Living and Learning across Stages and Places: How Transitions Inform Audience Members’ Understandings of Pop Culture and Health Care

Authors

  • Kaela Jubas University of Calgary
  • Dawn E. B. Johnston University of Calgary
  • Angie Chiang University of Calgary

Keywords:

Public Pedagogy, Informal Adult Learning, Health Care Policy, Grey's Anatomy

Abstract

Using the medical drama Grey's Anatomy as an examplar, this article discusses findings from a qualitative case study exploring impacts of popular (or pop) culture on Canadian audience members' understandings of social issues, particularly health care policy. Adopting a neo-Gramscian perspective, our fundamental premise is that pop culture operates pedagogically, and that cultural consumption informs audience members' understandings of current social issues. We use the word "transition" to structure our discussion, and employ it in a dual sense - as progression from one stage of life to another, and as movement from one place to another. After positioning our study in relation to relevant scholarship in the field of adult education and outlining the theoretical perspective in which our work is grounded, we present our findings, and conclude with some suggestions of how this inquiry can contribute to understanding adult learning in contemporary times and places.

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Published

2014-02-18

How to Cite

Jubas, K., Johnston, D. E. B., & Chiang, A. (2014). Living and Learning across Stages and Places: How Transitions Inform Audience Members’ Understandings of Pop Culture and Health Care. Canadian Journal for the Study of Adult Education, 26(1), 57–75. Retrieved from https://cjsae.library.dal.ca/index.php/cjsae/article/view/2907