Paulo Freire's Analysis Of The Banking Concept Of Education

Gray area of education:

The coexistence of banking and problem posing

When asked to define education, most people would probably think of school and a classroom, but there is so much more. Education can be defined in many different ways depending on the person. Some might view education as attending school. Others might view it as training for a job. Education could even be life lesson and morals. Whatever the definition is, learning seems to be the one constant that appears in any form of education. Just like there are many views on education, there are also different forms of learning.

In “The Banking Concept of Education”, Paulo Freire expresses his view on education by discussing two forms of learning, banking concept and problem posing. The banking concept is a traditional style of learning where teachers tell students what they need to know. The students are expected to just sit and try to process the material as the teacher provides them with the information, effectively erasing their critical consciousness or the ability to think on a critical level. As Freire states, “His [the teacher’s], task is to “fill” the students with the contents of his narration-contents which are detached from reality, disconnected from the totality that engendered the them and could give them significance (318). Freire does not welcome the banking concept and sees it as an easy way for the students to memorize the knowledge provided by the teachers, but in exchange the students are in fact clueless about what the knowledge provided really means.

The other concept that Freire discusses in his essay is problem posing. Problem-Posing learning is when teachers do not just share information with the students, but teachers also discuss the materi...

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...well rounded education that typically uses both banking and problem posing. When they are accepted into medical school they then have lectures on certain days and then laboratory the rest of the time. Then, there are a few years of residency before one can become a doctor. Luckily, with careers like these education never ends. There is always new knowledge that must be learned. People who work in these kinds of fields have to be up to date with them.

Education is a complicated system. It is always changing and there are so many different ways to go about it. Freire splits education into two main types: problem posing and banking. However, these two are both needed in order for education to be the most effective. Contemporary education usually has both of these elements incorporated and, as a result, people have more freedom to choose what kind education they want.