Discussions on Postmodernism via Facebook

Liz Deichler - October 30 EDCT 585

Note: The following is a conversation via my facebook status that occurred between myself, a former coworker, and a friend of mine on October 27th, 2012. I attempt to explain postmodernism and then open the conversation up to anyone who wanted to add. It is interesting to note that I posted again the following day and received no further responses. Postmodernism is a tough subject, and facebook is not often considered somewhere to have deep, philosophical conversations. I thought that perhaps a postmodernist would want that distinction to change.

Liz Deichler ATTENTION FACEBOOK FRIENDS: I want to know what you think post-modernism is and what you think/feel about it. I'm going to use this status and any responses as a one-pager for my Curriculum Theory class (Sort of a synthesis of what I read this week). For those who have no idea, ponder my take on it: Post-modernism in education is the idea that curriculum needs to be reconceptualized to stop being reactionary (IE: Russia launched a satellite?! We need more science and math!) and start creating curriculum for the future. That doesn't mean it won't be implemented now, in fact, it should be! We need to envision schools that give an equal opportunity for students to learn, but do so by letting them learn about what makes us human not through a constant barrage of tests and assessments of which a majority are created and geared toward the dominant culture. In a post-modern classroom students see different viewpoints and do not say one is better than the other, but critically analyze the difference. If you want, you can also argue against my idea of it, or talk about whether you think it's even POSSIBLE to be post-modern (Even though post-modernists would argue that we already ARE post-modern, in my opinion). Discuss! Michael Thanks for this post first off, great way to use FB. I think 'what makes us human' is the big sticking point. Religion is the method many people use to decide this question, writing history to make any religion look good is an impossibility, but every book has to be approved before being written, every aspect of our attempt to educate is undermined by religion. I had a mother really get in my face and demand what exactly I meant by environmental science. Apparently she sensed danger in the term, perhaps I believed in Science itself, so what the bloody hell was I doing at an Outdoor Science school? She rolled her eyes as I described the cycle of water through the environment, the chain of life death and recycling of nutrients. She looked at me as if I was claiming that it was possible that her object of worship had been eaten by worms and bacteria as he most certainly was, if indeed he did exist. This I believe is the thing we must change along with stopping the endless testing. We must not teach in compliance with religion, we must teach everything else, including as you inferred, learning 'how' to learn. From the world and others. Chris The definition of Postmodern (or one of them) is to strip something of its original context and rearrange it as part of something new--recycle , redefine; the prefix "re" in general. Think sampling, collage, parody. In a way, it's exactly what we did in improv a lot of the time. The internet is probably the embodiment of the postmodern, as it is a channel for a million different images, texts, and sounds that are presented outside of their original contexts. I think a postmodern classroom would deconstruct the inherent power structure of an educational setting and engage students in an interactive, user-generated platform. Liz Deichler I wonder if by breaking down this assignment into a collection of thoughts is a "postmodern" way of approaching it. Chris Could be. It can be shaped or rearranged by you in some fashion. Chris The truth is that the definition is really multifaceted and vague. Michael Vague is the new black Chris "Postmodernist approaches therefore often consider the ways in which social dynamics, such as power and hierarchy, affect human conceptualizations of the world to have important effects on the way knowledge is constructed and used." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Postmodern Liz Deichler That is one of the most difficult things for me to understand about it. How can people expect to change the world with postmodernism if the definition is so loose, and any action taken with it appears to be vague?