The modern education system requires flexibility, plasticity, continuity and resistance to crises
and risks. This study examines the main features and requirements of the modern socio-cultural
situation. It identifies strategies and directions in contemporary education based on the ideas of
postmodernism. Using conceptual analysis of the influence of postmodern ideas on the education
systems of Russia and the United States it compares and contrasts the strategies and trends
identified. The results can serve as a basis for further research in the field of comparative pedagogy
and philosophy of education, in the context of the influence of postmodern ideas on education,
reflecting the ‘spirit of the time’.