The Pedagogy of the Oppressed free essay sample

The Pedagogy of the Oppressed What does the opinion expressed in Paulo Freire’s â€Å"banking† education metaphor really say about modern society and the disenfranchised? Freire begins Chapter Two of his novel â€Å"Pedagogy of the Oppressed,† by analyzing the teacher-student relationship that is characteristic of the Socratic/Lecture Teaching Methods. Freire refers to these teaching methods as â€Å"the banking concept of education,† where the students are considered empty bank accounts just passively and robotically waiting to be filled with deposits from the omniscient professors. 1) While at first, the metaphor seems novel, upon closer inspection, Friere is making a bold and controversial statement about the current power-hungry and oppressive social construct. A system designed and manufactured by the wealthy in order to polarize the divergent social classes and maintain the status quo. But all is not lost, there is a light at the end of the tunnel-th e light of communication. I apologize for the dramatics, but I have a deep personal connection with Freire’s beliefs about the true healing powers of communication. We will write a custom essay sample on The Pedagogy of the Oppressed or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page For me, Maynard James Keenan, the lead singer for the band â€Å"Tool,† says it best in the song â€Å"Schism† when he cries, â€Å"Cold silence has a tendency to atrophy any sense of compassion between supposed lovers†¦ between supposed brothers. † I know at first these lyrics may seem like a stretch, but if you really think about it, Keenan’s words echo the sentiments of Freir’s assertions many times throughout Chapter Two. For example, in Freire’s introduction of the â€Å"banking concept,† he wrote: Education thus becomes an act of depositing, in which the students are the depositories and the teacher is the depositor. Instead of communicating, the teacher issues communiques and makes deposits which the students patiently receive, memorize, and repeat. This is the â€Å"banking† concept of education, in which the scope of action allowed to the students extends only as far as receiving, filing, and storing the deposits. (1) I imagine Freire’s idea of communicating to be along the lines of two different individuals or groups engaging in more dialogue instead of just getting forced to endure contrived monologue delivered by so many professors in modern academia. Freire continued to stress the power of communication later in the chapter when he wrote: The bank-clerk educator does not realize that there is no true security in his hypertrophied role that one must seek to live with others in solidarity. One cannot impose oneself, nor even merely co-exist with one’s students. Solidarity requires true communication, and the concept by which such an educator is guided fears and proscribes communication. Yet only through communication can human life hold meaning†¦ Authentic thinking, thinking that is concerned about reality, does not take place in ivory tower isolation, but only in communication. (4) Once again, I am reminded of Keenan’s song and how in my life, silence, ignoring, denying, and stuffing have never proved healthy or beneficial. In fact, I believe that these are destructive, emotionally violent actions that perpetuate the social polarity and self-obsession that damage relationships and any sense of social unity. On a lighter note, while reading this chapter, I got the feeling that Freire might be a Political Scientist; he mentioned â€Å"libertarian education† and â€Å"populist manifestations,† which lead me to a another question. Now, it has been a while since I took a Political Science class, but what was Freire referring to when he wrote: The raison detre of libertarian education, on the other hand, lies in its drive towards reconciliation. Education must begin with the solution of the teacher-student contradiction, by reconciling the poles of the contradiction so that both are simultaneously teachers and students? Correct me if I am wrong but I don’t remember Libertarian Ideology being signified by a focus or appreciation for reconciliation. And to claim that the sole reason for the existence of a â€Å"libertarian education,† whatever that really means, is about reconciliation, is a bold statement. I always thought it a bit risky to speak in absolutes. When I finally finished reading Freire’s somewhat dense examination of society, culture, control, and power, I was tired but impressed. While I may not agree with everything Freire wrote, I did find his analysis to be balanced. He succeeded in showing how both the teacher and the student are dehumanized by our modern educational system. And while he hinted at the true pathology that lay beneath our hierarchical social system, he did not place the blame on any specific group or demographic.