What's the Point?

Paulo Freire, author of Pedagogy of the Oppressed (my reading assignment for Honors Orientation this week), suggests that most education systems within a classroom setting are more like “banks” than actual education.  In other words, Freire argues that children in school are not truly learning; they are simply being filled with information as banks are filled with money.  Children are taught facts and information, but they are not learning to use this knowledge to grow their understanding of the world.  They simply repeat and recite and memorize to pass tests, write essays, and pass with a decent grade.

I will not reveal names of people nor the real classes in which I have felt banked, but I will say that I have felt “banked” in class before.  In one particular setting, I copied down as many notes as I could, read what I was supposed to, wrote what I was told to write, and listened to my instructor’s lectures.  I placed all this information into my brain and just left it there until it was needed.  In a similar way, I deposit money into my bank account and just leave it there until I need it.  Once the money is used, it is gone.  The chances of getting it back are less than slim.  In this class, once I withdrew the information needed for a test or a paper, what have I done to retain that knowledge after I needed it?  Sadly, I usually do not go out of my way to truly understand and grasp most information that comes my way.  I am a student who likes to see the “A”, and I do what it takes to see as many as possible.  But, I am not going to be graded in a job.  Nor will I be graded on my faith in Christ.  So, what’s the point, really?

I want to be growth-minded.  I am far too much of a perfectionist in everything.  God has been teaching me to let go of everything and leave it in His hands.  I have been fighting Him all the way.  I am tired of fighting, yet still I hang on.  Why?  Because I fear.  Lots of things.  I think this is really funny because I love adventures.  Looking back though, I realize that I prefer adventures in which I maintain some control.  Some adventure.

But, let’s return to education and a growth-mindset.  I understand that growing requires failing.  I hate that feeling.  But, I don’t want my mind to be a bank of information that I only keep until it’s needed.  I want my mind to be like the library in Beauty and the Beast, a place I can visit over and over again for both necessity and fun.  (Sounds silly, I know, but I happen to like libraries. J

        

Now I have questions…

Freire states on page 73 that “the teacher chooses the program content, and the students (who were not consulted) adapt to it”.  Should the student be consulted and why?  Why do we let the teachers choose what we should study?  When we choose a major in college, is it better for us to follow the four-year degree-plans for our majors as encouraged by our advisors or should we pick and choose whatever we think is best for the degree we want?