Challenges of the Concept of Modernity and Post-Modernity in Education

The discipline "Contemporary Theories of Education", in the Ph.D. course in the education of the University of Uberaba – UNIUBE, aims to foster reflections on the main educational epistemological trends. This work presents the construction of modern science highlighting Galileo Galilei, and Descartes in his trajectory on scientific rationalism. In addition, a reflection on postmodern science and education was built based on the texts of Baudelaire, Habermas, Jameson, and Lyotard, and the professor Newton Duarte’s lecture "Education, Modernity, and Postmodernity". The process of conceptualization of modernity and postmodernity takes into account the moment selected for the study. Based on this study, it can be noticed that simplifying thought is not able to understand diversity to know unity. To take in the knowledge, it is necessary to critically analyze society in parallel. The change of social mentality is only possible through the analytical knowledge that is taught many times by the school. However, the school needs to be reformulated to socialize knowledge and make this knowledge put into practice in the social environment