Banking Concept

In The “Banking “Concept of Education Freire discusses the conventional way of teaching as a trap that creates an oppressive environment in education and cripples students in their knowledge and their ability to take action later in life. Freire discusses that the teacher and student relationship contributes heavily to this oppressive atmosphere in the classroom and encourages ignorance on behalf of the student. I challenge Friere’s thoughts of escaping from education as we know it today; and instead combine the traditional styles of the past and the new problem posing solution of the future together. Reflecting on my experiences in education and analyzing the text of Friere I have developed my own theory of education. Students need to believe they are the future and need to be prepared to act and fill the roles they are given in times of success and times of failure. A balanced education will prepare them for all the situations that they will be faced with in their future outside the classroom.
My own experience as a student has allowed me to develop multiple opinions about Freire’s concerns on conventional learning and his innovative idea of problem solving education. I believe that my reaction and opinion’s to Freire’s essay is moderate, I believe that if a student is only exposed to traditional learning then yes he or she will be crippled. However, in my experience as a student, I believe there are occasions where an environment of a teacher teaching and students listening totally appropriate. There needs to be a balance between nontraditional learning and traditional learning. Freire’s banking concept is an occurring event in today’s education but I wouldn’t necessarily go as far as diagnosing that it’s the problem that the education system needs to get rid of. I believe that there is value to both a problem solving way of learning and a traditional style of learning and students should be exposed to both during their education. I don’t believe we could live in a world where there were all people who were eccentric learners and spoke out about everything, and I also don’t believe we can live in a world of passive learners who just listened. Students today need to learn both skills and both ways of learning in order to become an active learner.
Freire draws a lot of problems in education from the teacher and student relationship. He believes, “The teacher presents himself to his students as their necessary opposite; by considering their ignorance absolute, he justifies his own existence. “ Freire explains that the natural atmosphere is the classroom is one of intimidation by the teacher. The only way he knows that he is a teacher is by making his students feel as they know nothing until he teaches them. Freire believes there is danger if the student accepts this passive role in the classroom. He believes to accept their role of ignorance in education will only be a habit to them when they have to adapt outside the classroom and in reality. How will they know how to act when they have never been asked to act? Friere believes the idea of ignorance and not knowing when to act leaves the student incomplete and unable to become “fully human”.
Although I agree with Friere that the teacher and student relationship is extremely important to the student’s ability to learn and take in the knowledge that the teacher is giving, I believe that a teacher can be effective even if they teach in a lecture style class. Last year, in my AP government class I was taught by Mrs. Foppert who had also been my dorm parent for two years and who I have become extremely close with. Mrs. Foppert developed the pattern of teaching by a lecture for half the week and then the other half of having debates or heavy discussion based classes. Even though there were classes that were in the style of a lecture and Friere would consider us to be, “receptacles” waiting to be filled by the teacher. There were also classes where we held debates and discussions about current government policy and the election coming up. I wouldn’t have been able to discuss topics like affirmative action without knowing previous cases and the precedence that some colleges had about the topic. The lecture classes helped prepare and educate us on the topic so we had plenty of knowledge when we would relate it to current issues happening in the world. In this class I learned how to verbally debate a clear idea and find evidence to support my thesis and main argument. I also learned about the United States government system including cases that the Supreme Court ruled on that set up parts of the constitution and the bill of rights, as well as knowing voting patterns in the United States. The information that I was taught combined with discussion in the classroom allowed me to fully understand the concepts in class and not just memorize material but come full circle with the material relating it to real life events. Mrs. Foppert challenged us as her students to be better debaters, writers, and active citizens in her class.
In my experience the student and teacher relationship is extremely important in the student feeling engaged about the subject and the atmosphere in the classroom should not be one of intimidation and oppressiveness. The student should feel comfortable to speak out and discuss topics in a supportive environment. However, lectures combined with discussions and debates were very effective in my learning of the government in the United States. There is no way that I would have been able to discuss intelligently the topics of abortion and affirmative action without comparing my own beliefs and rulings of the Supreme Court. In my AP government class there was room for what Freire would call, “teachers making deposits which the students patiently receive, memorize and repeat” but
Friere also discusses that the oppressive environment in the classroom makes the student ignorant and passive without them even being aware that they are becoming these passive learners. “Unfortunately, those who espouse the cause of liberation are themselves surrounded and influenced by the climate which generates the banking concept, and often do not perceive its true significance or its dehumanizing power. “(249) Students don’t even know they are being affected by the education system. If there were students who did have the potential to be revolutionary or different they can’t be because of the crippling the banking concept has already done to them as students. Friere puts blame on the teacher for the student having ignorance to knowledge and just learning fact, and also puts blame on teachers for students who are just going through the motions in the classroom as if the they were on auto pilot. In Friere’s essay, he first discusses education in the classroom and then continues his talk by adding layers creating more complex ideas which discuss reality and life beyond the classroom. His main idea debating that, people are taught to be passive in the classroom so when it is time for them to act in the world and be creative they find themselves unable to fulfill roles that would give them success, because of the habits they have developed in the education system. Friere believes, “reality is really a process undergoing constant transformation” which mirrors his philosophy with education. He believes the best education is ever changing and evolving like the world does. To understand not just fact but gain knowledge through discussion. Discussion is where Freire believes students can reach liberation and become fully human. Through discussion and dialogue the students are able to gain knowledge and face reality. Freire, “Wants to undermine the power of oppression and serve the cause of liberation.”
In my education I have been both a passive and active student. I agree with Friere that being an active student allows students to gain more knowledge and also gets the student in the habit of using dialogue to explore their opinions on topics. Passive learning where you just listen and take in information is an important type of learning as well. This gives the student the ability to listen to what others have to say and relate it to what they believe. Students cannot just lead with their own knowledge that would just create way to many stubborn leaders in the world. They need to be exposed to not always being in charge and using what they know in order to better their own ideas and effectiveness in acting in the world. I do believe that there is value to a more passive learning experience because it can enhance and give students more well rounded knowledge to act with, however discussion based classes give the student the confidence and willingness to act. The most dialogue in a classroom that my teacher has encouraged within a class was during my senior English class. When I would walk into class my English teacher Mr. Westin would sit around the table with us and stay quite. He expected us as seniors to conduct all of the conversation in class. It was up to us if we had an interesting discussion or we sat in silence. This challenged us as students a lot. We had to analyze the text in such a way that we were paying attention to quotes that changed characteristics of characters and story line. Also we had to pay attention to the actual language that was used; this was extremely important to the novels that we were reading including All the Kings Men and The Invisible Man. Mr. Westin always listened to everyone’s ideas were about the text no madder how different the ideas were. We were always working through the language and creating discussion around the language relating to the author and what he was trying to convey. The way Mr. Westin conducted his class was in a way how Freire thinks education should be like. The liberation that we had as students to explore all ideas about the text and communicate through dialogue what we do or don’t understand about the text are major points that Friere believes is missing in education. We as the students in my English class had the power of setting the tone and discussion in class. The only set back in Mr. Westin’s class was it wasn’t related to reality at all. Although we got to say all of our opinions in a non oppressive environment; I did not gain any knowledge that I could use to act with outside the classroom. In comparison to my AP Gov class; my english class did not approach topics outside of the classroom. I believe that there needs to be a curriculum for every student that includes classes like my AP government and my senior English class. One class sometimes had lectures and used current events outside the classroom and the other used more dialogue and problem solving educating.
Freire’s solution to the traps of education is what he calls “problem-posing” education. Freire believes the contradiction between the teacher and student will be resolved,
“The teacher is no longer merely the one who teaches but the one who is himself taught in dialogue with the students, who in turn while being taught also teach. They become jointly responsible for a process in which they all grow.”(249)
Dialogue is extremely important to Freire’s solution, the teacher needs to conduct class as an open discussion where they are able to problem solve together in tandem. The teacher needs to constantly listen to the students and adapt what they tell him and add that to what he teaches to the class. The focus of discussion needs to be focused on the student, talking through misunderstandings of texts and letting the students feel comfortable responding to each other and the teacher’s responses with a non threatening environment in the classroom. The teacher and students need to constantly rethink and be innovative with their ideas and be learning from each other. There are no set roles for the teacher and student, they both gain knowledge from each other so they can become fully human. This gives liberation to the students as learners, this is an “ education as the practice of freedom-as opposed to education as the practice of domination”(250) Problem-posing education completely changes the role of the teacher and student, and makes the students critical thinkers will to act in reality. This type of education, “Affirms men and women as beings in the process of becoming as unfinished, uncompleted beings in and with a likewise unfinished reality.”(252) Students taught this way will not settle for an end to their education when they are adults, they will act and always try to improve their reality. They will be aware of their incompletion. Friere says, “people subjected to domination must fight for their emancipation.”(253) Students today need to know that they are being cheated in the education system and to be aware of this; is to change it. A student being aware of this feeding system that education has developed is explained by Friere’s concept of consciousness. To be “conscious” is to be aware of the effect that education is having on you as a student; therefore to be “unconscious” is to be unaware and a victim to the memorization process in education. It is extremely important for the student to be “conscious” and active in their learning experience. However I find it a difficult task for a student to be able to become “conscious” on their own, I believe that students are in charge of taking responsibility to be an active student only when they are aware of this oppressive environment they are surrounded by. I believe it is up to the teacher and educators of the world to open the student’s eyes and challenge them; to lead by example in today’s world for the future learners to follow. Once the students are made aware of this injustice in the education system then it is up to them to become the type of learner that is going to be able to engage and act in their endeavors after school. In finding a balance between a type of education that is structured and a type of education that is more hands on and active I have developed a metaphor that ties in Freire’s ideas and my own. I choose a person attempting to complete the task of going across the highwire. They are extremely high up, although there is a net below them, and they must balance their way across the rope from one side to the other. They must find the correct balance point against the rope and must not think too much but must go on impulse when to move the next foot forward. Although it is a long distance a good highwirer is patient and uses the skills they have developed effortlessly to get across, it comes natural to them with finding the correct balance and they feel comfortable when traversing across the tiny rope. I thought of someone doing the highwire when explaining my reaction to friere’s essay and in developing my own education system because of the idea of balance. In order to get across the wire you must have extremely good balance, you cannot lean on one side more than the other because then you will fall. Leaning on one side of the other represents having an uneven education. I believe it is important to get exposure to both traditional style of learning with lectures and a structured classroom and exposure to hands on teaching and out of the box thinking, when students are exposed to both types of education they will be able to be a prepared, intelligent active learner. The beginning block that you start on when you are about to begin your first step onto the wire presents a risk. A risk in trusting two different styles of educating students and excepting that you need both in order to maintain your balance on the wire to get across. The net to fall into if you fall off the wire represents your previous education that you can fall back on when you fail. In my compromising education system the student and teacher relationship is extremely important. The metal bar that is used to help the high wirer maneuver their way across represents the teacher. The metal bar is a tool for the high wirerer to use just as the teacher is a tool for the student. The student relies on the teacher as much as the teacher relies on them to make it across the wire. If either the high wirer falls or the bar falls they both fall and fail together. This is also true in the classroom, there is no success of the student that cannot be attributed to the teacher and there is no success on the teacher’s behalf that isn’t attributed to the student. They both make their own success at the expense of each other. With the correct balance and knowledge of their craft and with the help of the bar the high wirer should feel supported in this difficult task. As should the student feel supported during their educational experience. There should be no oppressive atmosphere and intimidation of knowledge; this can only hinder the student’s potential to become an active leaner. When the high wirer is able to move across gliding from one foot to the other it represents knowledge gained and progression of learning. The end block is the completion of your education in schooling. It represents knowledge gained and represents the completion of you becoming an active learner. It is important that becoming an active learner can happen in both a lecture and a discussion based class. However, it is up to the student to make sure he/she is constantly challenging the text or lecture and not content with what the teacher presents and always looking further into subjects. In my own experience with education and in reaction to Freire’s essay I was able to establish my own education system. The important ties between Friere’s and my own thoughts on education are the teacher and student relationship and using the idea of integrating problem posing education into today’s learning. Integrating education systems creates, in my mind, what a student needs to be successful. Having a balanced education teaches students how to become an active learner but also teaches students how to listen and relate to what other people think. In order to not have complete chaos by all the leaders in the world; they all need to have the skills of both leading and thinking of innovative ideas but also listen to collaborate and view other people’s perspectives. When all these skills are mastered by students they will feel prepared to fulfill the roles that they are challenged with and create great opportunities for themselves in the future.