaka@gmail.com Wednesday, August 27, 2014