Education

“Oppression – overwhelming control – is necrophiliac; it is nourished by love of death, not life. The banking concept of education, which serves the interests of oppression, is also necrophiliac. Based on a mechanistic, static, naturalistic, spatialized view of consciousness, it transforms students into receiving objects. It attempts to control thinking and action, leads women and men to adjust to the world, and inhibits their creative power.”

As a student reading this particular essay it really stuck a chord. When I was younger I struggled in school. I hated sitting forever listening to what the teacher deemed “important.” I never acted out or caused any serious problems. But I would constantly wonder why we were learning what we were learning and why not something else. I think that may have come from a frustration I had with one of my seventh grade teachers. She was a nice lady, but it was the first time I realized that I not all teachers are wells of information and genius. It was a miracle she was teaching at all to be honest. There would be multiple times where she would have no clue what she was teaching and would simply have us read from the book and help each other. Then when we would ask her to explain it she would say, “I don’t know much about this part of the subject.” That was a great way to instill confidence in the classroom! The perception in society, as it’s studied in this chapter, of how teachers are placed in the realm of perfection makes sense to me, but is also the worst. Don’t get me wrong. 70 percent of all my teachers have been fine, and 20 percent of them amazing. I respect what teachers do with the upmost regard. And their job is extremely difficult. The way I see it is unfair. The classroom is a place where people go to learn. The teacher is meant to lead the discussion, but should also be willing to learn should a student bring something new to the conversation. My favorite professors and teachers have been the ones that lead a discussion rather than lecture us. Yes the discussions need to have a purpose and at least a type of agenda, but when the teacher is genuinely interested in the student’s understanding he or she will make a concentrated and solid effort to ensure that happens.

That may have felt like a little bit of a rant, but it’s something that’s important to me, and this article struck a chord with me. Although I may not agree with all of their points there were some great ones. This quotation beneath is something I agree with whole heartedly.            

“Education as the practice of freedom – as opposed to education as the practice of domination – denies that man is abstract, isolated, independent, and unattached to the world.”

Education is empowerment, and if someone is using it to oppress in anyway that’s something that can and should change. It just takes a little more effort from everybody involved.

“That’s all I have to say about that.”