An Analysis of the “Banking” Concept by Paulo Freire and “Beside Oneself” By Judith Butler

The “banking” concept by Paulo Freire remains one of the key works that led to a shift in the way we look at education. Through his work, Freire vehemently highlights the shortcomings of the education system and provides a new approach that caters for the shortcomings in class. On the other hand, Butler also highlights the dilemma almost each one of us goes through as we question ourselves what is right and what is wrong in her work “beside oneself.” However, Butler makes a general assumption that human beings draw their recognition or value from other people by being intelligible to each other. Therefore, both writers highlight the misconceptions and challenges facing society and how best we can tackle those challenges.
According to Freire, the banking education system is the key source of human error because it discourages creativity and intellectual progression of learners since it turns them into receivers and custodians of information without critically analyzing the information (246). Consequently, Freire argues that the banking concept creates a barrier between a student and a teacher leading to the loss of one’s conciseness because conciseness is achievable when one connects to the real world. The banking concept is therefore based on the assumption that the teachers assume the duty of depositors whereas the learners assume the role of receptors thus making people equivalent to objects. Freire believes as “objects,” people have no independence and capability to process information individually when he says “when their efforts to act responsibly are frustrated when they find themselves unable to use their faculties, people suffer” (Freire 246).

Freire goes on to say that the ability of the banking education system to hinder innovation and creativity is in the interest of authoritarians. The authoritarians according to Freire utilize their “humanitarism” to maintain a profitable status quo. The authoritarians work to ensure that the banking education prevails so that they can dominate the weak in society. The banking concept as stated by the author gives no room for students to question and critically evaluate information for its reality.
On the other hand, Butler argues that the fear of the consequences of being true to oneself is the greatest source of error. Therefore, people lack the freedom to make right choices because society compels them to hide their sexuality or true identity. She utilizes many subjects in her work to highlight these challenges including sexuality, freedom, and violence. For instance, she talks about “rights,” saying that this term is often used to imply a group or class of people. This shows that people are bound together and cannot be recognizable without each other and thus no real freedom. Further, she raises an interesting question when she at some point poses whether it is possible for individuals to be independent in an environment that requires us to be interdependent physically. She also highlights the existence of violence among human beings and asks readers to consider whether the fact that we are interdependent leads to violence. In this regard, she says that human beings react by being violent or nonviolent. She asserts that the violent reaction just like the banking concept education raises no questions and only seeks to reveal what it perceives to be a reality about the value of another person. However, the nonviolent reaction stays with the unknowingness regarding another person for the sake of maintaining unity with one another. From the above argument, it follows that Butler’s main focus is the value of a person amid the acknowledgment of grief, and defined by social and cultural principles.
Regarding the cures to these human errors, Freire on his part proposes a “problem-posing education” system in place of the “dehumanizing” banking education system that is supported by the authoritarians. He says that the former method encourages the cognitive approach to learning as opposed to the banking system which dichotomizes the learning process. This method encourages active participation from students as they no longer remain silent. The learners engage with their teachers in conversations, and the teacher is largely a facilitator in this new approach. He goes on to say that the problem-posing system promotes innovativeness and creativity that is synonymous with realizing the truth. As students come across more and more questions, they become problem-solvers and gain a better comprehension of concepts thus remaining focused. Under this new method, Freire calls for fairness by saying that the teacher and learner are subjects of the system and in the process countering the authoritarians. Equally, Butler thinks the cure to the identity problem lies in shifting focus to the bodily autonomy. According to Butler, autonomy implies sovereignty or the ability to make a wise judgment. She uses the ecstasy to encourage people not to hide their identities but rather remains true to themselves. In this regard, she encourages people to embrace “out of body experience” and live to their utmost potential. Living such a life is the secret to identifying the value for each.
In conclusion, the two works by Freire and Butler are related because they both talk about attaining truth. However, Butler focuses on a wider scope of life highlighting things such as sexuality, grief, and violence while Freire focuses on a narrow scope concerning the education system. They equally advocate for changes in the way people relate to each other and above all how they process information. In this regard, they encourage questioning and challenging of the status quo to arrive at the truth.
Works Cited
Freire, Paulo. “The”Banking” Concept of Education.” Educational Philosophy and Theory, vol. 45, no. 1, pp. 245-255