Pros and Cons of Chapter 2 Paulo Freire's Pedagogy of the Oppressed

   Today I will compare chapter 2 of Paulo Freire's Pedagogy of the Oppressed. In this chapter, Freire presents us with two different ideals in education. One is banking and the other is problem-posing in education. Banking is basically the teacher sort of assuming that students are indifferent and therefore teach what they decide is best. The con of this is that it is essentially teaching students things that are already decided, not allowing them to reach their full potential educationally. Freire notes,"The capability of banking education to minimize of annul the students' creative power and to stimulate the credulity serves the interests of the oppressors, who care neither to have the world sealed nor to see it transformed" (chapter2 73). This aspect of banking limits students. However the pro of it could be ""Indeed the interest of the oppressor lie in "Changing the consciousness of the oppressed, not the situation which presses them"" (chapter 2 pg 74) The potentially good thing about banking is that students, given this information, can take it and cultivate it into something greater than what they learned.
    On the other hand, problem posing education is a more open type where there is mutual benefit among student and teacher. It allows students to understand relationships and have potential to be more creative. Freire writes of the good that comes from this in stating, "Their response to the challenge evokes new challenges, followed by new understandings; and gradually the students come to regard themselves as committed"(chapter 2 81). A major pro of this is that it allows the freedom of education rather than teachers just saying one thing and everyone having to assume it is correct. It allows students to "transcend" themselves to be better. Freire ultimately supports this position in the chapter but a major con of this is the question of it being practical.