Education In John Freire's The Banking Concept Of Education

What is the purpose of college? Imagine a classroom with 30 students. The desks are in evenly spaced rows facing the whiteboard. The professor paces back and forth, while reading off a PowerPoint. The students frantically write what is said, in case of something not being in the textbook. Every week there are quizzes and every month there is a test. Not once does the professor ask the class their thoughts on the topic. Rarely does the professor stop to answer questions. When the class is stopped for questions, the textbook is used to answer them. However, the answer mimics the original explanation, this ultimately leaving the question unanswered. There is a distance between the professor and students. Freire believes college should be used to improve society. However, this view is not shared by society. Students and the college itself feel the purpose of a college education is to get the recognition of training and knowledge that a good job requires because of the current college education system.

In his essay, “The ‘Banking’ Concept of Education,” he introduces the approach of “problem-posing education.” He feels there should not be defined roles between professors and students. The classroom should become less structured, so the students and the professor can engage in discussions to take away knowledge from one another. According to Freire, “Projecting an absolute ignorance onto others, a characteristic of the ideology of oppression, negates education and knowledge as processes of inquiry” (217). This means that true comprehension can be understood by everyone in the classroom through conversation, questioning, and sharing of one’s interpretations. Within this concept, Freire calls for an equal playing field. This enables teachers and students to become subjects of the educational process by overcoming authoritarianism. Students with these skills, learned in college, will help society fix its