The Banking Concept of Education

          After reading "The Banking Concept of Education" by Paulo Freire I have found that I completely agree with his position that the coined term of "banking education" needs to be changed throughout all schools. I have experienced so many instances where I have had teachers that have used this concept in my own school and I often found it at times to be very frustrating when trying to get something out of the class. Freire has shown us that this type of education involves memorizing terms and concepts just for the sake to rattle them off instead of being able to comprehend what is being taught. In addition, teachers most likely give off the persona that they know everything and that the students are treated like objects. I can relate to this from being in my World Studies class freshman year and in my english class currently. In world studies our grades were only based on how much information we could retain during the test day. The information was never applied to real life circumstances and I never truly felt like I was able to grasp the information. Currently, my english teacher as well is very strict and always puts a student down in regards to answering questions and always thinks her response is better. Not only does this concept of teaching make students less inclined to learn, but it makes them feel inferior.

         I have found that while in problem-posing atmospheres throughout high school I have felt highly comfortable in the classroom and more inclined to take risks and try my hardest. In this concept of learning both the students and teachers are students. In other words, "everyone grows together". This was my favorite post it note that I had created. I think being able to learn from your students is an extremely important skill to have no matter what grade you are teaching. Throughout my junior year of high school I had a teacher that strongly used this concept and was highly encouraging of all students. Creativity and discussion was a main priority of the class and she was always excited to hear our point of view. When I am teacher I hope to always enforce the problem-posing concept in order to keep my kids happy and constantly learning.