Unlock Education: Problem-Posing vs Banking Methods - Essay Sample

Introduction

According to Paulo Freire in his work "The Banking Concept of Education," he describes two modes of educational practices. The styles are problem posing and banking. He uses banking to get to describe an educational method where the educators dump knowledge to the students, and the students accept it with no use of their brain. Problem posing, on the other hand, identifies it with the form of educational practice where the educators get to involve their students' brain function by introducing discussion during the lessons. This write-up, with the guidance of Paulo Freire's literature, seeks to expound on some problem-posing concepts.

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Problem-Posing Technique

The problem-posing technique benefits both the student and the environment at large in various ways. To begin with, it develops a student's critical consciousness. Paulo Freire defines critical knowledge as the ability of a person to take action against reality by intervening in it (Freire 2018). Critical consciousness gets cultivated when educators create space for the students to interrogate the current systems and teach them how to take action. With critical consciousness, they can question the existing methods, and instead of adapting to the knowledge they are given, they instead want to change the world.

Secondly, it develops students' creativity. Once the educators indulge the students in discussions, they gain the ability to think outside the obvious. Most problems always seem to have an obvious straight-forward way to solving them. However, given an additional brainstorming, students can come with other solutions that may even solve the problem faster and with ease. Brainstorming enables the students to jog their minds and develop ways to counteract various situations in their daily lives. Creativity has been seen over the years to be the primary source of new forms of technology that make our lives easier.

Moreover, it enables the student to be interested in the subject matter, and in turn, their brain stores the information better. Interactions of the students within the classroom are often enjoyable and provoke thoughts. It allows the students involved to air different views and instills in others a particular way of reasoning. Given the same exact question during tests, the student gets to tackle it easily and explain it from their point of view as understood during the discussion. It makes the child develop the passion for knowing more as all they do is not just memorizing but relating it to their lives.

Lastly, it allows the student to take part in authentic thinking. Paulo Freire describes authentic thinking as "thinking that is concerned about reality; it does not take place in ivory tower isolation but only in communication" (Freire 2018). It builds upon other skills such as problem-solving, public speaking, observation, and analysis. The skills are purposeful in the execution of day to day activities. It boosts the efficiency of the students while carrying out any assigned task.

The problem-posing method of education, therefore, has more advantages over the banking approach. To begin with, it deals with oppression. As of now, various rulers in our society have a certain way they need the people to be thinking so that they can continue to rule without opposition. Equipping the students with critical consciousness and creative thinking enables them to see the ruler's ways. The students' ability to reason enables them to alter any form of oppression in the future ruling. They also educate the society around them on the types of oppression and how to stay away from them (Freire 2018).

Secondly, it could help in advancement in education as it boosts innovation (Tan 370). The problem-posing method encourages the students to suggest various ways to solve a problem. Each of the proposed solutions deems the potential of a new invention. Most forms of technology in use today were as a result of critical thinking one day. Innovations help society in saving time and acquiring efficiency. With this, the education system gives out more practical students than theoretical ones.

Moreover, it equips the students with ways on how best to utilize the available resources. With creative thinking skills, the student could be able to exploit one resource to accomplish various things. Instead of a resource performing one task and then termed as waste, the waste can be useful for another purpose. It, in turn, prevents over-exploitation of resources, minimizes waste released into the environment, and generates more revenue from a resource as compared to initially.

Lastly, it encourages the students to take care of their environment and make it better. With the discussions, the students become enlightened about the state of their environment. The enlightenment develops in them a passion for making it a better place than it is currently. With this passion, the students are often self-driven and require less monitoring at work sites as they have a cause, and they love what they do (Tan 370).

Conclusion

In conclusion, the problem-posing technique triumphs banking technique in many ways. It equips the students with problem-solving, creative thinking, public speaking, critical consciousness, and decision-making skills. With these skills, they become productive and efficient people in the society who, instead of adapting to the current situation, change it for the better. It also has various advantages as compared to the banking technique. They include increasing awareness of oppression, boosting innovation, and effective utilization of the available resources.

Works Cited

Freire, Paulo. "Pedagogy of the Oppressed: The “Banking” Concept of Education." (2018).

Tan, Charlene. "To be more fully human: Freire and Confucius." Oxford Review of Education 44.3 (2018): 370-382.