Ene-Silvia Sarv postmodernism

Estonian Education moment of

Estonian education 1987 - 1997 as the moment of postmodernism1 Ene - Silvia Sarv
Tallinn University Institute for Educational Sciences E-mail: enesarv@tlu.ee

It is rather popular in later years to overlook and overwrite things in the key of po-mo. It can be seen as attempt to see another side(s) of fenomenas and to study them in wider or more complex context than academic tradition of last 200 years has established. Somewhere it can be seen as longing for academic freedom with less boundaries, prescriptions and narrowness of established rubrics of disciplines and methods. At least for me this is the case what brought to this article. With its differences and similarities the process of the transition of post-socialist countries during the last decades gives copiously material for analysis and interpretation. In Estonia the transition period began with a mass movement against mining of phosphorites in Estonia in 1987. This was planned by the central Soviet Union government in Moscow and could dangerously affect underground waters and all nature of 1/3 of the country`s territory2. So the ecological challence was one strongest voices for changes in the second half of eighties and gave arose massdemonstrations with quite unusual forms. (bicing and motorcycling ohu-retked etc), what became so powerful as the singing revolution (1987-1988) and the Baltic-chain (1988) with hundreds thousands of participants.

The Congress of Teachers of Estonia, taking place in March, 1987, which began energetic liberation of school education from excessive authoritarianism. The processes which began with this event in education we call educational renewal. In the shadow of this socalled "phosphorite war" was left Is it helpful to turn to postmodernist vocabulary, methods and strategies in order to study and characterize our time in general way? This article is an attempt to interpret educational renewal in the postmodern key. Postmodern point of view was relatively unknown to many actively involved in education during the first years of educational renewal because of the limitations of information availability and its one-sidedness, but also on account of the relative "young age" of postmodernism as a school of thought. In this article I shall attempt to adapt some ways of approach and models used in Lyotard's book "The Postmodern Condition: A Report on Knowledge". Choosing this work among many others in the field is justified by the fact that the changes of the most general notions, attitudes and opinions during educational renewal posses the characteristic traits of metanarrative changes; the changes in the society, economic foundations and the principles of governing the education system, its functioning and financing posses the traits of changes in the moves and rules of the (language) game3.
Published: Sarv, E.-S. (2001). The condition of postmodernism and changes in Estonian education 1987 - 1997. In Liimets, A. (Hrsq). Integration und Integrativitt als Probleme in der Erziehungswissenschaft. Berlin, Wien, New York: Peter Lang, 135-152. 2 In this writing I turn to the article by M. Lauristin and P. Vihalemm Postcommunist transition period in Estonia: Possible interpretation. Akadeemia 4/1998 - 5/1998.
1

This was shown in Kmme aastat paradigmamuutust (Ten years of paradigmatic change), master`s thesis by E.-S. Sarv. Today it would be possible to turn to much wider and complex study like it is successfully done by R. Usher and R. Edwards in Postmodernism and Education (1996)
3

Ene-Silvia Sarv postmodernism

Estonian Education moment of

Postmodern view/paradigm I understand firstly as "the conditions of the state of knowledge in the most developed countries" (Lyotard, p. XXIII); secondly, in my interpretation I rely on a simpler definition by Lyotard, according to which postmodernism can be treated as "incredulity toward metanarratives". (Lyotard, XXIV). Narrative and narrative knowledge. I use these notions within the limits Lyotard set. According to him, narratives "define the criterium of competence and/or illustrate how to implement this. Thus, they define what is right to do or say in a certain culture, and since they themselves are a part of this culture, they are justified and legalized simply because they work the way they work". (Lyotard, 23) The existence or validity of narrative knowledge cannot be measured/defined on the basis of scientific knowledge, and vice versa - their foundation is different. (Lyotard, 26) "Scientific knowledge cannot know and make known that it is the true knowledge without resorting to the other, narrative, kind of knowledge, which from its point of view is no knowledge at all." (Lyotard, 29) One of Lyotard's key notions of postmodernism - metanarrative or "grand thing", "big/important story" - as it sounds in Estonian, can be viewed functioning as follows: (Meta)narratives in analogy with paradigms and metaphors4 provide a general, uniting system of thought, into which all other ideas can be incorporated. Metanarrative is more dispersed, conventional, multi-shaped, rather emotionally more surfeited than - exactly fixed, defined. One grand story being exchanged for another is conditioned by its inability to cope with incorporating and associating the growing amount of facts and observations unsuitable for it. The new story is capable of incorporating new phenomena together with the content of the previous metanarrative and after a while to associate them. Metanarratives create criteria for evaluating the truthfulness, includeness and meaning of experience-based and traditional standpoints, statements and views, and also for control and pressure to create a measure of "right thinking, right decisions". Metanarrative offers a possibility and a way for defining what should (not) be considered as movement forward, progressive development. These three ways of metanarrative functioning allow to be implemented into the development of education in Estonia during the last decade, starting in 1987. Through them it is possible to interpret the processes which have taken place in our education. As the very starting point we can take the definition of postmodernism from Lyotard: Simplifying to the extreme, I define postmodern as incredulity toward metanarratives." (Lyotard, xxiv), that can be re-defined as the state or mood of thinking, of consciousness5.

This was the issue studied by P. Kreitzberg in his Legitimation of educational aims: paradigms and metaphors (Lund, 1993). How for democratization and humanization as metaphors worked in Estonia has been shown in On democracy and humanism to teacher and Ten years of paradigmatic change by E.-S. Sarv.
4

It is said by Olsen : "Postmodernism, then, is a mode of consciousness (and not, it should be emphasized, a historical period) that is highly suspicious of the belief in shared speech, shared values, and shared perceptions " (Olsen, 143)

Ene-Silvia Sarv postmodernism

Estonian Education moment of

So one of the main aspects of Lyotard`s postmodern condition is incredulity towards metanarratives. Let us look on grand metanarratives in Estonia in 1987 and their development during the following years. In Estonian education in 1987-1988 we can specify the following metanarratives 6: Soviet international education as the shaper of marxist and materialistic worldview and a harmoniously developed person(ality) Soviet Union-wide the ideal of Estonian national school, national education as the carrier of culture and shaper of personality, which included a more humanitarian, taking into consideration children's persoanlity differences, approach, and which was understood to be an essential guarantee/factor for the survival of a people/nation. a possibility for Estonia's independence (at first economic and educational, later political as well), release from the Soviet regime and emergence of a democratic order and mechanisms of consensus, including creation of independent education and curriculum the impossibility of non-socialist development (in economic and social spheres), as well as the impossibility of non-soviet, non-marxist treatment of man, education and knowledge considering local (Estonia, USSR) science, education, especially that acquired during Soviet time (including scientific degrees) as of no value, orientation towards and search for reliable basis in "foreign experience", "foreign experts" and "EU demands", "world standarts" unconditional rejection of orientation towards EU and the West (in economy, culture, as well as in science and education) and aspiration towards independence and/or nation-centering in economy, as well as in culture and education. These were/are "grand things" for certain groups in our society - (meta)narratives with their cultural and political (ideological) background. 1.1. What were the layers of incredulity in Estonia's education in 1987 through to midnineties?

In 1987 - 1988 there was one layer of incredulity - towards the metanarrative of Soviet
international education. This incredulity was shared by a large number of educationalists, teachers, as well as administrators, and became the foundation for the process of school reform. This process started with the Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic Teachers' Congress in March, 1987, which was followed by several brainstorming sessions (for 120 - 300 participants each from all social and educational groups as well as the leaders of educational perestroika in Russia). The purpose of the reform was to create and develop "Estonia`s national school, independent, national education". Concepts and platforms were developed with wide participation of practicing teachers.(Sarv, Demokraatiast 1997, 57 ) The step-by-step development introduced openly new metaphors of democratisation and humanisation and of the child/human-centredness of education (Kreitzberg 1993, 6-7, 10) and so drew the Estonia`s education away from Soviet international education as narrative in its contents (allowing different branches and options in curriculum on schools` own decision, new subject-programmes, textbooks from Estonia`s authors, etc.) as well as in
The following is derived from the content of articles in Estonian media and events 1987 - 1997 These can be seen as expression of (meta)narratives. The referred article by M. Lauristin and P. Vihalemm expresses these via rubrics of events, content, symbols in periodisation of the transition (pp. 687 - 700). Anyway it is as known to author, the first attempt to differentiate (meta)narratives of thisss period and as such needs deeper study in the future.
6

Ene-Silvia Sarv postmodernism

Estonian Education moment of

organization (5-days school-week, school-year divided into trimesters, length of lessons 35 - 40 - 45 minutes on school decision, etc.). In 1987 - 89 another type of incredulity towards another metanarrative - new, developing metanarrative of Estonia`s independence, recovering from Soviet regime, creation of independent (from Soviet Union-wide) education and curricula. was developing. In media a number of articles appeared that carried suspicion towards renewal, towards first steps in the direction of market economy (especially in the field of educational work7), evaluation of the work of educationalists towards democratical decision-making and experiments in solid consensus-based and group-work techniques8 the third layer of incredulity in the same years - heterogenic incredulity towards nonsocialist way of development in economical and social spheres (more latently science, technology) and towards non-soviet conception of man, education and schooling, knowledge can be most clearly identified in the field of politics. There was the so-called Interfront - the movement of Russian-speaking (Soviet army men, factory workers and middle-class technical intelligence), most active in the end of eighties and in hidden way it was the "nomenclature" of scientists and administrators. Their incredulity mostly was developed from the fear of losing their (small) privileges, not to be able to adapt to new knowledge and pattern of action in the middle of 1990-ies new layers of incredulity developed: one, which does not trust local science, education, etc., and is looking for justification and support from "foreign experiences" and "EU demands"; another, which does not trust unconditional EU orientation9. This points to the existence of two new (meta?)narratives, carriers of which (metanarrators) being different political forces in society. Two of the first large metanarratives - one strongly Soviet-based, and the other - derived partly from memories of Estonian Republic (1920 - 1940), partly from knowledge and experiences acquired about "the outside world", and the feeling of discontent with the totalitarian regime in the country, arising out of it - became involved in a contradiction, conflict. This conflict can be viewed as a state/stage of the change of one metanarrative into another. With hindsight it can be noted that it was the Estonian variation of the two great metanarratives - Soviet and capitalist democracy. By today, the belief in one (Soviet) or another (unfettered development of free market, state and power, culture, education) "grand thing" has become transformed into many "little things" (everyone is busy with his/her own things) both in society and education. It is revealed by uncoordinated legislative acts, degeneration of initiatives with potentially nationwide importance into short-term projects engaged in rivalry (also in science), lack of or shrinking away from clear long-term perspectives, striving to achieve fast, local economic effects without taking into consideration the wider context and possible social repercussions. Such state of affairs can be viewed as "postmodern condition", "postmodern in a glimpse of the eye". The following metanarrative is in the process of creation in Estonia - European Union metanarrative, which in education reveals itself in aspirations towards "Eurostandart", references to EU documents and control mechanisms, "in order to achieve the EU level". And as the opposite of this, the media is an outlet for mistrust towards all things EU.
There is the Valikbibliograafia - bibliography of writings on education 1987 - 1994. These processes in educational changes are described for example in Demokraatiast ja humanismist petajale (Sarv, 1997, pp 60, 67-68, 78, 84). 9 Both directions are reflected in several articles by P. Kreitzberg , E. Garuberg, E.-S. Sarv.
7 8

Ene-Silvia Sarv postmodernism

Estonian Education moment of

So we arrived into the stage where the belief into one (Soviet) or another big story (independent national state, free market, free and successful development of state/power, culture, education) has changed into lot of small narratives in society as well as in education. - this can be seen as postmodern condition. And the next (meta)narrative is creating itself for Estonia - the (meta)narrative of European Community - in education it shows itself as seeking for European Standards, references to EU`s papers and control mechanisms to reach European level. In order to have a better overview on the "stratas of incredutility", the following table can be useful10: 1987 - 1988 incredulity towards Soviet Union international education 1988 - 1989 incredulity towards the sincerety of renewal 1990 - 1996 1997 - 1998

drive towards EU
(West) educational standart, incredulity towards local science, education

drive towards

creating "our own national school, our own national education", incredulity towards all those who doubt this goal towards the possibility of Estonia's independence, including the areas of education and science

incredulity between different groupings

incredulity towards "foreign" implementations

incredulity

incredulity towards Estonia's independence in the area of education

incredulity

towards reforms and their "justification", "scientific nature", fear to lose one's place, position in society/group

incredulity towards a nonsocialist way of development According to Lyotard a (meta)narrative (as well as introduction of certain game rules by someone who is not participating in this game) is violence towards those acting in a
10

This tabel was developed in author`s thesis Ten Years of Paradigmatic change.

Ene-Silvia Sarv postmodernism

Estonian Education moment of

narrative. Development of science, as well as of society, is accompanied by changes of (meta)narratives, conflicts. 2. If we apply another Lyotards' approach - the language game as metaphor or as a (mental) model, it is possible to think in terms of "new moves, new roles, new games" and interprete via these the processes Estonia`s education has gone through. When applying the concept of the (language) game, I use Lyotard's (derived from Wittgenstein) approach, which can be worded in short as a defining set of rules for making the right moves during different types of expressions. (Lyotard, 10). In this case I widen the idea of the language game, attempting, on the basis of the logic of the idea, to observe the processes that have taken place in society and education. This is justified by the view that as game rules we can take the narratives that provide science, literature and arts with their legitimacy in social formations and the "crisis of narratives" in the context for the postmodern condition (Lyotard, XXIII). Lyotard characterizes the language games with three main traits: rules do not include their own justification, but are the result of an agreement (between players); without rules there is no game; even the smallest change of rules changes the character of the game, the game as a whole; every expression can/should be viewed as a game move. (Lyotard, 10) According to Lyotard, there are two types of the progress of knowledge: one is connected with a new move, a new argument in case of clearly defined, welldeveloped rules; second - with finding (inventing) new rules, that is - with changing the game. (Lyotard, 43) The emergence of new moves, innovations began already in 1980 ("Letter by 40" to Soviet Union Communist Party Central Committee about the real ideological pressure and need for deep changes in the political culture). Of course, this is partially arbitrary, because there had been made "new moves" in Estonian education and even more in economy already in the sixties. Soviet Union-wide experiments (self-management, polytechnical education in school, etc.) were often successful in Estonia, yet proving ineffective in the Soviet Union as a whole. In the field of education at least three essential qualitative changes happened, according to the model of "new moves": fighting for and winning in the sixties and seventies the 11-year Estonian language school, school textbooks by Estonian authors and classes with special, increased attention paid to Estonian writers; creating and implementing in the seventies and eighties of a system of life-long teacher in-service training; creating of the Public Institute of Pedagogical Research as the basis and facilitation for scientific activities of working teachers (integration of scientific activity into work practice); emergence of several subject teachers' associations (predecessors of contemporary NGOs) in the beginning of the eighties, etc. In the Soviet Union dimension these all were "new moves" - all made in an experiment mode. (Sarv, 1997, 51-52)

Ene-Silvia Sarv postmodernism

Estonian Education moment of

In 1986 it was the Estonian national tricolour, as separated coloured flags and transparents a year before, the tricolour could now be openly brought out; there were environmental and cultural clubs and societies - as a memory of freedom more than fifty years ago and as preparation for independence from Soviet/communist ideological thinking and the appearance of NGOs in the nineties; the hundred-year tradition of Estonia-wide song and dance festivals that brought every 5 years together 20-30 thousand singers and dancers in national costumes and was the preparation for "singing revolution". In education there were a number of specialized schools, classes, textbooks by Estonian authors even in the deep stagnation of the 70-ies. The real wave of innovations in education came up in 1987 - 1989 - both in the structure and methods of school and educational renewal, and in the content of education. But still it was on the field of (widening) the paradigm based on the foundation of Marxism and carried mainly in marxist terminology, in the frames of (widening) rules of the game of Soviet society. (Sarv, 1997, 62). These moves grew into the new quality, into the paralogue, as a series of moves - the scriptlet of the educational happenings. In 1987-89 it was inside the general roles of the old regime and ideology as "new moves in the old game" (the wide range of actions/enterprises for renewal of education in Estonia, empowerment of individuals and groups via massive brainstorming and development of new curricula. This culminated in Estonia`s Forum of Culture and Education in 1989 (more than 4000 participating delegates) where Estonia`s Committee of Education was elected at the very top of the educational renewal; last regulations of Central Communist institutions about the educational changes in 1989, non-registration of the Council of Education in 1989-90 etc.) - the old-fashioned roles opposed the series of new moves. Even in the first half of the nineties events that can be seen as moves, innovations, as straightforward development in the "game" for democratic states we have to see as paralogues, as inventions ("The moves, that seek to displace the rules of the game, the unforeseeable moves", Reading) in Estonia. In culture and education, for example, these were different NGOs. First of all these NGOs, that represent the "groups of interest" via their delegated representatives and work on future perspectives for all society. Several of these umbrella-organisations we can find in the field of education. The annual Estonia`s Forum of Education (1995, 1996, 1997) is the brightest and most established example. 3. If we take Lyotard's approach on knowledge we can see the condition of postmodernism as well. I do not see this "condition" mainly as marginality or destruction, as it is used by some of the authors but as the process of transition from modern or positivist condition to the next stage of synthesis or symbiosis, or to the new way of thinking, interaction, relationships. In Estonian education we can see this: in clear polarities of competencies, values and the processes-based general part of the new state curriculum and the mostly factology-based subject-part of curricula. in the character of processes and projects in education which are moving away, getting free from (state) control, from "narrative" or "paradigmatic" control. If we look at the tendencies in global educational development (as seen via the Internet, for example) - there is the clear picture of net-like delocalisation, global (learning) communities. The synthesis approach and the symbiotic approach that can be sensed in holistic, global models are present and finding their way to post-socialist Estonia as well. Taking the step behind the "scientifically true" is seen as the possibility to find some new sources for future knowledge.

Ene-Silvia Sarv postmodernism

Estonian Education moment of

To sum up the above mentioned it would be interesting to try to compare a certain quintessence of postmodernism as viewed from the West, and the "re-wording" of its different aspects in the context of Estonia. The idea of such an approach and the source material for it comes from Martin Irvine11. Martin Irvine observes J. - F. Lyotard's and F. Jameson's treatment of postmodernism and from it a table is derived of differences between modernism and postmodernism. Employing the above discussion and writings by P. Kreitzberg, M. Lauristin and P. Vihalemm, V. Ruus and by the author of this work, where the renewal of Estonia and its education is analysed/interpreted, the tendencies present in Irvine's table can also be presented in the form of the table below. In the first column a part of Irvine's characteristic traits of modernism is re-worded to suit the situation in Estonia, the postmodernism column is in accordance with Irvine's treatment, but is shortened and re-arranged. In the third and fourth columns are mentioned the tendencies which this author has derived from the works of the above mentioned authors and often point to other (including polar decisions') potential possibilities.
Modernism (modernist Estonia and education)
hierarchy, order, centralised control; unification centralised permission of recognised renewal, curricula, schoolbooks investment into big politics (national state, Soviet Republic, party)

Postmodernism

Tendency (in the system of education) in the end of the 80ies

decentralisation, giving the initiative and the right to choose to schools, the "influx" of new educational paradigms investment into "big ideas" (IME12, People's Front, Interfront, national state, contiguity of citizenhood), stress on respect towards and importance of the individual, subjectivity metanarrative about the national culture, national state, democracy versus ideological, scientific and economic dependency on USSR or EU entrance of the global and national dimension into a narrative, facilitation of scientific production, the role of national science and lifelong learning as a narrative

Tendency (in the system of education) currently

strengthening of centralised control (on local and state levels) - state inspection, state exam centre; delegating the responsibility to the level of school, self-government (chaotic) stresses on separate parties and reformers (ignoring "others", lack of comprehension), e.g. the large number of educational conferences and forums in 1997; short-term perspective of quick success (election success, profit, crisis solutions, liquidation of small schools) demolition or/and ignoring of "stories", including the narrative of school and education renewal; fluctuation of the myth of "Estonia's good education" and other education myths scepticism towards a process of renewal through parties and movements; wide introduction of machinery coupled with the duality: "Information society? Yes!" versus "Computers change nothing!"

anarchy, hollow order; disappearance of centralised control

investment/input into micropolitics, institutionalised power flounders, identity policy

"master' narratives and metanarratives about culture and national identity; myths about the cultural and ethnic origin "master" narrative about progress through science and machinery

local narratives; ironic deconstruction/demo lition of "master" narratives; countermyths about the origin scepticism towards progress, antimachinery reactions; "new age" religions

The Po-Mo Page: http://WWW.georegtown.edu/irvinemj/technoculture/pomo.html (January March, 1998) 12 IME - (wonder) - Estonia of self-managed economy - the concept of economical development, 1988 - 1989
11

Ene-Silvia Sarv postmodernism knowledge possession as an absolute - the attempt to grasp totality; encyclopaedia; rule of real sciences (especially as a way of thinking) centredness, concentration, centralised knowledge navigation, information management, knowing "at the right time", the Web

Estonian Education moment of attempts to re-think the knowledge, to stress the importance of the humanitarian approach rudiments of knowledge-based economy in education

dispersion, spreading, network and shared knowledge

locality of knowledge and processes and network connections, in-between knowledge

books as the main and sufficient authority, the carrier of knowledge; library as a system of printed knowledge determinedness

hypermedia as an overcomer/overcomi ng of the printed media's physical borders; the Web or the Net as an information system indeterminedness emergence of non-linear casuality by the side of linear belief in media division of reliable media on the language principle (russian language-speaking population USSR and Russia, estonian language-speaking people - Estonia, Finland and other Western media); critical approach to separate publications and channels, derived from public manipulation with facts original, yet with mass participation enterprises (both in society and in education)

access to the plentifulness of global knowledge (restricted by technical and language possibilities and by the stereotype of book-centred learning); in the system of education hidden centralisation dominates, strengthened through state exams and other similar mechanisms; tendencies of division and transparency are weak books still rule as carriers of primary information, and favoured in education, usage of parallel textbooks is hindered economically, the role of hypermedia is growing fast, but mainly among Estonian languagespeaking people relative chaos - simultaneous existence of regulations (expectations) and self-initiative traditional belief in the truthfulness of printed-heard-watched information, although there appear doubts and denial; in contrast to this, a more critical and analysing approach to media appears; in learning situations - the contradiction between the used-to "one right textbook" and the plentifulness of parallel study materials and information sources, and their contradictions

(root)depth belief in "the real" behind media and description, presentation, authenticity of "the original, genuine"

risome, surface hyper-reality, imagefatigue; superiority of simulation over "the real thing", images and texts as copies without "the original source"; "as seen on TV/MTV" stronger than reality

mass culture, mass consumption with a restricted nomenclature

open-mass culture, niche-oriented production and market

centralised/state and ideologically determined radio and television media, centralised

interactive, clientserver type, distrubuted media (the Net, the Web)

emergence of selfinitiative educational information (through groups and movements) by the side of

still the direction towards mass education, the same level/quality of education, e.g through state exams, level-checking tests and preferential schoolbooks' finacial support; polarity: "demands of the majority" versus niche education, its inclusion under control of a general model there are "client media" nests, including the field of school renewal (e.g., some materials from the homepages of the Education Forum); massmedia is predominant

Ene-Silvia Sarv postmodernism educational information the dichotomy of high and low culture, forced consensus about high or official culture being normative and ruling/authoritative; "socialist inside, national on the surface" - as an attribute of manipulation and a possibility for selfpreservation art as an object and finished work

Estonian Education moment of centralised structures weakening of the rule of high culture by pop-culture; their blending, ascribing new value to popculture direction towards practicing nationalethnographic culture blending of cultures outside education (e.g, the Rannap phenomenon, new art, including performance art, etc.); becomes evident lack of protection mechanisms and the ability to make choices in the circumstances of multiple cultural possibilities

art as a process, performance event, product, intertextuality

voices about treatment of education, teaching as an art, lesson as creative process

viewing education still as knowledge-centred, where the final product - knowledge, accepted on the highest levels of the hierarchy is decisive; dimensions/patterns of process, product, event and intertextuality are rarely acceptable on the level of activity, although they appear in certain areas (additional professional training and some types of private schools)

art as a unique object, proved to be that by the artist recognition of the borders of a field, its wholeness (art, music, literature)

art as a circuit of culture through proved auditoriums and subcultures hybrids, impossibility to clarify this or that field, re-combining culture, intertextuality...

education is dominated by "the division principle" - subject-wise, activity-wise, in the teacher's preparation and work (one-subject specialist); in the new state curriculum integration and hybrids are to be found in the general part (topics which pass through many subjects, general and school-stage competences); in reality, teachers use hybrids, intertextuality, etc. (e.g., the Kis method in primary school, also reform pedagogy) here the dual polarity of the subject- and fact-centred knowledge demanded on the formal (exams, inspections) level

These were "big stories", "important/grand things" - main metanarratives with their cultural and political (ideological) background. As M. Lauristin and P. Vihalemm show in their article about the times of transition in Estonia13 relying on Claus Offe's three-level model of transition, Estonia has passed the first fundamental layer - shifting of identity "in the sense of statehood, citizenhood, geopolitical belonging, nationality, re-defining the territory, as well as in the judicial, cultural and political sense" (Lauristin, Vihalemm, 1998, p 677). It should be noted that when describing this identity shift the authors observed the change of the cultural context in the wider sense, and not what has been
M. Laurustin, P. Vihalemm Postcommunist transition period in Estonia: Possible interpretations. Akadeemia 4/1998 - 5/1998.
13

10

Ene-Silvia Sarv postmodernism

Estonian Education moment of

happening in education. Yet the above mentioned aspects are connected with education as well, and the "echo" of what has taken place in education is what shapes the current young generation's (the schoolchildren of the first period of transition - period of the political breakthrough) activity in politics, economy, culture. What "big stories" were real for them and how they have shaped these young people, as well as what are "the young people's stories", which has not been so far researched. Both these approaches I have attempted to use to interpret what took place during the renewal of education in Estonia. When speaking of legitimizing knowledge, Lyotard contrasts the traditional (functional) resultative criterium, based on newtonian-cartesian paradigm's determenism, with "paralogue". "Paralogue-approach" is looking for a counter-argument, a paradox, and its justification with new game rules. (Lyotard, 53-54). The previous for Lyotard is a part of a wider context of finding contrasts - contrasting the transmission (especially in the process of teaching) of the traditional, "proved", (meta)narrative knowledge with an essentially different type of knowledge - renovative, inventive knowledge. Thus, Lyotard concentrates on dissension (disagreement, difference of opinion) instead of consensus (harmony, coordination). He views consensus only as a temporary phenomenon in a discussion, occuring at its certain stage. (Lyotard, 65). In the context of this work the most essential is the conclusion derived from Lyotard's text - that the ideas of justice and justification cannot be tied to consensus. The consensus which defines the game rules, and the regularity of the game moves are local, are the agreement of those, who are "playing" right here and now, and are subject to change. Lyotard considers a paralogue to be the foundation of postmodern science and education continuous introduction of dissense into consensus. Realisation of the paralogue means constant search for new ideas; and there does not necessarily have to be a ready and recognised value criterium for evaluating these ideas. And namely in discovering and inventing such ideas he sees the goal of science and education. In Estonia during the first period of transition, especially among the groupings in the forefront of educational renewal, there was a strong drive towards consensus as an ideal. This was revealed in Estonia's Education Platform in 1988 and later in the documents of Educational Forum, in 1995 and thereabout. The progress of educational renewal in Estonia and its interpretation in research writings, although it could be connected with the aspect of (practical) re-thinking of knowledge, reevaluation, is also analyzable through the model of metanarrative incredulity and the conflict of big narratives, as well as through the game model. It might be the experience of nearly one hundred years of reform-pedagogy in synthesis with the results of brain research and neuro-science about human(e) learning, that can tell us, if we study it in an objective way, about how to answer the 21st century challenges in child-development and it might be the source/example of synthesis and symbiosis in educational reality. Surely - this is the challenge for educational sciences that are used to base their studies mainly on positivist paradigm and carry them out in mainstream/state schools. The postmodernist approach calls us to paradigmatical "localities", "other games" and "new criteria of knowledge and wisdom", if we look upon it from Lyotard`s approach. (Sarv, Ida-Virumaa) But it can be seen as well from Foucault`s approach as the process of removal and changes in the apparatus of power, discipline, control, norm(atives). (Ruus)

11

Ene-Silvia Sarv postmodernism

Estonian Education moment of

To point to the ideal: in Estonian education the wave of changes that began in 1980-ies can be speeded up, and changed into real educational tornado in the new millenium, if we recognise ourselves as a consciously learning state, consciously learning communities, schools, organisations or institutions and individuals; and - if we manage to learn from different global lessons even in the deepest crisis. To finish my attempt of projecting Lyotard's narrative and (language) game model on the renewal period of Estonia's education in 1987 - 1997, I would like to turn to the reservation expressed by P. Kreitzberg concerning the possibility that Lyotard's view of paralogue may lead to anarchy. He also considers the social side of Lyotard's analysis to be too superficial for drawing a unanimous conclusion: "If the goal of many social scientists was to liberate one group from the oppression by another, then Lyotard seems to try to liberate every individual from every other individual. It seems that at least in educational circles Lyotard`s "paralogue" is waiting for a wider recognition and understanding or well-grounded rejection." (Kreitzberg, 1993, 196). Yet P. Kreitzberg considers it possible to use Lyotard's notions of "paralogue" (and "differend") and the conflict basis of language games for clarification of the uniqueness of learning results (Kreitzberg, 1993, 201), but not for anything more. This author sees here hidden a possibility for understanding, the general outline of which would be the following. It would be difficult to argue against the fact that we are able to comprehend any historical (happening to a group or an individual) change (including learning) as a long-term process, the beginning and end of which can be defined through agreement. In this longterm process narratives acquire shape and change, there are periods of consensus, when game rules are based upon agreement and are permanent - everything is taking place in a certain paradigm or in several simultaneously existing paradigms. At the same time of this development is characteristic the exhaustion of narratives and their exchanges, changes in the moves and rules, and, eventually, in the game as a whole - replacement of innovations with inventions. Reference: Haridusuuendus Eestis. Valikbibliograafia 1987 - 1994. (Educational renewal in Estonia. Bibliography). Ed. E. Sarv. Tallinn, 1995. Peeter Kreitzberg, The legitimation of educational aims: Paradigms and metaphors. Lund, 1993. Marju Lauristin, Peeter Vihalemm, Postcommunist transition period in Estonia: Possible interpretations. Akadeemia 1998/4, 1998/5. Jean Francis Lyotard, The Postmodern Condition: A Report on Knowledge, trans. Geoff Bennington and Brian Massumi, Minneapolis, University of Minneapolis Press, 1989. Bill Readings. Introducing Lyotard: Art and Politics. New York: Routledge, 1991. Viive Ruus, Eesti Vabariigi hariduse uuest ppekavast ja selle vimalikest tulevikusuundumustest. (The curriculum problem from the perspective of power relations). In: Hariduse tugissteemid paljukultuurilises Eestis (The frameworks of education in multicultural Estonia, in Ida-Virumaa) Jhvi, 1997. Ene-Silvia Sarv, Ida-Virumaa hariduspilt postmodernistlikus vaatevljas. (The view on the education in Ida-Viruma in postmodern perspective) In: Hariduse tugissteemid paljukultuurilises Eestis (The frameworks of education in multicultural Estonia, in EastVirumaa) Jhvi, 1997.

12

Ene-Silvia Sarv postmodernism

Estonian Education moment of

Ene-Silvia Sarv, Demokraatiast ja humanismist petajale (On democracy and humanism to teacher). Tallinn, 1997 Ene-Silvia Sarv, Kmme aastat paradigmamuutust (Ten years of paradigmatic change). Tallinn Pedagogical University, 1998. Thesis. Ene-Silvia Sarv, Ajastupilt ja haridus - ks vimalikest vaadetest Lyotardi rada jrgides. (Picture on period and education - one possible view following Lyotard). Haridus, 1997, nr. 4, p. 25 - 29. Robin Usher, Richard Edwards, Postmodernism and education. Routlege, London, 1994.

13