Paulo Freire’s Pedagogy of the Oppressed tells of two different educational
styles: banking education and problem-posing education. Banking education seems
to be an extremely ineffective style. In it, students are treated as lesser
than the teacher and taught only the things they need to survive. They’re not
taught to think critically: most of their “education” is just being able to
recall facts that the teacher recites. This style of teaching only works one
way: teacher to student. There is no room for the students to collaborate with
the instructor. Students aren’t even given any reasoning as to why what they’re
learning is important. They are given only enough to survive and be exploited
by the oppressors.
Problem-posing education, on the
other hand, seems to be a much more effective approach. The communication
channel is opened up both ways so that students can collaborate with their
teacher or challenge claims. Students are taught to think critically. As
communication is two-way, students are also the teachers, creating
teacher-students and student-teachers in the classroom. When students are
taught, they are also given meaning behind what they are learning and how it is
relevant to their lives or why it is important to history. This seems like a
better educational approach as students are able to expand their minds, think
critically, and gives students a better understanding of reality.
Although the United States shies
away from the banking education style (from what I’m aware), many countries
around the world may resort to it in an attempt to control the population.
Oppressors “dumb down” the population by feeding them information that they
approve, not allowing students to think critically. By doing so, the oppressors
ensure that they can remain in power and exploit the misfortunes of the
oppressed. If educational standards in these countries were shifted to a
problem-posing educational style, world poverty rates may decrease as people are
able to rise above their oppressors.
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