Postmodernist role of education Flashcards
Postmodernists believe…
The needs of society have changed since Marxists
etc. came up with their theories, therefore their
theories are no longer valid.
Key points
Take a ‘diversity approach’ when considering the role of education.
Argue Marxists’ view is outdated and that society has entered a new postmodern phase.
Postmodernists reject this view of Marxism, that we still live in a two-class society and the claim
that education reproduces class inequality.
Postmodernist sociologists such as Morrow and Torres see class divisions as no longer important
and that society is now much more diverse and fragmented.
However, postmodernists criticise Bowles and Gintis’ correspondence principle on the grounds that
today’s post-Fordist economy requires schools to produce a very different kind of workforce from
the one described by Marxists.
Postmodernists argue that the economy has shifted away from assembly-line mass production and is
now based on ‘flexible specialisation’, where production is customised for small specialist markets.
This post-Fordist system requires a skilled, adaptable workforce able to use advanced
technology and transfer their skills rapidly from one specialised task to another.
Post-Fordism calls for a different kind of education system. Instead of preparing pupils to be
low-skilled, low-paid, obedient workers, education must encourage self-motivation,
self-supervision and creativity. It must also provide lifelong retraining because rapid
technological change and intensified competition in the globalised economy constantly make
existing skills obsolete.
