Collaborative Writing of Digital Comics Based on Local Legends: An Experience with 8th-Grade Middle School Students
Collaborative writing; textual production; digital comics; local culture; digital technologies.
This study investigates how collaborative writing can foster the development of textual production and collective engagement among 8th-grade students in middle school. It is based on the understanding, discussed by Felipeto (2015; 2019) and Pinheiro (2011; 2013), that teaching practices predominantly centered on individual writing may limit opportunities for interaction, revision, and improvement of students’ written productions. In this context, a pedagogical intervention grounded in collaborative writing is proposed, understood, according to Storch (2005), as a process of co-authorship in which participants negotiate meanings, revise ideas, and construct texts jointly. The pedagogical proposal is based on the production of digital comic strips inspired by local legends, articulating language, culture, and digital technologies—dimensions that, according to Moran (2013) and Ribeiro (2012), can enhance student protagonism and foster more participatory learning practices. The theoretical framework also draws on Cascudo (2001) and Portelli (2016), who emphasize the relevance f orality and collective memory in the preservation of cultural narratives. Methodologically, this research adopts a qualitative approach, characterized as action research (Thiollent, 1986), developed through pedagogical workshops that included an initial diagnostic stage, collaborative production of narratives, and analysis of interactions and texts produced by students. The results indicate that collaborative work mediated by digital technologies contributed to increasing students’ engagement in textual production activities, fostering processes of meaning negotiation and promoting improvements in the narratives produced. Furthermore, the proposal enabled the appreciation of local legends as cultural heritage and strengthened cooperative relationships among students. As an educational product of the research, a pedagogical handbook is presented to guide teachers interested in developing collaborative writing practices in different educational contexts.