Paulo Friere's Pedagogy of the Oppressed

(blog re-post)

I haven't read many education books aside from this class, but I think this chapter was eye opening. The thought of "banking" is one I never bothered to break down or even take notice, but now that it has been pointed out to me, I am in awe that this is the relationship some teachers take with their students. I know when I was in high school, I had many teachers that just taught facts and we were expected to regurgitate it when needed (test). But I never really retained much information, nor did I really care as to what I as learning. I wasn't invested as a student, and after reading this chapter, the analogy of the teacher making "deposits" and students "accepting" it all comes together.

I don't believe this is a way that I'll teach. I want to be more invested in my students' opinions, and open discussions to get this across. In the area of literature, sometimes there isn't a clear cut right or wrong answer. The idea of teachers talking and students listening doesn't mean there is quality teaching/learning happening. I hope to bridge the gap more of fully knowing what my students are retaining by doing different typed of assessments that show their knowledge in the are, and not their skill for memorizing.

I'm happy to see that others are realizing that some teaching ways need to change, the same way our students are changing. There are so many more distractions no a days for students (even from when I was a high schooler in the late 90s), and we need to figure out ways to keep them interested and involved. "Banking" doesn't work (at least not so much in my area of English and Theatre), but it might still be slightly relevant in areas such as science and history. But it would be up to those teachers to really keep the students engaged and maybe have different ways of assessing other than recalling facts and memorizing.