Friere's "Banking Concept" for Education...

According to Friere, education is suffering from “narration sickness”.  This means that students are basically depositories for information, while the teachers simply make the deposits. Students are taught to memorize information without having to critically analyze it, which actually teaches them nothing.  He calls the students “receptacles” or “containers”, just waiting to be filled by the teachers.  He would remove this practice  and replace it with the “banking concept”, which maintains and stimulates the students’ learning abilities through contradiction. It uses the following practices and attitudes, which will challenge the students:

1.     The teacher teaches and the students are taught

2.     The teacher knows everything and the students know nothing

3.     The teacher thinks and the students are thought about

4.     The teacher talks and the students listen – meekly

5.     The teacher disciplines and the students are disciplined

6.     The teacher chooses/enforces his choice & the students comply

7.     The teacher acts & the students have the illusion of acting through the teacher’s actions

8.     The teacher chooses the program content & the students adapt to it

9.     The teacher confuses the authority of knowledge with his own professional authority, which he sets in opposition to the freedom of the students

10. The teacher is the Subject of the learning process, while the pupils are mere objects.

He later states that some would need to completely disregard the banking concept. He is basically saying that no matter what method you use, as an educator you need to find a way to make sure your students are learning.  Whether the banking concept works for you or not,  the students need to learn critical thinking instead of just basic memorization.