Using popular culture in professional education to foster critical curiosity and learning

Abstract This article presents findings from an inquiry at the nexus of three areas of adult education scholarship: critical pedagogy, university-based professional education, and popular culture. I am investigating how the incorporation of popular culture into professional education can foster students’ engagement with theory and thorny issues. Such engagement, I argue, promotes a critical form of learning and curiosity that furthers students’ development as ethical, responsible, reflective practitioners and adults. Data reported here is drawn from conversations with students in three courses that I delivered. In presenting my findings, I discuss three forms of learning that participants described: learning concepts, learning perspectives, and learning relevance. I close with a reflection on implications for my teaching practice and postsecondary professional education more broadly.