Difference Between Banking and Problem-Posing Education. Paulo Freire, "Pedagogy of the Oppressed"

Essay by freshfartCollege, Undergraduate March 2006

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Banking education is a form learning\teaching where the students act as banks, and teachers, as one who make deposits. Instead of money being deposited into the banks, it is information being deposited into students. The teacher passes his/her information through lectures, homework, and lists of items to be memorized to the students. The information is expected to be stored in the brain until a given time where it is asked to be recalled, such as on an exam. This concept of education is not beneficial to the growth of true knowledge where one discovers on his or her own and with others. Instead this information is spoon fed to the students, which represses their natural creative cognitive progress of learning. The banking system dehumanizes students and makes them more like robots; problem posing education is a way to rectify problems of the traditional teaching system.

Problem-posing education is a form of information trade, where the teacher and student share roles.

The teacher is also a student, and learns from the students. The students, become student\teachers and they teach the teacher while also learning from the teacher. Problem-posing education allows room for more cognitive thought process where exploration and new discovery is welcome. Finding out the truth, and unveiling reality is a relationship shared by the student and teacher. They work together to further their true knowledge instead of the teacher being the dominate possessor of knowledge. Problem-posing education focuses deeper on the expression of creativity and self realization instead of being passive and accepting life's answers from those before us.