postmodernist views of education

• Knowledge


  teachers and educators are biased

  knowledge is constructed- can be learnt and disproved (known as discourse)

  knowledge must be constructed by students and teachers together
• culture 


  unification of society leads to oppression because it was based on one dominant view

  ethnic minorities have right to assert own cultural identity against dominant culture
• Henry Giroux (neo marxist)

  disagrees with Bowles and gintis (correspondence)

  views in line with Paul willis

  w/c students do not passively accept everything they are taught

  shape their own education and sometimes resist discipline imposed by school

  schools are sites of ideological struggle (they do not hold all the power)

  schools possess relative autonomy from the economic base; they are not totally shaped by the needs of capitalism
• robin usher + Richard Edwards 1994

  no single curriculum- school should teach different things and accept different truths

  • education to cater to all whatever your social class, sexual orientation, ethnicity and gender
  • education has been a consumption (e.g. adult education)

  education should be

  • lifelong and flexible
  • available online
  • available whenever and wherever
  • varied in terms of teaching styles
  • specific to the community it is serving

  evaluation

  • rejects idea that some subjects are more important/useful than others
  • different to implement country wide
• marrow and torres


  society is becoming more diverse

  inequalities now based on ethnicity, gender, sexuality etc. are equally as significant as class

  society should explain how education reproduces and legitimises all forms of inequality
• Moore and Hickox 1994

  the national curriculum will fail because of the increasingly diverse nature of society

  continual testing, target setting and recording are seen as ways of keeping order and control
• Kenneth thompson 1992


  modernity vs post modernity

  modernity

  • education was the same and tedious

  post modernity

  • education should be varied and creative
  • schools can break free from oppressive uniform

  globalisation

  • greater variety of jobs
  • education should prepare young people for this variety
  • should be customised to meet the differing needs of diverse communities

  examples

  • more faith schools
  • specialist schools
  • increased use of technology for learning
• evaluations


  positive light of education

  recognises diversity

  unclear definition of post modernity, unclear about whether they are for or against or where they are

  there is political and economic control in society

  class is still influential

  unclear whether they are criticising or praising education
• criticisms from functionalist view

  ignores consensus of opinion

  ignores the need to co-operate

  assumes people want an individual identity and don't enjoy belonging
• criticism from marxist view

  ignores class differences in educational experience

  ignores economic constraints on education

  assumes global equality- not all societies are equal
• criticisms from feminist view

  assumes all women have educational freedom

  forgets foundation of education are patriarchal- gender differences in subject choice

  ignores patriarchy in the wider world