Postmodernism

Post-modern just means coming after modernism. The term is used to refer to a period in history (the
one were in now), but it is also used to refer to a set of ideas that go with this period in history. This
set of ideas is a reaction toand, to some extent, a rejection ofthe ideas of modernism.
What are these ideasand why do they matter?
First of all, what are modernisms big ideas? These ideas are important because they frame most of
the thinking of most people in Western cultures (whether they know it or not). They also frame our
major institutions, including those of education.
Beginning in the midlate 18th century, the modern period of European history was a time of great
social, political, and economic change (the Industrial Revolution and the American and French
Revolutions took place in this period). It saw the development of capitalism, industrialization, nation
states, and science, as well as a major expansion of European interests into the rest of the world. It
was seen as a time of great progressand progress is an important metaphor for this time
All this was made possible by some big ideas, which, very briefly, are as follows.
First, is the idea of people as rational, autonomous individuals or selves, who think and act
independently of other selves. This idea, which seems natural and obvious to those of us enculturated
and educated in the Western European tradition, underpins all modern social, political, and economic
thought (including education). It is, however, a construct, and it is a construct that has some important
material effects. Among other things, it excludes many people, and it de-emphasizes the relationships
and connections between people.
The second big idea of modernism is the notion of reason and knowledge (particularly scientific
knowledge) as the route to human freedom and happiness (and education as having a major role to
play in this). The knowledge being talked about here is know what knowledge of a particular kind: it is
knowledge that describes and articulates a stable order of things, a grand plan that will, eventually, all
be known. It is also knowledge that assumes a particular kind of knowerthe rational, autonomous,
individual described above.
These ideas have long been criticized by people from groups who are marginalized by them (e.g.
women, indigenous peoples, and working-class people).
Post-modernism is basically a critique of these ideas.
According to one theorist, post modernism is the passage from solid (stable) times to liquid times
(Bauman 2007). It is the end of traditional structures and institutions, and the end of what another
theorist calls grand narrativesthe big, one-size-fits-all stories of modern thought (Lyotard 1984).
There is a loss of faith in the idea of progress, the idea that we are gradually heading along the one
true pathway towards certain universal goals such as the full picture of knowledge, or equality and
justice. Instead, there is an emphasis on multiple pathways and plurality; on diversity and difference;
and on the partiality of all knowledge (that is, the idea that we can only have an incomplete picture, and
the idea that all knowledge is biased). Change is seen, not as a linear progression, but as a series of
networks and flows, connections and reconnections that, because they are always forming and
reforming, never have time to solidify.
Thus, where modern thought emphasizes direction, order, coherence, stability, simplicity, control,
autonomy, and universality, postmodern thought emphasizes fragmentation, diversity, discontinuity,
contingency, pragmatism, multiplicity, and connections.