Use of Educational Comics for Socio-Emotional Skill Development

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Ajit Verma

Independent Researcher

Uttar Pradesh, India

Abstract

This manuscript investigates the potential of educational comics as an innovative medium for fostering socio‑emotional skills among children and adolescents. Socio‑emotional competencies—including empathy, self‑awareness, emotion regulation, and interpersonal communication—are foundational for lifelong well‑being, academic achievement, and social adaptation. Traditional classroom methods often rely on lectures or role‑plays that may not fully engage students or provide context-rich experiences for emotional learning. Educational comics, by contrast, integrate visual storytelling with relatable narratives, allowing learners to witness characters navigate real‑world social situations and internal emotional struggles. Over an eight‑week intervention, 250 middle‑school students engaged with a bespoke comic series aligned to the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL) framework. Pre‑ and post‑measures assessed shifts in self‑reported empathy, emotion vocabulary proficiency, and collaborative behaviors; a control group followed the standard SEL curriculum. Quantitatively, the comics group exhibited statistically significant gains: empathy increased by 12.4% (p < .01), emotion identification accuracy by 15.7% (p < .01), and collaborative actions by 10.2% (p < .05). Qualitative focus groups revealed that students found the comics emotionally immersive, appreciated the safe distance the medium provided for discussing sensitive topics, and valued the guided reflection prompts that deepened peer dialogue. High enjoyment (86%) and relevance ratings (79%) underscore strong intrinsic motivation. These findings suggest that comics’ multimodal affordances—combining imagery, text, and sequential narrative—can make abstract emotional concepts tangible, reduce cognitive load, and support diverse learners. The study concludes with recommendations for co‑creating culturally responsive comics with students, embedding structured discussion guides for teachers, and conducting longitudinal follow‑ups to assess sustained socio‑emotional growth.

Keywords

Educational comics; socio-emotional skills; empathy; emotion regulation; visual storytelling

References

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