Holy Childhoods, Batman!: Configurations of Youth and Possibilities in Teacher Education as Seen through Robin Comics

Abstract

ABSTRACTThis paper explores a historical analysis of the comic book character Robin to illuminate how different understandings of youth at different historical points intersect with notions of pedagogy to make certain forms of childhood intelligible to educators and researchers. We analyze different configurations of Robin’s identity, taking up questions of the pedagogical relationships present between Batman and each of the Robins. In doing so, we articulate different youth subjectivities and the education these identities demand. Using the different iterations of the Robin character, we analyze four youth subjectivities and possibilities for teachers to wrestle with prefigured subjectivities. The paper concludes with a consideration of an unthinkable Robin character as one with no Batman, suggesting possibilities for teachers to think through more radical forms of student autonomy.