In Paulo Freire’s article, “The Banking Concept of Education,” two major points are discussed, first being the banking concept. The banking concept of education is when teachers do not fully interact with their students in the classroom, as they should according to the argument of Freire. Learning is instead done based on a memorization method. There is no cognitive interaction that makes the students critically think beyond the obvious. Freire argues that banking education creates a false sense of reality and “attempts to maintain the submersion of consciousness”. The teacher maintains a role of authority over the students, with the students being the “subjects”. Therefore, with no environment that encourages students to discuss and contemplate freely, they are often not able to feel at ease in an education setting. In Freire’s second major point, he discusses a solution to the banking concept. He introduces the idea of problem posing education. This is the opposite to the banking concept; instead of making students feel oppressed, a new open environment is provided for the students. This new environment “strives for emergence of consciousness and critical intervention in reality”. Students’ opinions and viewpoints are instead encouraged in this classroom setting. Freire stresses that this way, students can feel liberated and be treated as a human with a living conscious. Dialogue and communication between student and teacher is welcomed. In this way, reality is shown, myths are demythologized, and critical thinking is provoked, making for a more well rounded student. I have mixed feelings about banking education and problem posing education. In my view, problem-­‐posing education is certainly a positive way to get students to critically think. Knocking the sense of a hierarchy between teacher and student is crucial in order for everyone to feel comfortable discussing and communicating with one another. Many students learn best this way, understandably so, especially in a psychology, English, or history class. In banking education, while it is mainly narration and no real communication between teacher and student, memorization is still important. For instance, an example is a science or math class, where repeating formulas until learned, is vital to succeeding in the course. Overall, I believe that each teaching method is dependent on the student and course. Great job! As you revise, be sure to think about editing for length and brevity. If you choose to revise this for the annotated bib, make sure to shift the focus just slightly for that assignment. Gabriela Rios 5/20/13 2:53 PM
Comment: Careful with passive voice, you want to say “Freire’s argument” Gabriela Rios 5/20/13 2:58 PM
Comment: As you revise, be sure to add the page number for this quotation (and any others) Gabriela Rios 5/20/13 3:02 PM
Comment: I think what Freire is getting at, here, is that even formulas are derived from theories about the world (science and math come out of natural philosophy and rhetoric/logic, respectively)…but, I do see how his desire for us to engage in those theories might be impractical in some settings