Paulo Freire's Banking Concept of Education: Making Sense of Nonsense

Paulo Freire's analogy of traditional schooling with banking model seems very accurate. I have experienced how the dynamic between teacher and students is based on unequal power, where the teacher is all-knowing and must be obeyed, and the student must *act* unknowing and obedient.  I have never been able to play that proper role, and so I struggled as a student in elementary and high school.  I was always very "smart" but as I recall a teacher telling me on many occasions: I was "too smart for my own good."  I would question teachers' understanding of topics, I would question the usefulness or even the logic of assignments,  I would protest unfair treatment to myself or others.  I demanded changes in scheduling to accommodate my ice skating practice. I was not a "good student" but unfortunately for the teachers I did extremely well on standardized tests so they couldn't really fail me, or kick me out.  I always placed into High Honors or Advanced courses, but ended up getting kicked down to Regular Honors courses after being too difficult.  I think most of my teachers in high school mindlessly followed the Banking method: pouring content into our empty little brains, so they thought. However, a few exceptional teachers stand out, and this is always the saving grace for students who do not give up on learning.  They are able to get through because they don't treat students like empty, powerless objects. They treat students with respect and that is usually the crack that opens the way for more learning.  I always thought that I wasn't the problem in high school. I felt it was just my crappy high school in my crappy town that didn't work right.  My town was too corrupt, not like other towns that worked right. Once I read Freire and started to investigate more, I discovered that this is a common experience and it happens everywhere - all over the world even. And that made me understand that there's nothing wrong with students - it's the system that is broken.  A new system needs to be created so that real learning can happen.  I keep looking for models of that, and would like to be able to work on making that happen one day.

Write Blog entry #2 reflecting on Freire's Banking concept of education: What is your opinion of his definition and description of this concept? Does it have anything in common with the way you were educated in PR? Do you agree with his theory of how education works in the Banking model? If so, give an example from your experience. If not, explain what is wrong with this Banking model.