Sunday, August 22, 2010

The Banking Concept of Education

Paulo Friere's essay is mainly concerened with the education system of his time. He beilieves that students are used as empty bank vaults where teachers spit out information to be deposited or stored inside of them. What I got from the reading is the idea that students are taught often taught at rather than being taught to. Also, that students loose something special when their minds are filled with all of this information. They loose their capacity for free thought and expression. In a sense they loose some of their indivituality.
I found it most interesting when Friere brought up the idea of oppression and how it can be directly related to education. I think he is trying to say that filling students with information like bank vaults limits them because it limits their ability to express free will by interacting, and in turn teaching their teachers as well. Students become oppressed members of society when they are forced to act as bank vaults for years and years of the education system.
I, personally, do not agree with Friere when applying his theory to modern day teaching. I believe the common class room situation in this day and age seems to have much more interaction between students and their teachers. They learn from eachother on many occasions.

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