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This was a reply to a discussion on a friends journal. I thought I'd repost it here, if only to have a record of it. Besides it goes along with my recent thoughts on how narrow minded people are...
It's bad enough when postmodernism shows up in artistic discussions, but when it is used as a sociological or educational theory, I really hate it.
My two problems with it:
1) It assumes that people cannot come to their own educated conclusions and ideas. In education, it basically says: Design the curriculum so that the child is taught the correct philosophy, belief and attitudes. For example, in an essay on farming assign the topic: Explain how the use of pesticides and fertilizers by the white farmers enslaved and poisoned the land in the same way white plantation owners killed and enslaved the black population. The point here is not to have the students think of or defend their own conclusion or hypothesis, but rather have them support the correct way of thinking. A way of thinking that these intellectually superior, ethically advanced and infallible people have agreed on. They know what is best for all of us.
Any student, had they the courage to disagree with such a topic would have to be failed for they obviously need to be reeducated into seeing how wrong they are.
Which brings me to:
2. Postmodernism so totally egocentric that there is NO other acceptable philosophy. It is the next evolution in human thought and belief. Any one who disagrees with postmodernism is too stupid, too evil or too uneducated to realize that they are wrong. They claim the very act of arguing with them demonstrates the lack of a basic understanding of their field, making all objections to the theory incoherent and useless.
You can't debate a postmodernist because they think that all belief comes from simply being told that belief over and over. So they will simply say "You just don't understand" and then will say the exact thing they just said.
Frustrating doesn't begin to cover it.
My only suggestion is to fall back your own mantra. My mantra is this: It is not my job to teach children what to think or to make them completely agree with my beliefs and attitudes, rather is it my job to ensure that students are taught the skills necessary to think for themselves and to come up with their own conclusions. An educator's job is not to produce cookie-cutter replicas of that educator's beliefs and ideals but rather to provide the students with the ability to become their own person.
I have faith in the students. I believe that they are intelligent, capable, sympathetic and caring human beings. They are not machines that need to be "programmed" into believing the "correct" things. In order for human society to grow and survive, intelligent and reasonable debate must occur and equally intelligent and enlightened people must be allowed to arrive at differing conclusions.
Postmodernism doesn't allow for that.
Final note: Postmodernism as philosophical construct is a legitimate and intellectually challenging concept. Postmodernism as a way of life is brainwashing. IMNSHO.
It's bad enough when postmodernism shows up in artistic discussions, but when it is used as a sociological or educational theory, I really hate it.
My two problems with it:
1) It assumes that people cannot come to their own educated conclusions and ideas. In education, it basically says: Design the curriculum so that the child is taught the correct philosophy, belief and attitudes. For example, in an essay on farming assign the topic: Explain how the use of pesticides and fertilizers by the white farmers enslaved and poisoned the land in the same way white plantation owners killed and enslaved the black population. The point here is not to have the students think of or defend their own conclusion or hypothesis, but rather have them support the correct way of thinking. A way of thinking that these intellectually superior, ethically advanced and infallible people have agreed on. They know what is best for all of us.
Any student, had they the courage to disagree with such a topic would have to be failed for they obviously need to be reeducated into seeing how wrong they are.
Which brings me to:
2. Postmodernism so totally egocentric that there is NO other acceptable philosophy. It is the next evolution in human thought and belief. Any one who disagrees with postmodernism is too stupid, too evil or too uneducated to realize that they are wrong. They claim the very act of arguing with them demonstrates the lack of a basic understanding of their field, making all objections to the theory incoherent and useless.
You can't debate a postmodernist because they think that all belief comes from simply being told that belief over and over. So they will simply say "You just don't understand" and then will say the exact thing they just said.
Frustrating doesn't begin to cover it.
My only suggestion is to fall back your own mantra. My mantra is this: It is not my job to teach children what to think or to make them completely agree with my beliefs and attitudes, rather is it my job to ensure that students are taught the skills necessary to think for themselves and to come up with their own conclusions. An educator's job is not to produce cookie-cutter replicas of that educator's beliefs and ideals but rather to provide the students with the ability to become their own person.
I have faith in the students. I believe that they are intelligent, capable, sympathetic and caring human beings. They are not machines that need to be "programmed" into believing the "correct" things. In order for human society to grow and survive, intelligent and reasonable debate must occur and equally intelligent and enlightened people must be allowed to arrive at differing conclusions.
Postmodernism doesn't allow for that.
Final note: Postmodernism as philosophical construct is a legitimate and intellectually challenging concept. Postmodernism as a way of life is brainwashing. IMNSHO.
