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

Abstract

This article is an autoethnographic vignette of a schizoaffective sufferer learning about ‘saneness’ from slasher films. In this paper, theories from popular culture as pedagogy, Mad Studies, and cultivation theory, are used to confirm that saneness in motion pictures (specifically slasher films) can be conceptualized as a site of critical pedagogy. In addition, this paper relates the ways in which sane performativity in slasher films is consumable and made educative by inducting a new notion into adult education and Mad Studies: the pedagogy of saneness. This paper concludes that in order for viewers to steady their shattered psyches they have to learn to live with their ‘abnormality’ rather than shirk it into oblivion.

A Literature Review of Mad Studies as Critical Pedagogy: What is Mad Studies, and How Does it Implicate the Education of Adults?

“…These telling interactions sway how they will manage disclosure during accommodation-seeking in the future (Carette et al, 2018). Another way the university regulates student identity is by endorsing environs of competence and resilience, which forces students to assume ostensibly sane-centered performances to skirt future negative interactions with university staff (Procknow, 2019a(Procknow, , 2019b. For example, students are convinced to pass as healthy-minded-or assume "sane performativity"-where their bodily and psychic cues resemble those of so-called sane students so as not to disrupt the sanecentric undercurrent permeating campuses (Procknow, 2019b).…”

Invisible Lives: Using Autoethnography to Explore the Experiences of Academics Living with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)

“…Collectively, then, studies in adult education emphasize the importance of expanding our understanding of learning disabilities and mental disorders beyond the traditional medical model to include a more holistic socio–cultural understanding of these conditions (Belzer & Ross–Gordon, 2011; McLean, 2011; Rocco, 2011; Rule & Modipa, 2012). Research in this area has underscored the importance of using critical reflection to address the broader challenges posed by mental disorders, and by framing these challenges, not simply as deficits on the part of the individual with the diagnosis, but as educational problems rooted in a lack of knowledge among the neurotypical community (Procknow, 2019). Others have called for more interdisciplinary collaboration between scholars in adult education and disability studies (Clark, 2006) and have pointed out the need for more effective transition services and supports (Johnson, Taga & Hughes, 2018; Patterson, 2018; Grigal & Papay, 2018).…”

Lunacy and (M)adult Learning: Restoring Voice to the Mad Through Adult Education

“…The pieces in this issue suppose how we as adult educators can transition the mad‐minded from the cold, closed confines of the asylum to an equitable environment where they are heard and their knowledge(s) can be shared. Recognizing that those in unsane states of mind struggle to reclaim their voices on their own, this special issue attests that there are dedicated mad‐positive allies (see Castrodale, ), mad people’s historians (see Reaume, ), and fellow mental health consumers (allies in madness) (see Procknow, ) wanting to help and to bring about educational change that expands the universities’ capacity to be mad‐positive and accepting of psychic difference. The authors are not asking for campuses to become asylums housing the most ‘deranged’ and ‘violent’ minds.…”

“…The papers in this issue present educational alternatives to creatively sharing mad people’s knowledges, especially through public pedagogy and popular culture as pedagogy. Popular cultural sources are considered as sites for education: through analysis of mad positive music lyrics and musicians’ resistance to psychiatry (Castrodale, ); motion pictures, to frame saneness as educative and learnable from the mouth of a madman himself (Procknow, ); or public pedagogy such as guided asylum tours (Reaume, ). Combined, these papers point to a deeper theme of what constitutes ‘Mad Culture’ and deems that such a culture can be pedagogical.…”

“…Combined, these papers point to a deeper theme of what constitutes ‘Mad Culture’ and deems that such a culture can be pedagogical. This culture is rich with its own history (Reaume, ), music (Castrodale, ), and means of learning (Procknow, ). It stands apart and separate from the psy‐structures that seek to silence it.…”