Education is defined as "the act of acquiring general knowledge, developing the powers of reasoning and judgment, and preparing oneself intellectually for a mature life." Society would collapse if people did not go to school to become educated. Not one person would be smart enough to sit in a leading position and know how to make the correct decisions. The general purpose of education is to give everyone an opportunity as a means to succeed in life by providing the perfect place for critical thinking and for personal opinions to develop. It is very easy to take education for granted and overlook how significant it is in life and the impact it has on people, the world and the future. In the year 2014 people who have had a complete college education made 98% more money an hour on average in the United States (New York Times). Children go to school everyday not realizing that this place really serves a purpose in their life and future. Education is the means in which people can prosper in society. Through education, people learn not only the basic skills but also those skills which enables them to problem solve. Through the ability of problem solving, a person learns the means of developing high level skills needed for society to continue to flourish and prosper. These problem solving skills introduced in education at an early age allows individuals to develop the ability to think for themselves.
When considering what the proper form of education is, many different concepts come to mind. One of the most controversial concepts is known as the banking concept of education, in which students are required to memorize facts and later on be tested on them. Many argue on what the proper makeup of a successful educative system should consist of and whether or not the banking concept of education is a resourceful and effective way of teaching. In Paulo Frier's essay "The Banking Concept of education", Freire argues that banking educational goals must be forgotten, and teachers should, "replace it with the posing of the problems of human beings in their relations with the world" (Freire,1).