POSTMODERNIS

M AND
EDUCATION
Submitted By,
Namitha Susan Jose
CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION

DEFINITION

POST MODERNIST VIEW ON EDUCATION

MODERNIST AND POST MODERNIST EDUCATION PHILOSPHY

CONCLUSION

REFERNCE

2
INTRODUCTION
What is Postmodernism?

• The term “postmodernism” first entered the philosophical ◈ Choice

lexicon in 1979, with the publication of The Postmodern ◈ Diversity
Condition by Jean-François Lyotard. ◈ Freedom
◈ Fluid concepts: Gender, Sex, Family
• Postmodernism was a reaction against modernism. Modernism
◈ Sense of self identity
was generally based on idealism and a utopian vision of human
◈ Rejects objectivity
life and society and a belief in progress. 
◈ No absolute or universal truths
• Philosophers who contributed to postmodernism include
Friedrich Nietzsche, Martin Heidegger, Jacques Derrida,
Michel Foucault, and Karl Marx
3
Definition
Postmodernism is largely a reaction to the assumed certainty of scientific, or objective, efforts to

explain reality. In essence, it stems from a recognition that reality is not simply mirrored in human

understanding of it, but rather, reality is constructed as the mind tries to understand its own particular and

personal reality. For this reason, postmodernism is highly skeptical of explanations which claim to be

valid for all groups, cultures, traditions, or races, and instead focuses on the relative truths of each person.

In the postmodern understanding, interpretation is everything; reality only comes into being through our

interpretations of what the world means to us individually. (“Glossary: Postmodernism”)

4
Post modern philosophy is a philosophical direction which is critical of certain foundational

assumptions of western philosophy especially of I8th century enlightenment.

» Emphasis the power relationships and discourse in construction of truth

» Denies existence of an objective reality
» Denial of any absolute knowledge or universal truths.
» Existence of ever-shifting framework of assessment
» Acknowledges the fragmented society
» No shared norms and values
» Anti-authoritative nature
» Inclusive and democartic
» Unjustifies traditional system of knowledge
» Change was evitable 5
Modernity/Modernism
~ Late 19th and early 20th century
~ Shift from agrarian to industrial, capitalist society – a rapid growth in cities and advent od
science and technology
~ Development of modern industrial society
~ World war I
~  Based on using rational and logical means to gain knowledge.
~ The nation state was considered as the primary organisation – a powerful centralized
authority
~ Prominent figures such as Charles Darwin, Sigmund Freud, Karl Marx, etc. illustrated the
need for the prevailing assumptions about the society to be reassessed.

6
 POST MODERNIST VIEW OF EDUCATION

Robin Usher(1997) suggests that education in a postmodern society is characterized by diversity:

suited to the need of the learners and changes that have taken place in the economy .

• Variation and Evolution is considered to be an important concept in Post modern education

• The big theories (like Functionalists, Marxists, Feminists, New Right, etc.) about societies
are irrelevant because there is so much change and uncertainty, no idea can be seen as true.

7
Moore and Hickox (1994) stated that it is impossible to provide a
curriculum that suits everyone, either a national or vocational
curriculum, because of the social changes that are taking place in
society.
» Schools should be more accepting and accommodating differences
» Schools should be more understanding and interesting
» Choices must be given rather than imposing set of rules.
» Against universalizing nature of education
‘if there is no truth, then it is inappropriate to have one size
that fits all education system’

8
Modernist view of education
» Education was controlled by the state
» Uniformity in school types
» Education was fixed – time and place
» Educators ideally should be
authoritative transmitters of unbiased
knowledge
» Learning is teacher-led
» National context
Postmodernist view of education
» Education was independent from state
» Free and alternative schools, home schooling
» Flexible mode of education
» Educators are biased facilitators and co-"constructors"
of knowledge
» Learning was student led, active participant, through
experience.
» Global context
9
 POST MODERN EDUCATIONAL AIMS
~ Teaching Critical Thinking

• To challenge traditions and public thinking through the process of questioning any
thought.
• Schools were to educate non critically and reproduce everything which was in the
society in the past
• Education is a process of action than a passive viewer
• Necessary to critically evaluate about the way of knowledge and how it was formed.

10
~ Production of Knowledge

• Any institution or belief system should be critically evaluated.

• To resist any formal characterization of theses that could prescribe a coherent,
assertive position
• Reality, knowledge, and value are constructed by discourses
• Engage in discourse and discussions - Prevailing discourses in any society will
reflect the interests and values of the dominant or elite group

11
~ Development of individual and social identity.

• ‘Becoming’ is better than mere existence.

• Self creation brings in individuality
• Choice, diversity and freedom varies
• Varied culture and tradition results in our own subjectivities
• Education helps individuals construct their identities rather than discover them.
• Individuals and society progress when people are empowered to attain their own
chosen goals.

12
Conclusion
~ Postmodernism is often traced to post–World War II thought and action. The critical event of
bombing turned the society and reassessed the meaning of life

~ The aim of education was now evaluated and critically analyzed. Schools were considered as
an agent to bring a social change.

~ Post modernists education focused on the complexities of the society. They voiced the
suppressed and questioned the authority.

~ Postmodernism begins to question some of the basic beliefs and values of the traditionalists
system.

13
Conclusion
~ Post modernists believed that education should help students construct diverse and personally useful
values in the context of their cultures.

~ Educators were facilitators and catalyst in construction of knowledge. Postmodernist educators embrace
and encourage individual expression

Postmodernism, if anything general might be said of it, represents a certain kind of critical attitude,
most often defined in relation to what it is not. It has been a reaction against Enlightenment values and
rationality; an extreme form of antirealism or social constructivism. These are not just negative or critical
views toward particular traditional philosophical claims; they question at a more fundamental level the very
possibility of developing a coherent, comprehensive alternative theoretical position

14
Reference
Aylesworth, Gary. “Postmodernism.” The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2015,
plato.stanford.edu/archives/spr2015/entries/postmodernism.
Edwards, Richard, and Robin Usher. Postmodernism and Education: Different Voices, Different
Worlds (One World Archaeology; 25). 1st ed., Routledge, 1994.
“The Rise of Modernism.” Lumen, 2021, courses.lumenlearning.com/boundless
arthistory/chapter/the-rise-of-modernism.

15
THANK
S!
NAMITHA SUSAN JOSE
101