Banking Education

Luis Marin
Professor Bakar Wilson
English 101
3/5/13
Experiences with Banking Concept Education and Problem Posing System In the article “The “Banking” Concept of Education” by Paulo Freire compares two types of education, which he calls "banking" and "problem posing". In the article, Freire strongly criticizes The Banking Education. He said that in the banking concept the teachers just talk to the students to fill them with information without perceiving the true significance of the information they are recording. In other words he said that students just receive information to memorize it and repeat. Freire implied that one of the issues with this type of education is that students never get to think deeply about the information they are learning. In the banking concept of education he let us know that “the teacher knows everything and the student know nothing”, emphasizing that students are “ignorant” and the teacher is really the only who has any knowledge. One way Paulo Freire thinks people can overcome this situation is with the Problem
Posing Concept Education. In problem posing students and teachers work together and learn from each other. Problem posing let students think about their ideas because of the communication that is between students and teachers. I agree with Paulo Freire’s idea of The Banking Concept essay. I, as a student thinks that the best way to learn at school is interacting with the teacher and classmates. The best way to do it is by the problem posing method. Throughout the banking concept students just get to memorize the information they are learning and don’t get to practice it. As an immigrant when I came to this country I didn’t know the language and I couldn’t communicate with others.
Memorizing the words and rules of the language really didn’t help me a lot but what actually did was practicing with others and interact with the classmates and teachers, I think that that’s what problem posing do, prepare you to the real world is out there .
According to Paulo Freire “The Banking Concept Education” is a way of teaching in which the student does not have a chance to experience what they are learning. In this method as
Freire says teachers filled students with information. As Freire says “four times four is sixteen; the capital of Para is Belem. The students records, memorizes, and repeats these phrases without perceiving what four times four really means, or realizing the significance of it” 1, this means that teachers share information and the students receive it, memorize it and repeat it, without knowing why is like that or not knowing the true meaning of the information they are learning. Freire says that “the methods using the banking concept may cause students to learn things for a short term memory”. This means that students will just memorize this for a short period of time just enough to be prepared when a test comes, after that they forget what they have learned. Without realizing it, one as a student is submitted to the Banking Concept of Education.
Worldwide the main method used by schools is the banking concept system. I, as a student I have also experienced this. Much of the education that I have received I could say it's been through the process of the banking concept. I cannot say it did not helped me at all but I think maybe it was not the best way to learn. Usually the teachers I had almost always followed this method, they taught and we learned. They told us to listen carefully, sometimes to repeat and memorize important things.
In this method, the important thing is to try to “pass” the course. Sometimes the only thing that were necessary was to take notes and give full attention to the teacher, especially when the course was “difficult”. I think in some way banking concept is not the best way to teach. Students should be given the opportunity to their mind. From what I've seen and experienced I am inclined to the other method that is problem posing, and I think it would be a better way to teach.

Basically problem posing is the opposite of the banking concept method. As Freire say,
“the teacher is no longer merely the one who teaches, but one who is himself taught in dialogue with the students, who in turn while being taught also teach”, 7. Problem posing is to involve more students to ask questions, practice activities and learn from each other, the student learning from the teacher and the teacher learning from the student. On occasion it is good that the student and teacher work together, it does not just help the students but it helps the teachers. In this method students can take information and use it at their advantage. In the same way that I experienced the baking concept method I also had experience the problem posing concept. I came when I was a kid to this country without knowing anything, language, culture or the people. Is very difficult to start in a place where you feel strange, different from others; start all over again, new life, new people and new education. Knowing nothing, unable to speak the language and not knowing the style of education I felt nervous knowing that I had to start school. One of the experiences I had with the problem posing method was while learning the language. As I said before, what I think that really helped me was interacting with people, with my teachers with my friends and classmates. Some teachers that I had sat with me exchanging ideas. I remember they told me “help me help you”; this means that they needed to know what was going on with me, to know in what level I was for them to help me. I think this fits well into the problem posing method; we both working together in a way I’m helping my teacher and the teacher is helping me. I think that problem posing is more efficient because a student learn better when they create knowledge, than when knowledge is create it for them. Interacting and sharing ideas with others can be less stressful and it gives the opportunity to be more creative. Being involved in debates or just even conversations are essential characteristics students need to possess before going out into the real world.