"Progress for the sake of progress must be eliminated." - Dolores Umbridge
As I read Friere's description of "banking education," that quote from Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix kept running through my head. It is the quote that Umbridge and the Ministry of Magic used to hide the fact they wanted to control learning for their students. In some ways, I feel that's the way some people still look at education.
The approach to education that Friere offers to, what I am sure was (is) considerable backlash, is radical, but necessary. The purpose of school is to prepare students for what is beyond their senior year, not the next grade or test. They are more than receptacles for knowledge, they are young adults seeking to grow. A classroom should be a safe place for them to question what it means to be human, what it means to live, what it means to be an American, etc.
Our job, then, as future teachers, is to foster that safe place. We also shoulder the burden of stepping alongside the parents (or sometimes for the parents) to guide students in their seeking. When we begin to oppress through education is when we lose them. As Friere said, a student may retain information, but forget the principles that guide that information. This, again, goes back to the concept of mutuality in the classroom.
Students are not ignorant. They have knowledge and a voice and a fresh perspective of looking at things, most of the time quite innocently. That innocence will, unfortunately, disappear for many things as they grow, but what will make the impact is if, even for one year, those students are given the freedom and ability to explore that innocence.
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