Keywords.
Twenty- first century education, poststructuralist literary theory, teaching of literature, critical pedagogy, social cognitive learning.
Introduction.
The current study is concerned with evaluating the value of use of literary theory as a pedagogical tool to achieve the aims and objectives of twenty- first century education. It will argue that various schools of poststructuralist literary theory such as Feminism, Marxism, New historicism, and Post-colonialism, etc., are reader –centered approaches of literary interpretation which actively involve the readers in meaning making. In this way poststructuralist literary theories have great potential for making learners critical readers and creative explorers which is the fundamental aim of 21st century pedagogies such as critical pedagogy, cognitive learning, social cognitive learning etc. In this regard the current study will give a critical evaluation of existing pedagogical strategies of literature and their shortcomings. Finally it will be highlighted how contemporary poststructuralist theories support and advocate the learner-centered approach recommended by 21st century pedagogy.
Twenty-First Century Education.
Twenty first century is the age of globalization, multiculturalism, telecommunication and digital technology. Education today is considered as an important mechanism and effective means to develop creative and effective human resource (Gould 1993: 148; Rao 1996: 2). The practice today supports developing higher-order thinking skills of students. Emphasis is laid on preparing students to take decisions, create opportunities, evaluate available resources, work out multiple solutions for effective problem solving and be flexible to manage the globalized multicultural world of today (Geertsen2003; Ruggiero 1988; Feden & Vogel 2003; Halpern 2003). Accordingly teaching methodologies and pedagogies which are supported and recommended in this regard, include critical pedagogy, feminist pedagogy, experiential learning, task-based learning, cognitive learning and social cognitive learning.
