The banking model is a concept that was created by Paulo Freire, who was a brazilian educator and philosopher. Freire was an advocate of critical pedagogy. Critical Pedagogy is a social movement that recognizes the negative impact that a bad education system has on an already opressed impoverished community. Out of this concept, Freire created The Banking Model.
The Banking Model is basically the belief that educators aren’t teaching effectively. One of the errors that they make, is the way they approach their students. Freire points out that teachers come into a classroom and automatically make it known that they are superior to their students. They send a message that clearly states “We are not equal.” This creates a divide between the relationship of a student and a teacher. A student subconciously gets into this mindset where they believe that their ignorance can be cured with the knowledge that this teacher can give them. This results in the student being 100% reliant on the teacher to come up with every decision in the classroom. This inhibits a students ability to think for themselves, to be independent, and to be a critical thinker. Instead of having divergent qualities, students become machine-like. They end up lacking depth which can affect them negatively in their lives.
I believe that The Banking Model obviously empowers teachers and disempowers students. Teachers dont realize that they carry such an important thing in their hands, which is knowledge. They also don’t realize that their is a right and wrong way to execute their knowledge and carrying it out the wrong way can be disastrous to the student. Most children spend twelve years of their life in a classroom and if they are all being taught and raised to be these dull adults then they are just being set up for failure. They eventually will start to believe that life has the same enviorment as a classroom. Most teachers have this huge ego because they believe that the only ones who are ignorant are the students. A degree makes them feel as though they have nothing left to learn when facing young adults. When in reality, teachers can learn just as much from them.
Although I have had my share of teachers who teach with the obvious belief that I was inferior to them, I have been very fortunate to have had some educators in my life, specifically english teachers, who have influenced me enough to have the ability to be a critical thinker and to be divergent. There is a huge dichotomy between the teachers who believed me to be inferior and the teachers who have treated me to be their equal. I would always be excited to be in the classroom with those english teachers who included me in their teaching and leave that class feeling good about what I just did for forty-five minutes. When dealing with teachers who treated me the exact opposite way, I would leave that class feeling drained and just not excited to go back the next day. These english teachers have had enough impact on me to make me want to become an amazing educator just like them. Imagine the type of change there could be if all educators were like my english teachers.
