blog 6

The Banking Concept   

               

                When reading chapter 8, The Banking Concept of Education, my mind was blown. I had to re-read line by line just to understand one concept. But one passage of this chapter stuck out like a sore thumb to me. “The individual is a spectator; not a re-creator. In this view, the person is not a conscious being; he or she is rather a possessor of a conscious: an empty “mind” passively open to the reception of deposits of reality from the outside world.”

                This made me question education in general. Do we just have minds and are fed information? Is the only purpose for our minds to be told information and for us not to seek out personally how or what we want to learn? Has my previous education been robotic? I went to school and sat in a desk for 6 hours looking at the chalkboard, my textbook and my teacher only. At the end of the day I did not really have a choice on how I wanted to learn and 50 % of the time I did not even retain the information. So the big question I wonder with the banking concept and this quote is “do we have a choice on how and what we want to learn?”

                The quote above clearly shows that individuals are something not someone. It does not value the individual and their interests. It treats them like an object. Think about it, in school the top of our heads are sliced open and the teacher is just stating information. The teachers demonstrate they are all knowing and have the authority. The student is just there to learn to information. But there are many simple solutions to prevent this type of robotic teaching. In chapter 3, Why Teach?, ties in greatly with opposing the banking concept. To prevent from students being robots regarding learning, teachers really need to care and be innovative with their teaching techniques. Teachers should really ask the question,” why teach?” before they even step foot into the classroom. They should ask questions like; why do I want to teach?, what kind of young people do I want to work with, what type of school do I want to work in? “and so on. The main way to stop the banking concept is to have innovative teachers and curriculum chose to the student’s minds and liking.

                For students to retain information, it has to be to their interest and in an out of the box way of learning. In the beginning of the year, I believe teachers should have set goals but let their class adjust or pick how they want to learn them. Instead of students sitting in a desk all day and teachers talking, students should do different learning activities to retain the information. Whether its hands on, going somewhere, creating something, the lesson should stick in the student’s minds. The more exciting the lesson is the more the children will want to learn and retain the information taught. Lastly, teachers should realize they are also students. To stop the banking concept and students just being an object to learn, teachers should realize their students can teach them at the same time. It is a give and take relationship.

                I never truly realized how my education, maybe not to a great extreme, was the banking concept. For years, I just sat in classrooms and listened to teachers talk. Occasionally, we would get a movie clip but it was nothing that got me off my feet to learn. Coming to JCU though was such a change. My professors are very innovative in their lessons. In Edu. 100, I am retaining so much information because I actually go OUT of the classroom and get first hand experience. Lastly think the banking concept is used in many schools, but schools are starting to be more innovating with teachers. Mercer elementary and Beachwood middle school were absolutely amazing with their teaching style. The teaching was catered to their student’s interest. The students did more than just listen to a teacher talk in class. They would create videos, do hands on work and many more fun learning activities. I think these schools break away from the baking concept and their students really retain the knowledge. Overall, I think the baking concept is an old fashion learning style that may work for some people, but it is not an effective learning style for most.