10/29/23, Critical Encounter in Secondary English (Chapter 8: Postmodernism)
I think that this chapter's concerns about the fallout of deconstruction is a little silly. The crisis caused by saying "this text might not have a specific meaning" is a good and important one to spur in a classroom. Britzman writes that deconstruction "called into question the foundations of their personal identities and core beliefs," and I think that exact questioning is essential to critically developing one's own identities and beliefs (125). If I did not constantly deconstruct myself, I would be a worse and more miserable person. To not question the foundations of one's personal identities and core beliefs is both a mark of power - I have to constantly evaluate how being a trans woman affects how I exist in the world to just stay safe, whereas I do not have to do the same for being white - and a missed opportunity for growth. I think you could handle introducing deconstruction better. I would like to introduce it further from the end of the sem