In the selected reading from Paolo Freire, he is making the argument that our current model for education is ineffective because of its fundamental failure to teach in relation to the world around us. Friere states that "the unfinished character of men and the transformational character of reality necessitate that education be an ongoing activity- and that our current system - what he refers to as the banking method - completely goes against that necessity (Friere, 2003). The banking system requires only that the teacher dictate information to students without requiring any discourse of the topics. Because of that core principle, education becomes a finite set of information with no room for growth on the part of student or teacher.
1. What role does dialogue play in each of the education theories?.
By nature of the banking system, there is no dialogue. Because it is a narration based model of education, conversation is one-sided and information is coming solely from the instructor. By contrast, the problem-posing approach encourages discussion between both parties. Because of the back-and-forth nature of this learning dynamic, the instructors are referred to as teacher-student and the pupils become students-teacher. By allowing both parties to discuss whatever material is being presented, each side has the opportunity to reconsider information constantly and have their opinions evolve over time (Freire, 2003). .
2. How is the banking style of education oppressive?.
Freire provides us with an overview of many ways in which the banking style of education parallels attributes of an oppressive society. Some of the main points were that "the teacher thinks and the students are thought about; the teacher chooses and enforces his choice, and the students comply; the teacher chooses the program content, and the students (who were not consulted) adopt to it- (Freire, 2003, p. 58). In a system with the previously mentioned regulations, the teacher is left with absolute power.
