The Pedagogy of the Oppressed by Paulo Freire is a critique on the traditional education system. According to Friere, the traditional pedagogy is the “banking model of education” because it treats the student as an empty vessel to be filled with knowledge. The banking model of education is the standard format of a classroom where a teacher, the knowledge holder, shares their knowledge with the students, whom are the receivers, without any feedback from the receivers themselves.  This leads to an unfair distribution of power between the teachers and the students. The teachers ultimately have an excess amount of power, and can grade students subjectively and as they please. The students are essentially powerless because the amount of power they have relies solely on how much the teachers have given them.  I’ve been in many science and mathematics classes that were the same power dynamics between teachers and students. The banking model has led me to rely on myself more than my professors when it comes to learning the course material. In addition, I also focus more on passing the class with a good grade and less about retaining the knowledge learned in class and applying it to real life situations.  The banking model makes students memorize facts without enjoying seeking knowledge and thus are not prepared for the real world.  They may lose independence because they are trained not to think for themselves.  One advantage of the banking model that I have realized is that it can teach individuals discipline as well as being independent, which are necessary skills for real world situations.