A Postmodern Vision of Time and Learning: A Response to the National Education Commission Report Prisoners of Time

Abstract

In this article, Patrick Slattery challenges the assumptions underlying many educational policy documents, such as the 1994 Report, Prisoners of Time, which, in Slattery 's view, depict time as both an object to control and as a dictator of the linear sequencing that shapes schooling. Slattery argues for a proleptic understanding of time in education. That is, he calls for an understanding that acknowledges how time interconnects with classroom life by providing an overview of various perspectives from classical physics that illuminate the interdependence of the space-time continuum, by addressing the role of personal history in influencing the relationships of students and teachers, and by advocating for curricula that connect to the realities of students' lives. Time has traditionally been incorporated into educational research as a varia ble to be controlled, managed, or manipulated for the purpose of advancing instruc tional objectives, improving classroom management, and enhancing evaluation results. Educational studies of time are rooted in modernist conceptions of segmentation and linear progress. These conceptions assume that isolated parts of complex systems (like schools, people in schools, or curriculum) can be divided into coherent and cohesive segments (like grade levels, control groups, or subject matter disciplines) and measured quantitatively without contamination. The hermetically sealed results can then be studied, generalized, and applied to any other context for the purpose of insuring steady progress and sequential development over time throughout the entire system. This philosophy of modernity has resulted in an exaggerated emphasis on manipulation of time: time management, timed tests, wait time, time on task, quantifiable results over time, time

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