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Camelia Kelly
Sabrina Vargas-Ortiz
EN106FirstYearWritingSeminarII:AcademicResearch&Writing
November 1, 2015
Paulo Frieres Social Education Theory
In The Banking Concept of Education, an essay by Paulo Friere, the author, Friere, compares
the relationship between a student and teacher with the relationship between a banks client and
its services. He does this in order to demonstrate how the process of teaching has devolved into
a business-like interaction between the student and teacher, with no meaningful communication
transpiring. In the banking metaphor used by Friere, the students are nothing more than
depositories (Friere 5) for the teachers to deposit information into, with no input on the
education they are receiving. Friere uses this metaphor to show how students are being oppressed
by the education system due to their lack of involvement with the education they are receiving.
In the essay, Friere states that the attitudes and practices of the banking concept of
education mirror oppressive society as whole (Friere 8). According to Frieres attitudes and
practices of the banking concept, the teacher is considered the all-knowing and all-powerful
leader, while the students are mere objects (Friere 8) This is apparent in American society
today. In our society, students are required to go to school, where they are expected to memorize
a multitude of information. They are later required to recall this information in the form of
standardized testing, in addition to other various assignments. In this banking system, the
students require little to no critical thinking skills. Friere believes that this educational system in
which students are not required to think for themselves, students become more passive and
willing to be oppressed.
Friere states that The more students work at storing the deposits entrusted to them, the
less they develop the critical consciousness which would result from their intervention in the

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world as transformers of that world (Friere 9). In a society where students success is measured
by how well they are able to memorize the information taught (or deposited, in Frieres words)
to them, Frieres points could not ring any more true. Students taught using the banking concept
will only have their belief reinforced that passive listening and learning will lead to their success
in life. They will learn to accept whatever they are told, and never question authority. However,
Friere believes that there is a solution to this problem: a revolutionary educatorwith a
profound trust in men[who is a] partner of his students in his relations with them (Friere 15).
Frieres views on education seem to reflect on his political views. Where he views the classic
teacher-student hierarchy as a reflection of an oppressive society, his suggested solution is to
bring about a more socialistic approach to the education system. Friere believes that a teacher
should be a peer to their students, learning with them, as opposed to being an authoritarian
figure. In Frieres writing, it is clear that he is an opponent of the system in place, and that the
only way to overcome that system is by independent, revolutionary thought and communication.
Friere stresses the necessity of critical thinking in his writing, using the metaphor of the banking
concept with the education system being a microcosm of society as a whole. It is clear in his
writing how highly in regard Friere holds the value of individual thought, and the negative
consequences of blindly accepting what one is taught.
In The Banking Concept of Education, Paulo Friere uses a metaphor comparing
banking to education in order to highlight what he views as a lack of critical thinking and
communication in classical education. He further uses this metaphor to expound on his argument
that teaching for the sake of teaching, as opposed to learning, only leads to students becoming
victims of oppression.

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Works Cited
Friere, Paulo. "The Banking Concept of Education." Pedagogy of the Oppressed. Trans. Myra
Bergman Ramos. New York: Continuum, 1993. Print.