Core 110-T

October 4, 2013

A Debate about Choosing the Best Education Method

What does it mean to be a well-educated person? And what does it take? The question about the best method to educate individuals has been at the center of intellectual debate for several decades. Commonly, scholars who review this field focus on the already existing methods of delivering education as they propose changes that would be made to eliminate drawbacks and enhance the strengths of such systems. Yet, this remains one of the most challenging points in determining educational curriculum. This is because societies are characterized by diversity and retain differences in preference in terms of educational and intellectual transfer. Thus, it is not easily possible to achieve a universally accepted and acclaimed system of education. At the same time, there are a number of elements that remain acceptable as academically stimulating and intellectually important. It is for these reasons that Paulo Freire contrasts the “banking” concept and the “problem-posing” concept of educational delivery. From his presentations, the banking concept of education is oppressive and retrogressive. On the other hand, the problem posing concept is progressive, reformist, and open minded. Nonetheless, there are still some favorable elements that can be picked from the banking concept even as delivery methods are considered.

Although there is no universally accepted definition of education, many definitions point to the process of knowledge, skill, and informational transfer. Whereas formal and informal transfer of knowledge can take place passively or actively, it is worth noting that formal set-ups have almost all structured systems of transfer. It is because of this reason that the two; “banking” concept and the “problem-posing” come into scrutiny, especially considering the role they play in intellectual transfer.

Thus in his analysis, Paulo Freire gives a critical and rather realistic evaluation of the “banking” concept of education. To begin with, he points out that the teacher student relationship is one characterized by a more narrative position where there is an ungoverned narrator and a passive listener with the “Subject (the teacher) and patient listening objects (the students)” experiencing a one way dialogue of learning (37). In seeking to explain the mode used by the teacher, Freire further points out that the reality given by the teacher in this setup is ineffective. He proceeds to justify this by categorizing it as “motionless, static, compartmentalized, and predictable,” and with no link to the student’s status of reality (37). By giving the example of a student memorizing the concept of four times four is equal to fourteen without actually perceiving the reality in the units and metrics involved, he justifies the case that educational methods can pass information without actually achieving the goals and objectives of education. In this system, the teacher remains the sole source of information; he is the information bank from which information given to the students is drawn. Contrarily, the student remains a motionless bag, a simple receiver or as Freire puts it, “containers,” or “receptacles” to be “filled” by the teachers.”

In this setup, education summarily becomes “an act of depositing, in which the students are the depositories and the teacher is the depositor.” The elements that create the fundamental flaw in this system include beliefs that the teacher should know everything, be the only thinker, talker, disciplinarian, choice maker, actor, program chooser, and the subject while the student remains passive as the teacher misconstrues ownership of authority with monopoly of knowledge (38). In basic reasoning, this system deprives humans of the power of critique and reason. It denies them freedom of expression and creates a gap in intellectual dialogue. Nonetheless, it should be ironical that teachers and students who have mastered this art are professed as the best. Even so, in the process of education, there is some kind of content that the student may never know unless instructed. This includes knowledge of technology and technical subjects. Thus although the banking concept is not wholesomely suitable, it may remain relevant in exceptional occasions.

In counter, the “problem-posing” method where both of the teacher and the student can share their thoughts of any subject is considerably of more credence. The necessity for this method is to give the student a chance to share his/her thoughts to the teacher, which helps letting him/her to have a deeper understanding of the subject. Besides, nowadays students do not depend only on schools to learn. Some students learn via surfing the Internet, which can be counted as a decent source to support their studies by giving extra information that the books might not have.

Therefore, teachers can also learn from the knowledge that the students share with them while they are having a dialogue of any subject. That can also help to have a well-educated generation that the country where they belong to can get benefit from and evolve its civilization in faster way. “Students, as they are increasingly posed with problems relating to themselves in the world and the world, will feel increasingly challenged and obliged to respond to that challenge. Because they apprehend the challenge as interrelated to other problems within a total context, not as a theoretical question, the resulting comprehension tends to be increasingly critical and thus constantly less alienated” (Freire 41). Thus, all of the people who have been practicing the “problem-posing” method will be in the challenging field with the rest of the world who will also be fighting educationally with each other aiming to reach the highest the point of education.

Eboo Patel is an educated Muslim person who seeks to redeem the division between the people who have different faiths through his education remarks that “Because the most important thing you can learn is how to turn an idea into reality” (Patel 45). Will those people who are being in the “banking” concept of education method be able to transform what they study into something tangible? It has an obvious answer which is no! Because they gained their education in a method that did not give them the opportunity to think about whether the education they have gained can be usable for them or not.

On the other hand, that does not mean that the “banking” concept method is a useless method, because there are some of the courses that need it especially with the scientific subjects. For instance, remembering the formulas of such scientific subjects in order to resolve the given problems. People who are willing to be engineers are more likely will be dealing with the “banking” concept method where most of the required courses depend on memorization. This means, some courses are not being able to deal with another method rather than “banking” concept during lectures.

Otherwise, it also has such negative impacts that lead whatever country has the “banking” concept method as it is main method in the educational field to be expected to join the behind countries. Through seeing such sophisticated countries, people obviously notice that some countries, which use the “banking” concept method, are slowly developing. That emphasizes the belief of cooperating with this method can be counted as an element of going through a harmful crises that hardly can be solved.

Saudi Arabia is one of the best examples that represent the “banking” concept method where a lot of students prefer studying abroad to avoid being under that method. They believe that when students have no ability to share their educational experience will decrease the chance of being well educated. Thus, upon this issue where a lot of Saudis have been suffering from the local educational system, the King of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia established King Abdullah Foreign Scholarship Program to provide a chance for whom not satisfied with the educational method of Saudi Arabia. The result of this program is really positive where Saudi students have experienced various backgrounds in many different countries such as the United States of America. In Saudi Arabia, there are several places are contributing in taking those expert students who have graduated from the United States to let them clarify the idea of studying abroad and its advantages.

What is the reason behind those countries, which are being distinguished among the worldwide? Countries that have the “problem-posing” method in their educational system provide the opportunity to teachers and students share their educational experiences in classrooms where both of them feel comfortable about it. Teachers transfer their education to their students. Nevertheless, since the students have a lot of sources they can learn from them such as media and Internet, they will be able to be a part of the discussion that is given in classes. Moreover, teachers who gained their education long time ago, they more likely will learn new educational concepts from their students.

The United States of America is counted as one of the suggested places that ambitious people would go to achieve their objectives. Based on the method that the United States of America has, this country has become one of the most powerful countries in the educational field. A lot of foreign students, who left their home countries in order to be educated in the United States, have proved how they are well educated to their original countries after they get their degrees completed. Saudi Arabia can be used as an example to show how successful the “problem-posing” method is. They gained a lot of benefits of the students who were being under the “problem-posing” system, where they are holding such high positions in huge companies in their home countries due to the experience they have had while studying in the United States.

To sum up, in the present time the “problem-posing” method is working much better than the “banking” concept because the entire world is facing the evolution. Teachers and students are being targeted where they really can learn from each other as long as they deal with the “problem-posing” method. This method allows them to have a long dialogue in classrooms. In addition, some students will learn how to communicate with others, as we know that a lot of educational fields require good skilled person in communication. Students will end up with a high qualification before they join their future careers.

Works Cited

Freire, Paulo. Pedagogy of the Oppressed. Valparaiso University , N.D.

Patel, Eboo. Acts of Faith. Boston: Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations, 2007.