The "Banking" Concept of Education excerpt from "Pedology of the Oppressed" by Paulo Freire.

The "Banking" Concept of Education is an interesting insight on the ideological structure of public education and the interpellation it creates within its curriculum. Paulo Freire has very fascinating theories on the banking of education and he creates a sonority with his approach in depicting the hegemony that occurs within school walls. Freire discusses topics which are very appealing; such as the main concept that students are "containers" or depositories and teachers merely deposit information into students. This "exchange" of information is known as the banking system.

In classes students are "filled" with information by the teacher and the more completely filled the recepitant is, the better the teacher. Contrary to that, the more the recepitant permits themselves to the automations the better the student. This concept is not always coexistent with the regular definitions of a student. A student may be "better" than the student in the "banking" system by exposing themselves to outside sources of information such as books not mandated by the school or encyclopedias.

English: Photo of Paulo Freire

English: A Monument about Paulo Freire in front of...

Pedagogy of the Oppressed

Freire also brings up the topic of the minimizing action of student's creative power and individuality by the "banking" system. Oppressors use "humanitarianism" to preserve a profitable situation. This profitable situation is to consolidate education and commercialize schools. Oppressors are able to consolidate and commercialize education by mandating that schools read the same books and learn all the same information, at the end of the year the state requires schools to have regents and the "dominant elites" are able to evaluate which schools need to improve on their "banking system". Freire states that the interest of the oppressors is to "change the conscious of the oppressed." The more easy the oppressed are adapted to the situation the easier they are to be dominated. The more we (oppressed) are "filled" the less likely...