Education. Knowledge. Brain activity. We are taught that these three things work together to excel each other. We get an education, gain knowledge, and, therefore, stimulate brain activity. But what if, instead of excelling the other qualities, our current educational system impeded the growth of knowledge and brain activity? What if by being told who, what, when, where, and why, our brain is no longer required to push itself in order to learn the answer? What if we as human beings could have been capable of so much more, but, because of the “banking” education system, our brain evolution has been stumped? Since grade school we have been taught history, taught how to protect and nurture ourselves, and taught how to go about life. But what if we had to figure out these things on our own? What if our brain had to actually be used and had to think critically about what has to be done, and how it could be done? Imagine how much more advanced our world would be. Think about the first humans on Earth. They had to come up with their own ways of living and staying alive. Look at the progress they have made. Their brains were stimulated to such a degree that allowed them to advance more quickly than we as individuals are able to advance our own lives today. Imagine the possibilities.
But what if it isn’t possible? I mean we can’t just ignore what has been tried before us. What has worked in life for those before us, and what hasn’t worked. Maybe the Banking system is used, in some instances, because it is the safer way to go. It considers what is known to work and what is known to be true, and relays those messages as facts to the “students”. Can teachers really be blamed? As an educator, you have the students in mind (for the most part) and your goal is not for them to fail, but to be equipped with all the tools necessary to succeed. It is difficult for people to allow those they care about into the water without having taught them how to swim. Teaching them to swim, however, requires you to teach them, to deposit the information into their bank of knowledge, the techniques of swimming. You do not want to take away their ability to think for themselves on how to survive in the water, but you also do not want them to drown. So how can we truly hold the teachers accountable, when they themselves have been indoctrinated to think/know is the “right” way to educate students.
The question arises about the intentional use of the Banking system. Using the Banking system to maintain status quo, put down those who desire to rebel, and use more of their brain than what society has allowed for them. Using the Banking system to indoctrinate students to “adapt to the world of oppression”. There is no doubt that this system is used in order to keep people naïve to the fact that reality isn’t a set reality; instead, it is a reality that can and is constantly being changed. In order to reach out to the few individuals that have benefited from the naivety of society, we need to make the educators realize what they have been taught their entire lives, the reality that they think they have been living is not what they think it is. In order to change the educational system, it needs to take more than merely changing a curriculum, and including more dialogue between the teachers and the students, it will require a change in mindset for the educators themselves.
Our past has been past, but there is still opportunity in the future. Striving to change the educational system today, could lead to a future that we cant even fathom. Imagine the possibilities.
I agree that professors have good intention, despite their harsh standard. I remember the time back in middle school in china where teachers sometimes worked harder than students. My teachers did lots of research about exams, which were given by the education department to all schools, and provided us practice tests to get prepared. We complained for the high volume of work. A teacher once said the following words to us: the education system will not be changed by students, nor teachers; what you can do is to survive first, and change it when you get to the high position in the education department.
ReplyDeleteI am not sure it is the only way to achieve it and maybe i will never figure it our by myself. Slowly, I begin to think, maybe there is no definitely right or wrong. If our education is functioned in a wrong way, there still tons of excellent people graduating from college. We cannot deny totally, but accept critically, being conscious of what's going on outside and making right decisions.
I totally agree with Jenan that the conscious implementation of the banking method is problematic, but the unintentional use is not so indicative of greater problems. There are problems with school systems throughout the world, I have lived in the Middle East and I have witnessed my younger sisters suffer through teachers who were more concerned with the grades than with their actual learning. Now, sometimes I go to classes where the professor just teaches us material that I can't even grasp or understand, and it seems the whole class feels the same way. However, it doesn't seem like the school or the professor really care. We go to the professors and they say, this is a hard class, the average is usually a C...I mean, that's a problem. We have the ability to succeed. Right now, I am taking a class where the professor constantly says that he isn't concerned about our grades, he cares more about our learning, constantly interacts with the students, and engages us. He happened to say at one point "Nick, let me tell you how to think about this." Does this make him a bad professor who is just trying to deposit information into our minds without giving us the opportunity to actually think? I'd say no.
ReplyDeleteIt's very interesting that you brought up the intentional vs. unintentional use of the banking system. Why is it that for some professors grades are more important than the value of what we are being taught? Do professors consciously implement a system in which they are just feeding us information? Or do they want us to learn, to understand, and to implement what we learn into our daily lives?
ReplyDeleteI agree..you make a realistic argument. sometimes it's not the professors intention to discourage personal thoughts but rather a lack of space to hold that discussion in. Some professors truly do not care about the grades their students get as long as they are teaching what is supposed to be taught. I've always experienced this in my science or math classes where I was stuck in a giant lecture hall for 50 minutes and just had to take in a large amount of material. I learned however that the lecture was just going to be a place where you get basic information on the subject and discussion or tutoring groups was where you were supposed to enhance your understanding of the material because TA's or tutors had the time and resources to take every student's needs into account. So maybe the banking method is inefficient but replacing that system will need a very strong alternative and a HUGE amount of resources..
ReplyDeleteI completely agree and echo your questions Lana. Most teachers, in my experience, tend to simply only care about getting the students in and getting them out. Other professors, make themselves available so you understand the material. However, these professors are limited. Most professors implement a system in which they just feed us the information and expect us to understand it.
ReplyDeleteJenan, you bring up a really good point where sometimes you can't really blame the teachers and professors for the system we use in our education. I remember that the best teacher I have ever had the pleasure of taking in college was during summer school. However, this professor doesn't teach at UCLA normally, so that brings up the question if UCLA is so large that the value of an individual student's experience is pushed off to the side for the sake of statistics.
ReplyDeleteI feel that there is no way to know the perfect solution to this problem that so many people face. Hopefully, by the time the next generation enters college, a revised system has been implemented so that the potential of student learning is recognized.
Paulo Friere’s concept of banking system describes the current education system on how instructors teach their students. Friere describes how instructors view students almost as if they were a bank account. Instructors try to stuff knowledge into the students mind without considering the students intellectual capacity to critique, access, and investigate the material. Students are expected to memorize this information and utilize this information without questioning it. The banking system does not allow ideas to be challenged and students must follow the instructor who is like a dictator in that his opinions are the right opinions. The instructor has full power on how much he wants to teach a student and how deeply he wants to teach them. This leads to inequality as some people have the knowledge necessary to make immense decisions while others don’t have that property. That is the main reason why the banking system is in place-in order to limit critical thinking which can ruin the government. Students lazily learn information by memorizing and regurgitating what they learn. This in turn, limits a student’s value for their opinion, thoughts and criticisms. Students need to acknowledge that their history, life experiences, and opinions are very important. With classrooms sharing opinions and discussing issues, students can begin to learn more about each other’s experiences and backgrounds. With this information, students can then play a major role by breaking racial and ethnic barriers. Students also need to recognize that by challenging, criticizing, and critiquing actions, only then can they begin to improve education and solve large problems.
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