The Banking Concept of Education

"You cannot teach a man anything; you can only help him to find it within himself." -Gallileo Galilei (1564-1642)

The Audacity of Hope: The Banking Concept of Education In Freire's essay, The Banking Concept of Education, he advances the idea that the inherent objective of the "banking concept" is to educate the poor and illiterate to remain "oppressed"; he implies that this is accomplished in part by "narrative" teaching methods, and the lack of critical thinking required of the students. He builds on ideas originally postulated by both Marie Montessori and John Dewy to create an alternative pedagogy he calls "Problem-posing" to counter the effects of the "banking concept."
While analyzing the effects of the "banking concept," he draws a parallel between the "oppressed" (majority), and the "oppressor" (dominant minority). He forges the conclusion that the "banking concept" is designed to effect the oppressed to adapt to the reality of their condition, therefore, the oppressor can shape the reality of the oppressed, while, simultaneously the ability of the oppressed to shape their reality in their own interest is diminished . "Oppression" is a design of the "banking concept";" for by controlling the "material resources" that sustain institutions, education in this case, the powerful [(capitalists, i.e., upper class of owner and high- level executives)] can deny resources needed to make vital identity claims and to experience selves as agents" (Schwalbe, 1993:342). The power or flaw of the "banking concept", (depending on which group you happen to belong to) is that it does not require that the student engage in critical thinking. "It is through education (an "ideological state apparatus" in Althusserian terms), by which the members of the dominant group, the upper class of owners and high- level executives (bourgeois capitalist) in this day and age, impose their will (without force) throughout society' (Mocombe 2007:2-4).The role of the "banking concept" becomes a method "to facilitate integration of the younger generation into the logic of the present system and bring about conformity" (Mocombe 2007:2-4). He uses the metaphor "deposit" to represent the manner in which information is bestowed to the students. The idea that the students are an "empty vessel" is at the core of the "the banking concept of education" (Freier:315); therefore, the curriculum does not take into consideration esthetic needs of the students as, "the practice of freedom", the means by which men and women deal critically and creatively with reality and discover how to participate in the transformation of their world"(Freire 2000 [1970]: 34). The information is chosen by the educator as the "depositor" and "deposited" into the student; "the scope of action allowed the student extends only as far as receiving, filing and storing; which the students patiently receive, memorize and repeat" (Freire:319).
The teacher-student relationship is described as "narrative" in character. "This relationship involves a "narrating Subject (the teacher) and patient, listening objects (the students)" (Freire:318). He says that information "deposited" in this manner tends to "become lifeless and petrified" (Freire:318). Because of the "narrative" style of teaching, he states, "education is suffering from narration sickness" (Freire:318). The "problem-posing" method of education that Freire asserts as an alternative to the ‘banking concept' encourages students to question and pursue inquiry. This change in focus is facilitated by a shift in the student-teacher relationship; the student learns from the teacher, and the teacher learns from the students; a relationship where, all points of view and are examined and respected. The objective of this educational paradigm is to "develop the power to perceive critically the way a person exist in the world, with which and in which they find themselves; they come to see the world is not as a static reality but as a reality in process, in transformation" (Freire:328). Without the development of this power man can not experience his "ontological vocation" - the drive to be fully human.
This essay, although written in the 1970's about issues in the educational system in Brazil, offers applicable parallels to the educational system in the United States today. "The routinized ways of acting in the United States follow from the rules and regulations needed by the corporate community to continue to grow and make profits" (Domhoff, 2002: 181). The allure of the "American Dream, i.e., two cars in every garage, a house with a white picket fence, and of course, the obligatory 2.5 kids; this is the carrot held before the horse, so to speak, which has caused most Americans to buy into the dream, without posing serious questions to its validly, its source or its cost; therefore, the corporate interest are served , "and they only pay you enough to get fat and sloppy" (Mosley Walter, Futureland: 301).
Based on my experiential knowledge of the "banking concept", I agree with Freire's assertions. I believe that you have to meet a person where they are, speak to them in their language, bring an expectation of their worth, encourage their participation and cooperation, and understand that as you teach you also learn, only then can the process of education begin.
The "empty vessel" approach, which is at the core of the ‘banking concept", seeks to "marginalize"(Freire:321) the student instead of engaging them; this is evidenced by the number of high school drop outs in the population the "banking concept" seeks to serve. An alternate pedagogical approach in education is needed if we are to look to our children as the leaders and innovators of tomorrow. Freire writes from first hand experience and scholarship about important issues in education. He covers ideas from cognition and student-teacher relationship to revolution and the effects educational systems have on the concept of liberty. He believes that "no one can be authentically human while he prevents others from being so" (Freire:330). This quote illustrates his humanity and his motivation to see education serve not only the "bourgeois capitalist", but humanity as a whole.

"