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Comic books an educational tool: teacher Manfred J. von Vulte pens ‘Comic Books and Others Hooks’
Police are appealing for public assistance in a shooting investigation at York University last Thursday that sent two people to hospital. Investigators are asking anyone who may have images or video related to the incident to upload them to www.torontopolice.on.ca/ yorkushooting Police said a man discharged a firearm inside the Student Centre around 10:45 p.m., hitting one woman in the leg. A second woman was wounded by shrapnel.
Ali Raza araza@insidetoronto.com
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Toronto educator believes comic books can help introduce a form of education that might be more beneficial to kids. Manfred J. von Vulte, deputy headmaster at Northmount School in North York, released his new book in January titled Comic Books and Other Hooks: 21st Century Education. In it, he argues that education needs to change into a more experiential experience. Using comic books among other things as experiential tools, von Volte believes the methods he explains in his book can greatly benefit the learning experience for children. He said in his experience in being an educator, von Vulte has noticed a lot of students between grades 5 and 8 become accepting of their academic fate. These students prematurely decide they can’t read or write well. Von Vulte argued that this attitude often comes within a narrow framework of opportunities available to them. “There’s a wider world out there for students,” von Vulte said. “There always exists a chance for children to be better readers and writers. Comic books are one of the ways they can achieve that. There are other ways as well and the book talks about those, too.” Comic books by nature involve a dynamic setting with characters set in a context of lore. The complex nature of a comic book and its appeal to children can be beneficial in developing important literary skills in the long term, said von Vulte. Having always been interested in comic books since his childhood, he looked at them in his own practice and saw the poten-
Police appeal for footage in York U. shooting
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Photo/PETER C. MCCUSKER
Author Manfred von Vulte, left, is joined by fan Tyler Tyczka earlier this month at the Bayview Village Mall Chapters location as he signs copies of his new book, ‘Comic Books and Other Hooks’.
tial. “If you take a look at the high level of vocabulary,” von Vulte said. “The ability for students to immediately refresh their memory or the plot and the development of the character and back
‘Comic Books and Other Hooks’ is written by Manfred J. von Vulte, deputy headmaster at Northmount School.
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story. It’s a super resource. It’s beginning of hooking someone into literature and can certainly reinforce concepts later on.” Von Vulte makes it clear in his book that though he sees this learning potential in comic books, they are not the only source. He provides comic books as an example as something that can change the course of how children are educated. Having seen EQAO and other test performances from students across Ontario, von Vulte said that there is an over-emphasis in schools on content over process. He explained content as a mix of textbooks, multimedia and general assignments and process as a combination of hands-on experiential learning. The additional examples in his book among comic books are robotics, instrumental music and fine art. “The key words I always use is we need to show children the world behind the book,” von Vulte said. “Ontario’s got a fantastic curriculum, but the issue comes in
the execution. I advocate experiential learning.” Von Vulte believes experential learning gives children a better understanding of the subject. At Northmount School, he has introduced this method with several examples. Students were given a book on farming and started a garden at the school. For robotics, in addition to a normal lesson plan, students got the opportunity to build an R2D2 from Star Wars. Since the release of the Comic Books and Other Hooks, feedback has been positive. On the weekend of March 1, von Vulte was invited to a Chapters at Bayview Village for a book signing. At the end of it, his book sold out and he left with none in hand. “I’ve been invited to over eight TDSB schools,” von Vulte said. “They see this working for children who are high-achieving and for children that are having some issues making grade level. It’s creativity leading to something positive.”
Anyone with information can call police at 416-808-3100 or Crime Stoppers at 416-222-8477.
Police grab jumping man by ankles Police potentially saved the life of a man by grabbing hold of his ankles as he alledgedly attempted to escape from a sixth floor apartment window Monday. Police allege a man forced his way into an apartment at 14 Gulliver Rd. around 1:30 a.m., contrary to a court order, and violently kicked, punched and choked a woman while using a cleaver. The woman was able to scream for help and broke free to open the door for police. The man then attempted to jump from the window, but officers were able to grab his ankles as he fell. Gordon Maracle, 28, is charged with several offences.
correction Last week’s listings of declared candidates for the municipal election misspelled one of the candidates’ names. Danny Quattrociocchi is a candidate in Ward 9 (York Centre). The Mirror regrets the error.
| NORTH YORK MIRROR w | Thursday, March 13, 2014
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