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Educating Professionals to Think Critically and Creatively: Using Fiction to Teach in Professional Studies

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Professional Education with Fiction Media

Abstract

Drawing upon research with fiction writers, this chapter explores the potential of using fiction as a valuable resource for educators teaching in professional studies programmes. Fiction may help learners understand better the viewpoints of their clients, students and patients, by encouraging them to consider how the world is experienced by people who have very different backgrounds and life experiences. Novels can delve into complex or “wicked problems” that exist in society which are not easily remedied. Through fiction, the power of story is revealed as an important mechanism for adult learning. A brief analysis of how a narrative theory of learning can provide insights into these experiences is developed drawing upon the work of Bakhtin and Mezirow. Examples of how fiction can be used to teach in higher education professional programmes are also provided.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Education, Mount Saint Vincent University, Halifax, NS, Canada

    Patricia Gouthro

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  1. Patricia Gouthro
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Correspondence to Patricia Gouthro .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Huddersfield, Huddersfield, UK

    Christine Jarvis

  2. Faculty of Education, Mount Saint Vincent University, Halifax, NS, Canada

    Patricia Gouthro

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Gouthro, P. (2019). Educating Professionals to Think Critically and Creatively: Using Fiction to Teach in Professional Studies. In: Jarvis, C., Gouthro, P. (eds) Professional Education with Fiction Media. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-17693-8_9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-17693-8_9

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  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-17692-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-17693-8

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