In "The 'Banking' Concept of Education," Paulo Freire criticizes the traditional educational system, in where students are regarded as lifeless containers that are filled with knowledge. Freire describes the banking system as a one sided conversation in which the teacher narrates without end and the student receives the information without question. He explains how this way of learning limits the growth of the student and destroys their critical consciousness. He talks about how in this system the person that knows the most is the one that is regarded as smartest, that knowledge is the only measurement of intelligence. He argues that the banking system is a way of oppression in which humans are made to become part of the world rather than become their own being.
After reading this passage, I realized that the educational system that Freire describes is identical to what I went through in high school. Having to go to class everyday to hear teachers talk for hours and expect to remember everything that you were told. Many times, I would try to ask why, especially in my math and science classes, but the teachers would usually tell me that I didn't need to know why, that I just needed to remember what. This got to the point where I stopped questioning anything that I was told and just accepted the fact. It wasn't until recently when I started college that I have been able to ask the why and be answered.
Freire demonstrates how flawed the banking system is and how it must be substituted for a more liberal system.
After reading this passage, I realized that the educational system that Freire describes is identical to what I went through in high school. Having to go to class everyday to hear teachers talk for hours and expect to remember everything that you were told. Many times, I would try to ask why, especially in my math and science classes, but the teachers would usually tell me that I didn't need to know why, that I just needed to remember what. This got to the point where I stopped questioning anything that I was told and just accepted the fact. It wasn't until recently when I started college that I have been able to ask the why and be answered.
Freire demonstrates how flawed the banking system is and how it must be substituted for a more liberal system.
I found a similar attitude to my own questions in high school. I would constantly interrogate my teacher "WHY am I learning this? What possible use could this have?" I now realize what i was lamenting was the connection between mathematics and my interest in literature, philosophy, and critical thought. There is a great article about how we might teach mathematics as a "creative" discipline rather than a static body of knowledge. I can't find the link at the moment, but I find it, I'll post it on your blog.
ReplyDelete