Critical Social Learning, Public Pedagogy, and Crime Fiction Writing
In this recently completed small-scale internally funded research study, I consider how writers of crime fiction provide opportunities for adults to engage in critical social learning by exploring a range of social issues. Critical social learning, whereby learners are challenged to reflect more deeply upon their underlying assumptions and belief, is often difficult to foster. Crime fiction delves into various moral, political, and ethical issues. Agatha Christie referred to crime fiction writing as “modern day morality tales”. Critical and feminist scholars, such as Giroux (2004), Luke (1994), and Sandlin, Wright & Clark (2013) point out how public pedagogy can be used to describe learning connected to a variety of public cultural experiences ranging from popular theatre to museums. Crime fiction may provide a resource for engaging in public pedagogy.