Education Pedagogy of the Oppressed Term Paper

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This deadens the educational experience and the whole idea of learning, and indeed, and Freire notes, it dehumanizes the process, too.

Society and culture play an important position in these roles students and teachers play. In our society, as Freire notes, teachers are supposed to know everything, while students know nothing. In addition, teachers are looked up to as role models by many students (and parents), and they are expected to impart knowledge and make it last. They have a difficult role to live up to, and many teachers simply do not have the talent and ability to thrive in these roles, but they are expected to anyway. In addition, they are expected to keep order in the classroom, maintain control, and see to the welfare of their students. These are all important societal roles, and they are difficult to maintain excellence in all areas.

Perhaps the most interesting and true statement in Freire's essay is his discussion of the teacher's role and his lack of recognition of solidarity and true communication. Freire writes,

The bank-clerk educator does not realize that there is no true security in his hypertrophied role, that one must seek to live with others in solidarity. One cannot impose oneself, nor even merely co-exist with one's students. Solidarity requires true communication, and the concept by which such an educator is guided fears and proscribes communication (Freire).

Indeed, this teacher may have been insecure in his own role, and unable to truly communicate with his students, and so, he was guided by fear and insecurity, and passed this on to his students. This may have been one reason he felt so compelled to share his own opinions about history - he needed to make himself feel more important and in charge. It does not seem that this teacher could have survived at the collegiate level, and perhaps he felt he was doomed to deposit history into the heads of loutish students forever. What he failed to recognize was that at least some of the students were quite interested in learning, but were deadened by teachers such as himself who succumbed to the banking form of education.

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Freire also notes that people suffer under this form of education. It was clear our teacher was suffering, because he did not seem to have any joy or interest in the information he was depositing, he was simply reciting it and expecting us to remember it. We suffered as well, because as students we found no joy or interest in the class or the information we were supposed to remember. I did not have a true appreciation of history until I reached college, and had more engaging professors who had a true interest in the subject and how they imparted knowledge to their students. This experience really helped make me aware of the difference between "good" and "bad" teachers. Those who engage in the banking form of education not only stifle and shortchange their students; they stifle and shortchange themselves. They become lifeless, mechanical teachers who take no enjoyment in their job and their knowledge, and so do not awaken and enjoyment in their students. This is a sad state of education, and unfortunately, it seems to still be very common throughout the American educational system. In order for it to change, our society and culture need to set different roles for students and teachers, to encourage more growth, fulfillment, and knowledge sharing in the educational environment.

In conclusion, this banking concept of education still seems to exist in many educational institutions and in society in general. This concept creates narrowly defined roles that the student and teacher must play to be successful. It dehumanizes the process of education, and often creates classrooms where original thought and argument are discouraged or ignored. The banking concept of education literally makes education a business, and it is a poor model for modern educational institutions......

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