(This is a response to Postman Chapter 7)
I found Postman’s writing style to be amusing even as he brings up serious questions; he heaps disdain on the educational buzzwords and catchphrases of the educational world, but at the same time, he questions the very foundation our educationalsystem is based on, and the way our educational system sometimes leans too far toward celebrating other cultures at the cost of celebrating the narrative of our own. He makes a valid point; to participate in the freewheeling matrix of argument and decision, debate and discussion that is the hallmark of a fully functional democracy, one must learn the narrative of that democracy, both the bedrock and quicksand that that democracy’s institutions are built upon.
Our nation has evolved into the most inclusive, diverse nation in the world. Surely the study of that nation is in and of itself a study of diversityand culture. Our culture is fashioned of threads from almost every other major cultural group in the world. Postman makes the case for the study of the social experiment we live in, as part of the experiment in education that we teach and learn in.
He also makes the case for the inclusion and exploration of technology in these educational experiments, which is probably why this was selected as a reading for ENGL 3241. He links this into the social experimentation of his earlier points, that we “experiment to make things better,” both technologically and socially. He’s right. It’s food for thought.
