Tuesday, October 4, 2011

Blog 4: The Banking Concept of Education

What sparked the most of my interest from this essay is the deceitfulness of today's education that was mentioned. The line where Freire stated "Those who use the banking approach...fail to perceive that the deposits themselves contain contradictions about reality". There's no secret that American education is of less importance on the huge list of America's issues. The U.S education system is primarily based on the banking concept and I believe it's because our nation is to fond of secrecy and less open toward change. It's almost as if students are only limited to a restricted amount of knowledge. It appears as if  Education's primary goal is to teach only the things that students should know rather than what they want to learn. But, the excuse is that Education is supposed to prepare a student for the world that these instructor's allegedly know so much about. No one even realizes that the world is much bigger than the United States . Students brains are being used as storage bins. However, I'd rather think of the brain in similarity to a sponge. Information is processed better when it is absorbed rather than stored. When you're absorbing something you're taking it in but with caution. So, this means questions are being asked and inquiries are being made. But, to store information only means that its in your memory and you have no understanding of the information that's stored. The school system seem to be making more choices for students than the students are making for themselves. But, it's not like students are incapable of making certain decisions, our school systems are depriving them of the opportunity. How can knowledge teach itself? The mind must explore in order for it to function.

1 comment:

  1. I really like your comments and the distinction you make between "storing" and "sponging" (absorbing). However, the problem with this distinction is that both are "passive" objects that cannot choose whether or not it soaks up (or stores) information. The sponge soaks up water/liquid whether it wants to or not.

    Still good thinking through that quotation.

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