Postmodernism and Education

Views

  • On society: characterised by choice, diversity, risk and uncertainty

  • On education: one size fits all approach is outdated; education needs to be customised and flexible, meeting the needs of individual learners

Thompson

  • Argued that schools in postmodern society can break free from oppressive uniformity of the old

  • Instead schools become customised to meet the different needs of diverse communities e.g Faith schools, academies, specialist schools etc

Ushers 5 characteristics of education in a postmodern society

  • Diverse and customised to individual learners needs

  • controlled by lcal communities

  • flexible

  • lfelong-individuals are constantly updating their skills

  • learners are active and learn through their own experiences

  • argue that this happened through covid19

Evaluation

  • not possible to have an individual education system because costs are too high

  • functionalist= worry that educationsystem may struggle to pass on societys shared values without a universalistic education system

  • post modernist= critised for failing to account for class, ethnicity and gender differences in achievement

Impact of Globalisation

  • globalisation=world becoming increasingly interconnected via travel, technology and trade

  • Kelly: British economy operate within a global market-need to compete with foreign businesses. Education policies reflect that through international legue tables known as PISA( maths, english and science)

  • Ball: universities becoming increasingly global-oversea branches. Ball is critical of the marketisation of universities

  • Holborn: Globalisation has a positive effect on education- multicultural-promoting understanding and tolerance of other cultures