The ‘Banking’ Concept of Education.”
“This is a Battle, a War”
In his essay “The ‘Banking’ concept of Education”, Freire introduced the readers two methods of teaching, that are “banking education” and “problem-posing education”. A “banking educator” makes the students mechanically memorize the information he or she unloads on them just like depositing in a bank, while a “problem-posing educator” inspires the students to be critical and aims for the liberation of society.
In the movie “Dead Poet Society”, Keating would for sure be a “problem-poser” according to Freire’s concepts. The moment when Keating walked into and out of the classroom whistling determined that he would be different from other teachers. He would be a rebel in education. The first striking scene was when Keating told the students “now I want you to rip out the entire page” of the textbook in his first lesson on poetry. He dared to challenge and mock the authority on poetry and tell the students not to follow the authority. Just as Freire wrote in his essay, “In this process, arguments based on ‘authority’ are no longer valid” (Freire 262). Keating encouraged the students to think critically as he said, “In my class, you’ll learn to think for yourself again.” The students obviously looked confused and shocked at first but soon welcomed the idea. To them, this was just the beginning. They probably did not know why they were doing it but they were just doing it out of excitement. But their life would soon change. As Keating said in the movie, “this is a battle, a war”. Keating and his students would be fighting in this war and make a change.
In Freire’s essay he commented “in problem posing education, people develop their power to perceive critically the way they exist in the world with which and in which they find themselves” (Freire 264). Moreover, it is important to look at this world differently at times. In a scene in “Dead Poets Society”, Keating encouraged his students to stand on the table and review the
In his essay “The ‘Banking’ concept of Education”, Freire introduced the readers two methods of teaching, that are “banking education” and “problem-posing education”. A “banking educator” makes the students mechanically memorize the information he or she unloads on them just like depositing in a bank, while a “problem-posing educator” inspires the students to be critical and aims for the liberation of society.
In the movie “Dead Poet Society”, Keating would for sure be a “problem-poser” according to Freire’s concepts. The moment when Keating walked into and out of the classroom whistling determined that he would be different from other teachers. He would be a rebel in education. The first striking scene was when Keating told the students “now I want you to rip out the entire page” of the textbook in his first lesson on poetry. He dared to challenge and mock the authority on poetry and tell the students not to follow the authority. Just as Freire wrote in his essay, “In this process, arguments based on ‘authority’ are no longer valid” (Freire 262). Keating encouraged the students to think critically as he said, “In my class, you’ll learn to think for yourself again.” The students obviously looked confused and shocked at first but soon welcomed the idea. To them, this was just the beginning. They probably did not know why they were doing it but they were just doing it out of excitement. But their life would soon change. As Keating said in the movie, “this is a battle, a war”. Keating and his students would be fighting in this war and make a change.
In Freire’s essay he commented “in problem posing education, people develop their power to perceive critically the way they exist in the world with which and in which they find themselves” (Freire 264). Moreover, it is important to look at this world differently at times. In a scene in “Dead Poets Society”, Keating encouraged his students to stand on the table and review the
Cited: Freire, Paulo. “The ‘Banking’ Concept of Education.” Ways of Reading. 7th ed. Boston, Newyork: Bedford/St.Martin 's, 2005. 255-70. Print. Dead Poets Society. Dir. Peter Weir. Perf. Robin Williams. Touchstone, 1989.