Contrastive reflection between banking education and empowering education including relevant and objective examples

By Aida Arechiga

INTRODUCTION Brazilian educator and influential theorist of critical pedagogy, Paulo Freire, presented in his book The Pedagogy of the Oppressed (1970), the concept of the banking education and in contrast of this vision, he launched a new theory or concept of education naming it: empowering also called liberatory education. In the present document a reflective contrast between both educational concepts it is being offered along with some examples. He considers that information is the core of education which will give all members of society the equality of access to societys power in order to pursue a social transformation. In the present document a reflective contrast between banking and empowering education it is being offered. The Banking Concept of Education. Freire (1970) considers that education is suffering from narration sickness. In which, the narrations (contents) given by the teacher to learners, become lifeless and non-meaningful. The banking concept of education relies on the fact: that teachers deposit contents to depositories (learners). In this construct, the teacher talks about a topic in a motionless, static and predictable form; it might be that the teacher could be more enthusiastic in his teaching but the theme is not relevant to student. Teachers main duty is to fill the learners with his narration contents; contents that are often distant from reality and/or disconnected from students context. This narrative education contemplates only words without a transforming power. As an example, students repeat two time two, equals four. Student memorizes and repeats phrases without acknowledging what two times two really means. Therefore, the teacher becomes a narrator that conduce students to record mechanically the given phrase(s). The general extent for the banking concept of education allows students as far as receiving, filling and storing deposits. This type of education does not develop a critical consciousness, therefore students become passive collectors, they adapt to the world without questioning it. As a result, learners denote a lack of creativity since this educational system minimizes or annuls students creative power. The banking concept of education is a mirror of the silenced culture of the oppressing society, which maintains and promotes the contradictions such as:

a) b) c) d)

the teacher teaches and students are taught; the teacher knows everything and students know nothing; the teacher thinks and students are thought about; the teacher talks and students listen.

Empowering concept of Education Could be defined as the acts of cognition, where the emphasis is on the knowledge. Freires main scope of this concept goes further than just transferring information. He considers that knowledge emerges only trough invention and re-invention in an impatient continuing hopeful way, inquiring human beings to interact in the world and with the world. It is an approach where both teacher and students, become responsible for the learning process. It is based on a problem-posing method which promotes teacher-student dialog and reflection giving as a result a cognitive process. Students are active learners, critical thinkers and co-investigators along with the teacher. Teachers role is to provide different materials and sources for students to decide what to work with. This way, the students get involved in their learning process, the feel challenged. Learners from this Empowering concept of Education, interrelate with their contextual problems in a real basis, not just in a theoretical frame. This type of education enables students to response to challenges, which evoke new challenges, followed by understandings and gradually the students are committed by conviction not by prescription. Below, a contrasting scheme in the teacher-students roles between banking and empowering concepts of education.

Banking Concept of Education Teachers Role Students Role Teaches Is being taught subject Treated as object Maintains Aligned students aligned

Knows everything

Thinks and makes thinking intractable and

Ignorant. Gets involved in must die to survive dynamic. Objects. Thinking is prohibited.

Empowering Concept of Education Teachers Role Students Role Teacher-students Student-teacher subject subject The teacher Is capable of teaches and is thinking and being taught by analyzing, students through becoming a subject the dialog. with a critical thinking. Subjects of the Subjects of the process. Both process. Both teacher-students students-teacher grow together in grow together in knowledge. knowledge. Humanistic Finds himself and others in an authentic way.

unreachable. Speaks

Listens

Revolutionary

Disciplines Opts Prescribes this option. Acts

Are disciplined Follow the prescription Have an illusion that they act, while the teacher acts. Adapts to the content. Student suggestions or needs are not being considered. Obey They are efficient instruments for the oppressing minority. Automatic objects, empty vessels that should be filled with information. Assisted all the time and form inept and lazy students. They adapt to the dominant and oppressive minority interests.

Serves for the freedom Coexists, sympathizes and communicates

Subject in constant evolution. Aware of their consciousness in the re-invention. Defies. In process of a constant freedom. intercommunicates

Selects the content

Imposes functional authority

Subject in process

Paternalistic

Delivers and transmits his knowledge in a narrative form, not as a vivid experience

According to Freire's theory (1970), education practice of freedom should take over the education practice of domination. The banking education creates an abstract, isolated, independent, and unconnected to the world person. Examples of these are the scholastic, based on the norms, prescriptions and dogmas. An example would be the education that many religions actually instruct, such as:

a) The Catholicism that imposes dogma to its faith, where is not allowed to discuss: the infallibility of the Pope, the content of the Bible, the prescription of the confession. The prohibition for women to take part in high hierarchy of the church, only men are allowed. b) Cultural patterns, in countries neither like Saudi Arabia and Africa where women are not allowed to show their faces. In some cases women cannot vote or work. c) The cultural oppression of Latin-American women where their opinions are not being considered, only the male opinion is valid. Besides, considering women as an object to serve men.

On the other hand, the Empowering concept of education which is also called practice of freedom constructs the human being as a whole. Learners are part of the world; they relate with other people and are inserted in a conscious relationship with all their surroundings. This type of education develops their inner power to perceive critically the way the world works. In contrast with banking the empowering education students come to see the world not as a static really, but as a reality in process of transformation. Examples of this education are: a) The inculturated literacy with social projections that is being realized in some cities in Brazil. Schools that follow Freires theory, such as Sua Pesquisa. b) The New Theology of Liberation, which enables a critical thinking about religion, proposed by Pablo Suess in Desafos de la Inculturacin Reflexiones Teolgicas y Pistas Pastorales c) Educational institutes where they stimulate a critical reading of the reality that promotes students creativity, curiosity and researcher spirit. School like Instituto de Ciencias, in Guadalajara, Jalisco. d) Humanistic and Holistic approaches in education like: Pierre Fore, SJ and Maria Montessori educational systems. e) Home-schooling education and e-learning education.

CONCLUSION Resuming, Paulo Freires vision towards the education is far beyond just receiving and transmitting information, it is the knowledge that will lead to the process of humanizing the world and to convey to its higher vocation in life: co-creation.

My personal opinion is that: awareness is the first step of the change. Therefore, it is important to reflect on the education concept we received; back then we probably had no option, but now we can decide. Once, we have read and reflected on the difference between the banking and empowering, we received more information, which means more knowledge and commitment towards oneself and to the world. I dully agree with Freires point of view, in which he considers that information is the core of education which will give all members of society the equality of access to societys power in order to pursue a social transformation.

REFERENCES Canestrari, Alan and Morlowe, Bruce. 2004. Educational Foundations. An Anthology of Critical Readings. Sage Publications, Inc. California Escobar, Miguel. 1988. La Concepcin Bancaria de la Educacin. En Paulo Freire y la Educacin Liberadora pg. 17-23, SEP Cultura, Mxico. Freire, Paulo. 1970 (1993) Pedagogy of the Oppressed. Reprinted by permission (1993) The Continum International Publishing Group. Freire, Paulo, Biografa de Paulo Freire, Pedagoga de Autonoma, mtodo Paulo Freire, sistema de alfabetizacin de adultos, pensamientos, pedagoga del oprimido, libros Paulo Freire. Retrieved from: http://www.suapesquisa.com/paulofreire/ Suess, Pablo, Desafos de la Inculturacin Reflexiones Teolgicas y Pistas Pastorales Retrieved from: http://sedosmission.org/old/spa/Suess_1.html