The Banking Concept of Education Personal Essay

The “Banking” Concept of Education
Paulo Freire is the author of many world renowned pieces of literature, “The ‘Banking’ Concept of Education,” being the most applicable to modern day students. The “Banking” Concept of Education” discusses what Freire defines as the “banking” concept, a style of teaching too many teachers are accustomed to that negatively impacts students. The “banking” concept is written by Freire as,
“Instead of communicating, the teacher issues communiques and makes deposits which the students patiently receive, memorize, and repeat. This is the "banking" concept of education, in which the scope of action allowed to students extends only as far as receiving, filing, and storing the deposits.” (Freire 260) Unfortunately, prior to my college experience, I have always been stuck with “bankers” as my teachers and none of them able to really teach me information I have memorized and applied. I remember going to public school my first year of high school and having a teacher who was strongly accustomed to teaching under the banking concept. Her name was Ms. Bincheski.
Ms. Bincheski was a math teacher who gave the impression she was completely superior to all of her students. She would undermine me for not understanding the material as if it was something I was naturally supposed to understand. I was treated like I was incompetent since I asked a lot of questions and it was difficult for me to fully understand math assignments. I became reluctant to ask questions since in response I would be talked down to along with receiving the answers. As I became l less responsive and quiet in the class I was generally berated for talking amongst my peers and labeled as a distraction considering they were all doing their work while I would sit there confused as to what we were doing. I was not once offered help, nor did I understand what we were discussing in class. In his essay, Freire talks about how students are essentially robots in their learning environment, listening to everything they are told. He writes, “The banking approach to adult education, for example, will never propose to students that they critically consider reality. It will deal instead with such vital questions as whether Roger gave green grass to the goat, and insist upon the importance of learning that, on the contrary, Roger gave green grass to the rabbit. The "humanism" of the banking approach masks the effort to turn women and men into automatons -- the very negation of their ontological vocation to be more fully human” (Freire 262) I felt deprived of my humanity in my learning environment, and more like a robot sitting there with random pieces of information verbally being placed into my head. Ms. Bincheski and I would often get into arguments because I became negligent and boisterous in the classroom. I hated going to her class and would act aggressive towards her in response to her berating me. I don’t think the teacher was capable of having a mutual sense of respect for the students, and wanted to feel like she had power over all of them. Freire discusses this as being an aspect of the “banking” concept, when he writes,
“The contents, whether values or empirical dimensions of reality, tend in the process of being narrated to become lifeless and petrified. Education is suffering from narration sickness.” (Freire 259)
Paulo Freire discusses his perspective of the most commonly used teaching practice in his essay, “The ‘Banking’ Concept of Education.” One of the most prominent issues in school systems is that children are being taught only to memorize information, but generally do not question the information or how it will apply to them in the future. Freire discusses this when he writes, “Narration (with the teacher as narrator) lead the students to memorize mechanically narrated content, Worse yet, it turns them into ‘containers,’ into ‘receptacles’ and to be ‘filled’ by the teacher.” (Freire 260) The “banking” concept of education portrays a lack of mutual respect between the “banking” teacher and student, which can lead to a lack of any real learning experience for the student at all.
Through the “banking” concept of education, children are essentially taught to learn the same way dogs do. The instructors speak to them all the same, expect them to all listen to everything they are told, and for all of them to recollect the information they are taught and apply it to the future. Dogs learn through being told what to do over and over again and are praised if they respond correctly, but scolded if they do not to the point where they will remember to only do what they are told. Children in the banking system are only taught to remember information, given good grades if they remember it, and given bad grades if they do not.
Freire also discusses an alternative and what he views as a more efficient method of teaching, the “problem-posing” concept of education. “Problem-posing” education is a more liberationist, question-asking form of education where the students are forced to use their heads and ask questions in the classroom. The primary aspect of problem-posing education that makes it so efficient is the consistency of dialogue and good communication between the student and teacher that allow information to be processed and applied to the world. Students and teachers have a mutual sense of respect for eachother and both use it to their advantage, the teachers for teaching and the students for learning. This is said by Freire when he writes:
“Indeed, problem-posing education, which breaks with the vertical patterns characteristic of banking education, can fulfill its function as the practice of freedom only if it can overcome the above contradiction.” (Freire 265)
Banking teachers like Ms. Bincheski hurt students mentally in the sense they make them unable to fully process and comprehend academic information to its fullest extent. The “banking” concept of education is the non-existence of communication, mutual respect, and full assistance in helping students understand what they are being taught. Ms. Bincheski made me less desiring of an education and more of a rebel against the educational system. I disliked the concept of going to school to be talked down to and taught to memorize instead of actually learn. Ms. Bincheski was an ideal portrayal of the “banking” concept of education. Throughout my school years I was impacted in a way where I was afraid to ask questions in class, and instead sit and listen to everything I was told.

Works Cited
Freire, Paulo. “The ‘Banking’ Concept of Education.” Ways of reading: An Anthology for Writers. 6th ed. Ed. Davis Bartholomae Anthony Petrosky. Boston:Bedford/St Martins, 202. 258-270. Print.