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Paulo Freire The Banking Concept Of Education

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Paulo Freire believes that the world is primarily dominated by the “banking” concept in regards to education. Under the “banking” concept, Freire describes the relationship between students and teachers as “involv[ing] a narrating Subject (the teacher) and patient, listening objects (the students)” (216). Freire later goes on to symbolize students as empty receptacles awaiting teachers to dump their knowledge freely to fill the empty spaces. Memorization, obedience, oppression, and dominance all describe the inner workings of the “banking” concept. Students lose their ability to become cogitative thinkers as they memorize lectures, never speak their voice or dissent to teachers, and give all of their freedom to their professors. Students then become slaves to the classroom, and rather than a symbiotic relationship existing between students and teachers, the road is very one way. If Freire were to analyze …show more content…

In section two of the piece, Rodriguez even admits that with many of the books he did not understand the true meaning. Before closing Section II, Rodriguez states “I read in order to acquire a point of view. I vacuumed books for epigrams, scraps of information, ideas, themes – anything to fill the hollow within me and make me feel educated” (350). This points readers in the direction that the “banking” concept molds students to be mindless receptacles awaiting dumped knowledge; reading then is used to soak in the word count and not the actual meaning behind the piece. In “The ‘Banking’ Concept of Education,” Freire makes an interesting point:
“The interests of the oppressors lie in ‘changing the consciousness of the oppressed, not the situation which oppresses them’…the more the oppressed can be led to adapt to that situation, the more easily they can be dominated”

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