PAULO FREIRE: CHAPTER 2 OF PEDAGOGY OF THE OPPRESSED

 

What I gather from Freire's chapter is that we should not be teachers of the oppressed. If teachers use a method that he coins "banking," we are raising indifferent, oppressed, humans who lack the very spirit that makes us human. Banking refers to the idea that some teachers believe that students are containers that teachers simply pour information into, but that type of thinking has brought trouble. This type of thinking forgets critical thinking, it forgets wonder, and it creates a perpetual cycle of sameness.

"...it is the people themselves who are filed away through the lack of creativity, transformation, and knowledge in this (at best) misguided system. For apart from inquiry, apart from the praxis, individuals cannot be truly human. Knowledge emerges only through invention and re-invention, through the restless, impatient continuing, hopeful inquiry human beings pursue in the world, with the world, and with each other."

Something that really hit me was when Freire said that we are not teaching the oppressed to no longer be oppressed. We are teaching their way of thinking to adapt to their oppression, not break free from it. Through this, change is impossible. Betterment is unthinkable. If society begins to stand still, there is no hope. Progression is key; progression is what makes life better for everyone. There will always be something to work on. Teachers are not here to brainwash students into idle being. We need to be encouraging them! They are the change of the future.

Oppression is the ambassador of death, not hope, not love, not life. Oppression is meant for power, not equality. The classrooms are training grounds for courage, strength of character, and perseverance. I find it more my job than anyone else as a teacher of the humanities to instill empathy and resilience in my students. Citizens without empathy are the ones who become the oppressors instead of those fighting for the oppressed. I won't let my students become that. 

In the same way that we educate them, teachers need to realize they are teaching us right back. It is never one-sided. What's the point of teaching if we aren't growing alongside our students? Of course, we will more than likely be growing in different areas, but just because we have the degree doesn't mean we can shut off our minds, and we certainly cannot shut off our hearts.