The "Banking Concept of Education" by Paulo Freire is an interesting piece of literature and makes a very valid point toward the weakness of modern day education that I have to absolutely agree with on a larger level. Though there are some areas that I feel are an inherent weakness in the process of educating the youth such as the preliminary education where one has no basis of knowledge to have an opinion yet I still concede that it doesn't change that by feeding them this education that were are falling into an act of domination. The act of problem-posing education is not something new and in fact stems from way back to the days of the great philosopher Socrates and as a result shows that it has indeed had a history of successful running with people. I agree that a problem-posing education is indeed the best way to truly teach someone as merely being able to regurgitate what one is taught means nothing compared to knowing why they know something and what it really means.
I found it interesting how Paulo linked this sort of treatment of students to the way a dictator would dominate his subjects and in some ways I feel this is a bit of an unfair comparison as unlike the setting where a dictator allows no speech at all against him, the modern education however allows free and opposing opinions once one has some ground to stand on such as college. It still doesn't change that it still becomes a matter of "end justifies the means" issue that then links the two even more closely due to the ideological similarity in philosophy which then as a result makes the comparison all the more valid. It really doesn't help though that in some cases a teacher really does take the form of an absolute ruler, that what they say is always correct no matter the issues and all students must simply accept what they say as fact, this being something I have personally experienced from time to time. Whether I agree or disagree about the direct comparison it still doesn't change that the comparison has quite a bit of validity at its very core.
I like your comment about Socrates. Socrates claimed that he "knew nothing" and yet we tend to consider him an incredibly important thinker/philosopher/character (in Plato's dialogues).
ReplyDeleteI think that the process of teaching (and learning) is about learning how to respond. Rather than assuming I "know" what I am going to say and communicate to you as students. I prefer to set up conditions in the classroom where we can make meaning together. I like to think of myself as a "facilitator" rather than a dictator with absolute knowledge.
You are right that in the modern, American university we are ok with speaking out. But remember Freire's historical context.