Online Courses and Freire

1326 Words6 Pages
Online Classes In the essay "The 'Banking' Concept of Education" by Paulo Freire, he explains how the system of teachers reciting information and students memorizing that information is not the ideal way of learning. He interprets how our education system has become similar to the process of a bank in which we deposit money or deposit information. An example of Freire's argument is related to how with today's technology, we are able to take courses for school online. Online courses have begun to rise in popularity and it is what Freire wants our society to avoid. Freire's ideas of the "banking" concept is portrayed in the use of teaching through online courses because it further enhances his argument. Freire argues that we should change the way we teach and how we are taught. In general, students come to school and are given information from their teachers. The students are given this information and are required to repeat it to their teacher in some form, whether it be a test or an assignment. Freire compares this type of system to that of a banking process. When explaining how education compares to the banking process, Freire says, "Education thus becomes an act of depositing, in which the students are the depositories and the teacher is the depositor" (244). He also argues how students are taught in a way where they cannot question how and why things are the way they are. His argument relates to how society is raising children, who are our future. If students are told what is right and what is wrong, they learn to accept these facts and in this type of education, they learn not to ask why. This type of learning would affect our future because the students build a mentality to not challenge things that are wrong or things that are overlooked by the public. The type of teaching where it is through memorization and recitation does not benefit students

More about Online Courses and Freire

Open Document