Banking Education Summary

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Problem-Posing and Banking Education In chapter two of Pedagogy of the Oppressed, Paulo Freire, the author, has a challenge with modern education, particularly, banking one. He suggests problem-posing education which is a practice of freedom, dialogue, social interaction, and creativity––therefore, it transforms society. As for banking education, it is reflected in a practice of domination, unilateral decision making, controlling thinking–– then, it marginalizes oppressed in society. In chapter two, Freire does an extensive critique of banking education and strongly supports problem-posing education. Thereupon, for a better understanding of the banking and problem-posing models of education, I explain deeper the challenges of banking education…show more content…
He states, for example, “Education becomes an act of depositing, in which the students are depositories and the teacher is the depositor. The teacher makes a deposit without communicating, and students patiently receive, memorize, and repeat.”2 Freire uses a fascinating analogy by referring students to depositories and the teacher to the depositor. The responsibility of the depositor in the bank is to make sure that the depositories’ money is in a safe place, and nobody is able to steal. The bank is like a school where teacher and students meet and work together as a team, but the teacher comes to teach in a classroom without asking students some questions which lead to strong critical thinking. As for students, they just write down lessons in their notebooks without any questions and memorize them, and unfortunately––they do not understand their lessons and they have a hard time explaining them to their parents. Students memorize exactly what the teachers write on the boards in order to have high grades and come to college. As a consequence, that model of education prevents students from applying contexts in a classroom to a real-life situation. Unluckily, the purpose of such an education is to adapt oppressed (students) to the oppressors’ situations, which is not advantageous to their community and today’s…show more content…
Freire makes it clear that “The students – no longer docile listeners– are now critical co-investigators in dialogue with the teacher. The teacher presents the material to the students for their consideration, and reconsiders her earlier considerations as the students express their own”6. In this way, the teacher’s duty is to create and explore ideas together with students and improve their knowledge in order to take action. The students are no longer passive learners, but active ones where the participation and dialogue are critical aspects of learning. They are free to share their experiences and cultures with their classmates and the teacher. Problem-posing education encourages class diversity, and the students have a choice to write or talk about topics they feel more interesting than what the teacher proposes to them. In such as a learning method, the students and the teacher become collaborators and make school more than the banking education system. Additionally, problem-posing education plays a role and has a positive impact on students’ lives, particularly, if students like the teacher. When the students have the teacher they do not like, they become less interested in that subject––and it
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