3 Post-Modern
3.1 Overview
Postmodernism, by the nature of the movement itself, is not easy to define. To understand
postmodernism in the context of adult learning, it may be beneficial to first understand that
the postmodern movement is much larger than adult learning. It is inclusive of a wide variety
of disciplines and areas of study including art, architecture, music, film, literature, sociology,
communications, fashion, technology, and education (Klages, 2003). Because postmodernism
is as much a philosophical movement as it is a learning theory, it is impossible to discuss the
movement without also discussing the underlying philosophy and ubiquity of the postmodern
movement.
Post-modernism differs from most approaches to learning in two fundamental ways. The first
is that rationality and logic are not important to attaining knowledge. The second is that
knowledge can be contradictory. Because of the contextual nature of knowledge, individuals
can hold two completely incongruent views of one subject at the same time (Kilgore, 2001).
Post-modernism relates to post-industrialism. The industrial era came about as a result of
Newtonian thinking – an era wherein thought and processes were considered in mechanistic
terms of efficiency and effectiveness and understood scientifically through the processes of
reductionism (the simplification of the complex into understandable, and at times oversimplis-
tic terms). The learning gleaned from the industrial (modern) era laid a foundation for the
world to add new knowledge through a new era - what is now termed as the “post-modern”
era. Presently, several post-modern theories exist, but at the core of each of these theories is
the basic concept that what was once only understood within the context of reductionism is
now beginning to be understood within the context of interrelatedness - an understanding
that “things are much more diverse, fluid, illusionary, and contested, including the reality of
the world itself” (Merriam & Caffarella, 1999, p. 356) than originally thought.
Though truth is central to postmodern thinking, it is not the search for truth that is valued.
In contrast, the postmodern mind challenges what is accepted truth. According to Astley
(1985) and Gergen (1992), as cited in Dierkes et. al. (2003), postmodernists challenge "the
conventional wisdom, routines, static meanings, and axioms of
'
normal
'
science, thereby
exposing knowledge to non-dogmatic forms of thought" (p. 44). One can see how this
philosophy has become embraced in academia and one could argue that it is the primary
modus operandi in many institutions of higher learning, especially in philosophy and the
humanities.
The postmodern approach to learning is founded upon the assertion that there is not one
kind of learner, not one particular goal for learning, not one way in which learning takes
place, nor one particular environment where learning occurs (Kilgore, 2001).
Kilgore (2001) makes several assertions about the postmodern view of knowledge:
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