AWA: Academic Writing at Auckland

Paulo Freire was a Brazilian educator who was most well known for his idea that education was never neutral and always political. I will introduce and critically evaluate three of Freire’s main ideas, which are the ‘banking concept’ of education, praxis and conscientisation. I will then explain how he believed education had the power to transform society because Freire believed education could serve as an instrument of either oppression or liberation.

Freire used the term ‘banking concept’ to help describe the way a classroom operates (Freire, 1972). This is where teachers have all the knowledge, the students have none and the purpose of education is for the teacher to deposit knowledge to the students who just accept and memorize what they are told. This concept of education is very one sided where the passive student has to listen to the teacher, follow instructions and learn what they are taught without being able to question or challenge it. For example, students may be taught how to write or do math in a certain way but they are never told why that is important or what the purpose of learning it is (Freire, 1972). Similarly, teachers may perpetuate certain political ideologies through their teaching but students will not be taught the reason for the ideas or to be critical about the ideas they learn so they will just absorb what they are taught. This education does not go deep enough and students are passive rather than active agents. Freire argues that this education is oppressive. Through the banking method, the oppressors can perpetuate information that will allow them to stay powerful and the oppressed to remain oppressed and unaware of this situation.  This relates to the idea that education is a political act because the powerful in society can enforce certain ideas through the education system. For example, if a government wanted to push a certain agenda and hide certain areas, the ‘banking concept’ of education which produces passive citizens would suit the governments agenda as they would not want to have engaging, critical society that questions and stands up against them. Therefore, not encouraging students to actively engage with the learning material is a political act and oppresses students.

The concept of ‘banking education’ is an important one, but it is necessary to point out that students are not just blank slates that absorb everything. Young children like to question why things are the way they are. The way teachers respond to these questions and how they teach certain information is what would affect students. It is also important to point out that students may also learn other information or ideas from their family, peers and surrounding environment. Many New Zealand classrooms today would model a ‘problem-posing’ classroom where even if there are still elements of rote memorization, students are encouraged to participate and ask questions. However, in many countries across the world such as Japan, learning is still heavily based on memorization of set information. It is important to highlight this concept so that educators can develop successful problem-posing classrooms. Overall, Freire makes a very good point about education and that a classroom based on the ‘banking method’ doesn’t encourage students to be critical which is dangerous because students will learn to look past problems in society.

Another main educational idea of Paulo Freire is the idea of praxis. Karl Marx describes the word ‘praxis’ as revolutionary and uses it to describe how people need to educate themselves to see oppression or problems in society and bring about social change (Marx, 1969). Freire uses the term similarly to describe the way in which students can engage critically with what they are learning which will help them fight oppression and transform society. He believed praxis occurred when people study theory and applied it to their society (McLaren & Leonard, 1993, pg. 96). When students learn to think critically they can engage with wider social problems and begin to challenge society and help transform it for the better. The banking model of education will produce passive people who cannot critically engage with society. As a solution to the banking model, Freire proposes a problem-posing model of education where both the teacher and student are learners. The teacher helps the student to engage with what they are learning and encourages them to ask critical questions. Where the banking concept of education puts the teacher in charge with all authority, a problem-posing model of education breaks down this barrier and allows for a dialogue between the teacher and student (Freire, 1972). This model of education produces critical thinkers who are likely to see the problems and contradictions of society and go out and challenge them and in this way education could be liberating rather than oppressive. Freire would support the idea that ‘knowledge is power’ and that when the minority in society or the oppressed learn ideas and praxis, they will be able to rise up and fight for equality and a positive transformation in society.

Although praxis would help people to become critical beings, it is possible to argue that praxis is only suited to adult education and that the practicality of this education is limited. The concept of a problem-posing classroom where students learn to think critically and be involved suitable for primary and secondary education, but praxis involves a deep understanding of theory and reflection and therefore, may be better suited to adult education where learning involves thinking with others, studying theory and discussing ideas while thinking about the wider context. The problem with praxis being more suited to adult education is that not everyone will have access to it since university is optional and even if you choose to go to university, you have the choice to choose what to study. For example, if you study engineering, you are probably less likely to come across social theory and the idea of praxis than if you study a course like sociology or philosophy. Therefore, not every citizen will have the chance to be able study theory and think deeply about how to apply it to and transform society. However, it is still important to encourage students in primary and secondary skills to be engaged and critical because they are necessary skills in becoming active participants in society and becoming conscious of the society they live in.

Paulo Freire’s final main educational idea is the idea of conscientisation. Conscientisation occurs through praxis, which involves an understanding of theory (McLaren & Leonard, 1993, pg. 147). Conscientisation is not just about being aware of your situation and understanding dialectic relations in the world and the consequences of these relations – dialectics occur when two things in tension with one another create something new and beyond both. It goes deeper. In ‘Conscientisation’ Freire explains that it is about analysing a concept deeply in order to understand its mood and feeling (Freire, 1974). It also involves a historical commitment because being conscientised and becoming involved means you are shaping history. Conscientisation is about waking up to the situation people are in and not just accepting ideas blindly which is reinforced by the banking concept of education. This occurs in a problem posing styled classroom where the teacher and student work together and set agendas together based on what is best for the student. By becoming critical beings through problem-posing education, people are going through praxis and coming to an understanding of what society is like. This involves uncovering relationships between the oppressors and the oppressed, the powerful and the powerless, the rich and the poor, and the owners of the means of production and the working class. When people are exposed to these relations, they are able to see the inequality and begin to transform society. As conscientisation involves praxis, it again, may be hard to implement in primary or secondary schools. It is important however as Roberts (2008) highlights, that teachers have an active and engaging classroom because it has a significant impact on students in becoming questioning citizens of society.

Paulo Freire believed education had the potential to transform society because he saw education to be an instrument of either oppression or liberation (Freire, 1972). For Freire, education is never neutral, but a political act. A banking concept of education is oppressive because it teaches students to be passive and just accept what they are told. When students learn this at school, it is likely that they will be conforming citizens who do not look very deeply into issues or question society. If a government wanted conforming, passive citizens who do not question any policies the government introduces, they would want to implement a banking styled education system. For example, if the government’s agenda were to push through certain policies that benefitted the privileged individuals of society while pushing aside rights and welfare of the general public nobody would stand up against what the government is doing, but be apathetic towards the issues and just let things happen. This style of teaching is therefore oppressive and helps the privileged and powerful to keep control and stay dominant in society.

However, if the state wanted to produce questioning, critical and engaging citizens who will look out for problems in society and look beyond what they are told by authorities and politicians, they would encourage a problem posing styled education. Through a problem-posing education, praxis and conscientisation, Freire believed education could have the potential to transform society. If students were critical beings that could actively engage with the world

This education is liberating and students learn to be critical, active agents. Smith (1999) explains how Freire’s writing on praxis and transforming society helped Maori people in New Zealand in their struggle against oppression and exploitation in a colonized society. This is important as it helps demonstrate the importance in learning theory, praxis, conscientisation and resisting oppression. It is important for people to learn to be active agents through a problem-posing styled education system because otherwise the state could keep enforcing certain ideologies through the education system and even if they are extremist or like propaganda, no one will fight back or help transform society for the future.

Freire’s banking concept of education describes a classroom where the teacher has all the knowledge and student knows nothing. Students passively accept what they are being taught without learning to be critical and questioning of what they learn. Freire introduces a problem-posing education as an alternative where the students are encouraged to actively engage with what they are being taught and be critical of things in society. In a problem-posing classroom, both the teacher and student are leaners. Praxis is used to describe the term of people becoming active critics of society by understanding theory and combing it with practice and conscientisation as a process that arises out of praxis which refers to people becoming active participants who challenge and transform society rather than passive citizens who just accept what they are taught and never learn to question ideas. Freire believed education had the potential to transform society because he believed education was never neutral and saw it as an instrument of oppression or liberation.

Reference List

Hooks, B. (1993). Bell Hooks speaking about Paulo Freire, The man, his work.  McLaren, P. & Leonard, P. (Eds.) Paulo Freire, A Critical Encounter. 146-154. London: Routledge

Freire, P. (1974). Conscientisation. Cross Currents. 23-31. Data source: Voyager: BID1789825

Freire, P. (1972). Pedagogy Of The Oppressed. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books

Marx, K. (1969). Marx/Engles Selected Works, Volume One. Moscow: Progress Publishers (Retrieved from: http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1845/theses/theses.pdf)

Lankshear, C. (1993). Functional literacy from a Freirean point of view. In McLaren, P. & Leonard, P. (Eds.) Paulo Freire, A Critical Encounter. 90-118, London: Routledge

Roberts, P. (2008). Teaching as an ethical and political process, a Freirean perspective. Nga Kaupapa Here: Connections and contradictions in education. 99-108, Australia: Cengage Learning Australia

Smith, G. H. (1999). Paulo Freire: Lessons in Transformative Praxis. Roberts, P. (Eds). Paulo Freire, Politics and Pedagogy.  35-41, Palmerston North, New Zealand: Dunmore Press