WITH THE DECLINE of a modernist techno-rationalist view of knowledge, teachers are no longer knowledge dispensers but dialogue facilitators who reject the notion of one ‘right’ view. Although postmodernism comes in a variety of forms e.g constructivism, it does have some central features. There are both strengths and weaknesses in the postmodernist approach to life and in the way it applies to education. Christian teacher education programmes should be transformative, vital and transcendent, based in a vision of humanity which rejects both the oppressive impotence of modem scientism and the ego-exalting autonomy of postmodernity.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
AndersonW., Reality isn't what it used to be: Theatrical politics, ready-to-wear religion, global myths, primitive chic and other wonders of the postmodern world (San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1990).
2.
BertrandY., Contemporary theories and practice in education (Madison, Wisconsin: Magna Publications, 1995 [translated from the French by PoissonJean-Marc]).
3.
CliftonR.MandzukD. & RobertsL., ‘The alienation of undergraduate education students: A case study of a Canadian university,’Journal of Education for Teaching20:2, pp. 179–192.
4.
DollW.Jr., A post-modern perspective on curriculum (Teachers College Press, 1993).
5.
EisnerE., Cognition and curriculum reconsidered (Teachers College Press, 1994).
6.
GreigS.PikeG. & SelbyD., Greenprints for changing schools (London: The World Wide Fund for Nature and Kogan Page, 1989).
7.
HargreavesA., Changing teachers, changing times: Teachers' work and culture on the post-modem age (Toronto: OISE Press, 1994a).
8.
HargreavesA., Development and desire: A postmodern perspective, paper presented at the 1994 Annual Meeting of the American Educational research Association. ERIC Accession No. ED372057 (1994b).
9.
HunkinsF. & HammillP., ‘Beyond Tyler and Taba: Reconceptualizing the curriculum process’, Peabody Journal of Education69:3, pp. 4–18.
10.
HyttenK., Pragmatism, postmodernism and education, paper presented at the American Educational Studies Association, November 1994. ERIC document ED378 181 (1994).
11.
KanpolB., Towards a theory and practice of teacher cultural politics: Continuing the postmodern debate (Norwood, NJ: Ablex Publishing, 1992).
12.
KohliW. (ed.)., Critical conversations in philosophy of education (New York: Routledge, 1995).
13.
ListonD., ‘Discourse or moral action? A critique of postmodernism’, Educational Theory42:4, pp. 371–93.
14.
MaxcyS., Democracy, chaos, and the new school order, (Thousand Oaks: Corwin, 1995).
15.
MiddletonR. & WalshB., Truth is stranger than it used to be: biblical faith in a postmodern age (Downers Grove, IL: Inter-Varsity Press, 1995).
16.
O'HairM. & OdellS. (eds.), Educating teachers for leadership and change, Teacher Education Yearbook III of the Association of Teacher Educators (Thousand Oaks: Corwin, 1995).
SmithR. & WexlerP., After postmodernism: education, politics and identity (London & Washington: Falmer, 1995).
19.
SteffeL. & GaleJ. (eds.), Constructivism in education, (Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum, 1995).
20.
Van BrummelenH., Steppingstones to Curriculum: A Biblical Path (Seattle: Alta Vista College Press, 1994).
21.
WideenM. & GrimmettP. (eds.), Changing times in teacher education: Restructuring or reconceptualization? (London: Falmer, 1995).
22.
WolterstorffN., ‘Does truth still matter? Reflections on the crisis of the postmodern university’, Crux31:3, pp. 17–28.
23.
WooleverK., Issues in TA training: Does postmodernism preclude teaching structure?, paper presented at the 44th Annual Meeting of the Conference on College Composition and Communication, San Diego, CA. ERIC document ED360 635, (1993).
24.
YeamanA., ‘Where in the world is Jacques Derrida? A true fiction with an annotated bibliography’, Educational Technology34:2, pp. 5–13.
