Paulo Freire’s “Pedagogy of the Oppressed”

          In Paulo Freire’s chapter in “Pedagogy of the Oppressed,” he talks about a banking system of teaching where the teachers have the same system (each and every day) of “teaching.” I have had a similar experience to this system of teaching where my teachers would give us a short lesson and then assign us problems out of the textbook. The style this teacher had was the same for each day for the entire semester. From my point of view as a student, I felt as though this teacher was teaching from his textbook – there was no variance. However, upon my move to a new school district, I was exploited to a whole new teaching style. The Mead School District had a couple of teachers that were glued to their textbooks, but not as many. There were plenty of teachers that had their own style of teaching. In fact, in several of my classes we hardly ever referenced the textbook (unless there was a substitute).

          I am glad to have had the experiences that I had because they let me see what it was like to be taught in two very different ways. Being taught a subject from a textbook was not the worst thing, however after referencing it day after day it did add a bland taste in my mouth. When I was moved to a new school district I was able to see teachers who really wanted to teach. There were new activities and exercises that made me think in a new way. In fact, my grades went up. The teachers who actually spent the time to build great lessons plans for the day were the ones that had the most engaging lectures – rather presentations. I know that I will use the chapter by Freire in my future class room because I know that there are extraordinary results if you break away from the same old routine.