A volume in Critical Constructions: Studies on Education and Society
Punk music and community have been a piece of United States culture
since the early-1970s. Although varied scholarship on Punk exists in a
variety of disciplines, the educative aspect of Punk engagement,
specifically the Do-It-Yourself (DIY) ethos, has yet to be fully
explored by the Education discipline. This study attempts to elucidate
the experiences of adults who describe their engagement with Punk as
educative.
To better know this experience, is to also better understand the ways in
which Punk engagement impacts learner self-concept and learning
development. Phenomenological in-depth interviewing of six adult
participants located in Los Angeles, California and Gainesville, Florida
informs the creation of narrative data, once interpreted, reveals
education journeys that contain mis-educative experiences, educative
experiences, and ultimately educative healing experiences.
Using Public Pedagogy, Social Learning Theory, and Self-Directed
Learning Development as foundational constructs, this work aims to
contribute to scholarship that brings learning contexts in from the
margins of education rhetoric and into the center of analysis by better
understanding and uncovering the essence of the learning experience
outside of school. Additionally, it broadens the understanding of Punk
engagement in an attempt to have an increased nuanced perspective of the
independent learning that may be perceived as more educative that any
formal attempt within our school systems.
