Reading Summary 6- Pedagogy of the Oppressed Alicia Srinivasagam

CMCL 507

Paulo Freire’s “Pedagogy of the Oppressed” discusses the negative effects of the narrative
education system and its contributions to the oppression of student’s creativity and personal
development. This “banking concept” of education establishes the teacher as the depositor, who
fills students with knowledge. Students simply take teacher deposits and store them away to be
recalled on exams or assignments. This discourages critical thinking and student questioning; the
teacher is a provider of fact and students are merely receptacles for information. Students cannot
learn experientially to develop their learning skills and are unable to gain higher levels of
understanding. The banking concept of education does not appear to be focussed on meaningful
student learning; rather, the end goal of this approach to have students meet certain standards to
be integrated into society. This idea that students are to be integrated establishes the teacher as an
oppressor, trying to assimilate students. In order to develop into lifelong learners, this hierarchy
must be broken.
Teachers must partner with students and act as facilitators of cognitive process rather than
simply presenting information and depositing facts, to promote meaningful learning and the
acquisition of adaptive experience. Instructors should act as students in this process as well,
monitoring student understanding and making changes as they encounter challenges. This helps
to solve the detachment that the banking concept causes; when students are simply ‘filled’ with
facts they struggle with applying their knowledge to real life problems. Instructors can encourage
social learning and facilitate discussion among students to promote higher level learning,
allowing students to develop into lifelong learners with adaptive experience. Freire emphasizes
the importance of the social aspect of learning in the acquisition of knowledge that can be carried
through a student’s life. The banking concept promotes a highly individualized classroom culture
where this social learning is discouraged, this negatively affects student understanding.
Friere suggests that the oppressive component of education must be removed for students to
have a meaningful learning experience; this can be organized but not controlled by teachers. This
reading suggests that a ‘problem-posing’ teaching strategy should be used in order to move away
from the ‘depositing techniques’ that minimize student development. ‘Problem posing’
centralizes the idea that students should be presented with real world problems that they can
apply their knowledge to, this helps heighten their learning experience. The instructor also learns
from the students and remains cognitive throughout their teaching process, collecting feedback
from students to assess their progress. The social aspect of learning is vital to this strategy,
discussion is the main method of discovery. The problem posing strategy also promotes
maturation and personal development for students, as they are able to make connections between
classroom activities and their own lives, while thinking about experiences they may encounter
after their formal education is completed. As students reflect on their experiences, they develop
themselves as well. This development has no set ‘expectation’; students are able to keep moving
forward and growing as people.
As a peer mentor, I am already in a position of reduced authority over students; therefore, I
am able to facilitate discussion and co-investigate challenges in the lab. This reading emphasizes
the importance of removing hierarchy and oppressive ideas to increase student learning, I believe
that as a peer mentor I implement this by working alongside the students as a source of support
rather than providing them with correct answers. My position as a peer mentor rather than an
instructor or TA puts me with the students instead of above them, I have similar experience
taking the course and am often a more relatable source of advice if they are struggling. This
connects directly to Freire’s ideas; peer mentors remove the oppressive nature of the banking
concept of teaching and help to promote classroom culture with social and creative learning. I
hope to use my deeper understanding of this concept in my own mentoring strategy in order to
facilitate student discussion and inquiry and help them continue to grow as learners.

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