Freire Problem Posing

Both Paolo Freire and Richard Rodriguez have spent most of their lives dedicated to education. While for different reason, Rodriguez for his own education and Freire for the education of others, they both have put in many long hours. Through Freire’s life he has spent a lot of time coming up with an education system that he feels is best for the learners. That system is what he calls problem posing. He talks about what an effective problem posing classroom looks like in his essay, “The Banking Concept of Education”. In this essay, he also talks about the version of education that opposes problem posing education, banking education. Banking education is portrayed as a lecture intensive classroom focused around memorization. In turn,
His thoughts were largely shaped by his what his teachers told him and what they thought was right. Freire strongly believes that students should learn to think own their own. Freire states, “The teacher cannot think for her students, nor can she impose her thoughts on them” (220). Freire wants students to use what educator tell them to shape their own opinions. Something that a teacher or professor tells you should not be your point of view, you need to form your own. This is exactly what Rodriguez did not do through his entire education. He took his educator’s words and what he read in books as the only things that were correct. Rodriguez never thought that he could have a different point of view then what he heard around him. Rodriguez even admitted how he did this, “…I lacked a point of view when I read. Rather I read in order to acquire the point of view” (350). Later in his life, he looked back to reflect on how he had done parts of his education incorrectly. Freire would have wanted Rodriguez to think of things in his own way and not be dependent on the words he heard from those his teachers he looked up to. He needed to break away and learn to approach life and his distant family in his own light, not the way the books and his teachers told him to. Freire wanted students to develop their own opinions so that they could become more of
Reflection teachers us about the world and what goes on in it. Freire talks about how reflecting in education brings us closer to what goes on outside of our little bubbles. A quote from page 223 states, “Authentic reflection considers neither abstract man nor the world without people, but people in their relations with the world” (Freire). When reflecting in education you think about everything that has brought it to where it is now. Also, since they are authentic they come from within and teach us about ourselves. Rodriguez lacked his in his education. He never though anything through, especially when it came to his family. He never gave them any time of day and is education caused him to grow away from them. When he would walk in the door he would go straight to his room to work on his homework and would never speak with his family. If Rodriguez would have authentically reflected while he in school he may have realized the way he was treating his family was not right. All though this may not directly relate to the real world, his family is part of the real world. What he was learning, or memorizing, in school blinded him from