Paulo Freire’s The Pedagogy of the Oppressed and its Effect on Society

In Chapter two of Paulo Freire’s work, The Pedagogy of the Oppressed, he discusses and compares different methods of education, the banking method and the problem posing method and how they are either oppressive or beneficial to the student body and man kind as a whole. The banking method consists of teachers depositing the information into the student’s minds, allowing them to memorize it and then withdrawing it at will, leaving the student merely a shell that is to be filled and emptied on call. The method of problem posing education is far more beneficial to the student. It challenges their thinking and just as the name suggests, poses problems

 for them to work out. It is not simply the deposit and withdrawal of information but the placing of importance on the process of understanding and the allowance of creativity.

            The banking method of education focuses on the individual solely as an object with which the teacher must work before sending them on to the next grade. “The banking method emphasizes permanence and becomes reactionary” (84), training the students, rather than teaching them and helping them develop important skills for later on in life. He believes that this method of teaching is a tool used by the oppressors of education. Alternatively, “Problem posing education bases itself on creativity and stimulates true reflection and action upon reality, thereby responding to the vocation of persons as beings who are authentic only when engaged in inquiry and creative transformation” (84). In a direct comparison it is clear that Freire believes the problem posing method to be the better of the two, clearly preferring the idea that students should learn in a stimulating manner, displacing the idea of oppression. A more well rounded education of course leads to an overall better rounded society, thus the methods of teaching directly impacts the outcome of current society. In both the education system and the job market one may see the reflection of the banking method and the problem posing method.

In society, the parallels are easily seen between these two methods and the effects they have on who fulfills which jobs. Schooling is an important factor to many people’s level of success. In the case of some people, the skills they learn in school are also the skills they are able to apply in real life work experience. In the case of a call centre, a person who was taught using the banking method may succeed at such a menial job. They are given a book of things to remember and when they call or are called can withdraw the deposited information easily for the benefit of the consumer. On the other hand, a student who was taught using the problem posing method and continued their education may be better suited for a job in the likes of an architect where they are allowed to use their tools and knowledge to create something given certain parameters. One job is an act of memorization, showing a disconnect between any measurable skill while the other is an application of both creativity and skill that is a reflection of their schooling and experience.

In an oppressed society, the people do as they are told and they are taught in a way that keeps them in a dependent state. The method that does that most efficiently of course is the banking method, which Freire refers to as “the pedagogy of the oppressed”. The problem posing method teaches people to be more self-sufficient and allows them to apply their own knowledge to become an independent, creative and fully functioning member of society. The problem posing method is an educational process that benefits everybody involved, both teachers and students and society as a whole, creating different opportunities for everybody.

Work Cited:

Freire, Paulo. (1968). The Pedagogy of the Oppressed. (30^TH Anniversary ed.). New York: Continuum