Banking Vs Problem Posing Essay

Paulo Freire states that there are two different concepts of education. The two concepts

are banking and problem-posing. The banking concept is that the power in the

educational setting belongs to the teachers as they make and enforce policy and

procedure. Problem-posing focuses on the students having a voice and influence of the

educational setting. Freire argues that problem-posing is the superior method of teaching.

Banking involves the students mechanically memorizing the narrated content of a given

course. As Freire theorizes, banking causes students to be “filled by the teacher” with

course material rather than be inspired to learn within the confines of the subject matter.

Freire concedes that students
In the problem-posing approach to education, students and teachers have an open

dialogue which enables students to comprehend the subject matter as it is presented to

them with the instruct being on an equal level. Problem-posing encourages

communication which in turn brings the student to the subject matter as opposed to

forcing the subject matter on the student. Problem-posing creates a relationship between

the teacher and student where both can learn from each other by opening the lines of

communication on the premise of equality, rejecting the traditional authoritarian role of

the instructor.
Freire defends his preference of problem-posing over banking by stating that teachers

work, “for the liberation of the people, their humanization or for the domestication.”

Freire is stating that teachers can either enable students to be free-thinking scholars or to

be memorization laden machines that regurgitate what they are force-fed without

comprehension. Freire believes that problem-posing allows students to utilize dialogue