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Symbols
Freire uses the symbol of the bank to explain how a traditional, oppressive pedagogy works. In this traditional model, which Freire calls the “banking model” of education, knowledge functions as a kind of social currency that teachers possess and students do not. The job of the teacher is to “deposit” that knowledge into the consciousnesses of the students, whose job is then “receiving, filing, and storing the deposits.” Just as people deposit and withdraw their money at a bank, the teacher asks students to store and recall information that the teacher considers important. This image of “banking” also has a greater significance in the context of Freire’s Marxist tradition: banks are prominent institutions of modern capitalism, a system that Freire sees as oppressive. As Freire argues that the end of the “banking model” will lead to liberation, he references other parts of society that will also have to change in the process.
Banking Quotes in Pedagogy of the Oppressed
The Pedagogy of the Oppressed quotes below all refer to the symbol of Banking. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Preface Quotes
Thought and study alone did not produce Pedagogy of the Oppressed; it is rooted in concrete situations and describes the reactions of laborers (peasant or urban) and of middle-class persons whom I have observed directly or indirectly during the course of my educative work.
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At the beginning of the book, Freire points out twice that his theories are based on the educational work he conducted in Brazil and Chile. Throughout the next four chapters, he cites several classroom discussions that involve working class people and peasants working through his problem-posing pedagogy. Freire argues that theory is inadequate unless it leads to concrete actions in the world, so he demonstrates here that his “pedagogy of the oppressed” directly engages with the real experiences of oppressed people. In contrast, he says that banking-model educators often determine their curriculum and methods without considering their students in the Dolorem e
Chapter 2 Quotes
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.
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In this section, Freire introduces the traditional “banking” concept of education and points out its flaws: banking does not allow students to fully think and ask questions for themselves, because they are required to learn whatever the teacher finds important. In sharp contrast to this, Freire argues that human beings affirm their identity by asking questions about the world and about their relationship to the world. When people critically investigate the world with others, they can also try to change it in tangible ways, and thus exercise their freedom. Banking education hinders oppressed people’s freedom, knowledge, and creativity, filtering everything Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non a
Indeed, the interests of the oppressors lie in “changing the consciousness of the oppressed, not the situation which oppresses them”; for the more the oppressed can be led to adapt to that situation, the more easily they can be dominated.
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Because the “banking” concept serves the interests of oppressors, Freire says that it also shapes the consciousness of its students in distinct ways. Oppressors want to change how the oppressed think about the world, so that they see oppression as a normal and permanent part of their lives. In this context, traditional Western classrooms help their students adapt to an oppressive society, instead of pointing out that their society is flawed and can be changed. As long as the oppressed try to adapt, the oppressors have no pressure to release their power—thus, Freire demonstrates here how education can serve as Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non
Implicit in the banking concept is the assumption of a dichotomy between human beings and the world: a person is merely in the world, not with the world or with others…In this view, the person is not a conscious being (corpo consciente); he or she is rather the possessor of a consciousness: an empty “mind” passively open to the reception of deposits of reality from the world outside.
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While discussing how to respond to the flaws in banking education, Freire talks about its theoretical roots. To Freire, traditional Western education assumes that people have a passive relationship to the world: they live in the world and observe it as individuals, but they cannot change the world in a meaningful way. Likewise, people do not investigate the world, but merely receive information from it. In banking education, teachers “deposit” knowledge into the minds of their students, perpetuating this false separation between people and the world. Freire would argue that people and the world change each other at the same Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor
Those truly committed to liberation must reject the banking concept in its entirety, adopting instead a concept of women and men as conscious beings, and consciousness as consciousness intent upon the world. They must abandon the educational goal of deposit-making and replace it with the posing of the problems of human beings in their relations with the world.
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After fully describing traditional banking education, Freire proposes an alternative: he argues that oppressed people can only achieve full liberation by replacing the oppressors’ pedagogy with a new pedagogy that is tailored to the needs of oppressed people. This “problem-posing” education should push students to ask questions about the world and show them the possibility of meaningful, lasting social change. Just as oppressors use banking to adapt people to the current system, problem-posing can serve as a tool to make people aware that the system is harmful to them. Problem-posing helps people better understand that they can affect the world, Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem
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Banking Symbol Timeline in Pedagogy of the Oppressed
The timeline below shows where the symbol Banking appears in Pedagogy of the Oppressed. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 2
...students memorize these facts without understanding their full meaning or context. Freire calls this the “banking” model of education, one in which teachers “deposit” knowledge into the minds of their students....
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...for Freire, is the result of a constant process of questioning the world. However, the “banking” model conceives of knowledge as something that teachers have and students lack. This approach is...
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The “banking” model molds the attitudes of students: it teaches them to adapt to the world as...
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Teachers who use the “banking” model—whether they are aware of it or not—do not understand that the model reinforces oppression....
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The methods teachers use in the “banking” model create distance between them and their students. In contrast, Freire argues for authentic communication...
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In stark contrast to “banking,” a “problem-posing” pedagogy is based on communication and dialogue, and it fosters human freedom. It...
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...is also an ongoing process, a big difference from the lack of change in the “banking” model. “Problem-posing” is “revolutionary futurity,” according to Freire, because it relies on the hope that...
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Chapter 3
...students (or “student-teachers”) want to know about, and engage with what they know already. The “banking” model seeks to change people, but “problem-posing” seeks to change the world with people: in...
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