Yessenia Narvaez

Professor Adler
English 1A #32474
April 20, 2016
In Class Essay 2
Education is an extremely important aspect in our lives. Education itself is knowledge
gain about numerous things. Without it, we wouldnt know the information we do now. But, in
schools, are students really learning and receiving a higher education? Or, are students
mindlessly taking in the facts by a person who is deemed higher up than them? I believe that
our current education system has failed to genuinely teach a student but rather programmed us to
recycle given information without questioning it.
From the moment we enter a higher level of school, such as high school, we are told that
the teacher is right and we should believe what we are told. Students are then taught how to
learns and analyze given information. According to Bell Hooks in Critical Thinking she states,
Sadly, childrens passion for thinking often ends when they encounter a world that seeks to
educate them for conformity and obedience only (1). This, particularly, explains how students
are now informed. The teacher has the knowledge, the students consume said knowledge and
thats that. They dont argue with it but, rather, follow and note it down. Them, the teachers test
the students to see if they remember what they were told. They are mandated to memorize facts
rather than critically think which is, as Hooks describes it, as, longing to know---to understand
how life works (1). If such ways continue, students will, metaphorically speaking, become
robots.

If you simply abide by what you are told, your ability to think for yourself will vanish.
You will then conform into constantly absorbing others opinions willingly instead of your own.
For instance, in Richard Rodriguezs Achievement of Desire, he expresses, I began imitating
their accents, using their diction, trusting their every direction. The very first facts dispensed, I
grasped with awe. Any book they told me to read, I read (319). This goes to show that
Rodriguez had a follower mindset. When told what to do, he would do it, no questions asked.
He didnt think for himself. Ultimately, this exhibits an example of how school systems are
functioning. Instead of searching for answers other than the ones predisposed, they gradually
accept it.
There is a particular theory said about how the education system works. Like previously
stated, the teachers role is to implement information into the students mind and the students
role is to absorb it. In Paulo Freires The Banking Concept of Education, he addresses that,
Instead of communicating, the teacher issues communiques and makes deposits which the
students patiently receive, memorize, and repeat (144). Freire is clearly stating how students are
not expanding their knowledge because they are not communicating with teachers. Freire also
added, The more completely they accept the passive role imposed on them, the more they tend
to simple adapt to the world as it is (145). Students are then obtaining information than
actually understanding it. They are welcoming the supplied information but dont bother to
examine it showing how Freire stated that they are ordinarily allowing the student role to take
over.
Altogether, a student will dread school if they are seemingly made to follow what theyre
told. Instead, students should be able to openly express their thought without being told theyre
wrong. There should be open discussions to be able to hear everyones thoughts other than the

teachers. This way, they will not be afraid to share their ideas with others. Also, teachers should
encourage critical thinking upon the students instead of making them accept what theyre told
and question it.