Connection: Postmodernism and the Classroom

While reading Heart of Darkness, we have discovered the effects of postmodernist thinking on the world. We know is affects our surroundings and our government, but how does it directly affect us? How are our own lives influenced by postmodernism? Sometimes it is difficult to trace the topics of our class discussions back to our own lives, and this is why this relationship is so important.

Postmodernism affects our lives in that we find elements of postmodernism in the way our classroom works. This was especially displayed in our poetry unit. While reading poems, we focus on the multiple points of view and multiple worlds. We discuss the importance of our culture and the large role it plays. We also question our position as humans with that of nature.

Thinking in a postmodern way has been all that we know. Yet as we read Heart of Darkness, we begin to see the real effects of the transition from modernism to postmodernism. Recognizing this major shift in thinking is important to us because its shows us how we have progressed. The connection between postmodernism and our classroom allows for more insight because we can actually see the methods of this way of thinking in our everyday life in something as simple as going to school.