As I was thinking about the many aspects of postmodernism portrayed in Heart of Darkness, I began thinking about how postmodernist ideas have influenced education, and to what effect?
In this age of time, it appears that education has become an instrument of power and control. The social analyst Robin Usher claims that education has been manipulated in such a way that instead of being centered around becoming educated and learned students, we are told "what to do, how to behave, what ends to pursue and by what means". The manipulator: the capitalist society. The motive: to gain power and control and to legitimize authority.
Education has become a conducting device for life.
The idea of a manipulative education underlines Hegel's philosophy; that we do not know the absolute truth. In this crisis, what is the absolute truth? In my opinion, it's the voice of the students that is the absolute truth, but it is being covered by the 'voices' we are told to immitate.In addition, Hegel emphasized that language forms people. In this case, its the controling, manipulative language that is influenceing todays generations. As a result, the products of this type of 'false-education' are automatic machines reproducing the thoughts shoved down into their throats by the capitalist society.
So, how to fix such a dilema?
Unveiling the aboslute truth. In my opinion, the answer is allowing students to express their own language and resist the cliche thoughts of society. While there are only afew, outlets for creativity can help todays generations escape the grasp of society. These outlets can take the form of poetry, music, or writing.
Thus, I feel that while the obvious things like industries and monopolies have fueled the capitalist society, there are also the less-obvious works that have been fueling it just as much. These less-obvious works tend to be the one's that hurt us the most. If we want to stop the production of capitalist students, we have to foster individual thoughts and freedom, and maybe then we will finally reveal the truth.
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