Silence or Sanism: A Review of the Dearth of Discussions on Mental Illness in Adult Education

Abstract

This literature review engages mental illness in adult education (AE) to locate what research exists and to suggest a research agenda moving forward. This structured review located research related to mental health issues published in the conference proceedings of the Canadian Association for the Study of Adult Education (CASAE) and the Adult Education Research Conference (AERC) and fourteen international AE journals. AE scholarship focused on identity construction, andragogy and classroom issues, public pedagogy, popular education and arts‐based education, contesting psychiatric knowledge and sanism, and workplace.

The Pedagogy of Saneness: Sane-Centricity in Popular Culture as Pedagogy

“…There is a shortfall of mentally ‘Othered’ males normalizing their own entangles with mental illness in adult education (AE) (Brookfield, ; Procknow, 2017a). Psychiatrized voices in AE have been vitiated by years of imprisoning silence.…”

“…Psychiatrized voices in AE have been vitiated by years of imprisoning silence. This “silence begets sanism” (Procknow, 2017a, p. 18). Sanism is defined as when those who are diagnosed, labelled, or branded as ‘mentally ill’ are defamed and derogated.…”

“…Their mental difference is ‘Othered’ and tarred as inferior (Perlin, ). Yet, the mental ‘Otherization’ and oppression of ‘mad’ folk is seldom ever named in critical pedagogy as sanism (Castrodale, ; Procknow, 2017a). It is only recently that mad scholarship has started to enter into AE and begun to capture mad students’ voices and lived experience (Brookfield, ; Castrodale, ).…”

Breaking Silence through Mad Disclosures: A Comment on Greg Procknow's ‘Silence or Sanism’

“…Like Greg Procknow (Procknow, ), I am implicated in any adult educational discussion of mental illness, having been diagnosed with clinical depression and anxiety. So it's refreshing for me to see his piece appear in this journal.…”

An Invited Response to Silence or Sanism: A Review of the Dearth of Discussions on Mental Illness in Adult Education by Greg Procknow

“…Procknow () seeks to define a problem of gaps in the AE research. He takes up a mad analysis, to work with and within the language of madness and Mad Studies to ascertain the extent AE engages mental illness.…”