Learning past the pictures in the panels: teacher attitudes to manga and anime texts

This study of teacher attitudes to manga and anime texts in the New South Wales secondary English classroom explores what is visible and what becomes visible when we peer inside the multidimensional influences of teacher decision making for new and distinctive text choices. The specific purpose of this research is to analyse the question: "What are teachers' attitudes towards manga and anime texts for the Stage 4 and 5 English classroom?" Manga (serialised graphic stories) and anime (animation) are two related popular culture forms that originate from Japan but have proven to be of interest to readers and viewers outside of Japan. The focus of this investigation is on English teachers and librarians who have experience and knowledge of these texts. The choice to limit this study to single-sex girls' schools is to investigate in greater detail how teachers perceive female students as readers, and as readers and viewers of manga and anime texts. This research explores how teachers perceive, value and engage with manga and anime within the secondary English curriculum to better inform understandings of curriculum text choices and the ways in which these teachers situate their students as the recipients of those curriculum acts. In demonstrating a willingness to respond to student interests, and at times learn alongside them, the pedagogical practices of these teachers and librarians reveal the significance of distinctive text choices within the formal English curriculum.