I Have Mine, Do You Have Yours?

            My elementary and high school education was in the hands of the Chicago Public School system. When I was younger, it wasn’t seen as a bad thing to be in public school.  But I do remember this one incident, a student was unruly.  He kept on and on about some nonsense and the teacher’s response was, “It does not matter to me, if you learn or not. I have my degree you need to get yours.” Those words rang as loud as the dismissal bell, basically, should we end class on that note? We were only third graders and weren’t thinking about a college degree. I repeated the comment to another student, “Teacher’s don’t really care they have theirs degrees, I need to have my own”, I said.  I understood the teacher was frustrated by the student’s rude behavior, but he wasn’t the only student in her class.  If this message was unpleasant to my ears, what were the effects on the other twenty students?  Have teachers arrived and no longer had the responsibility of being taught?

Perhaps, there is only a hand full of teachers who actually made that comment.  But according to Paulo Freire, “The ‘Banking’ Concept of Education” he states, “The teacher presents himself to his students as their necessary opposite; by considering their ignorance absolute, he justifies his own existence”(244). The teacher’s remark was a prime example of her being the Subject (place of authority or control), and the students as objects (less significant). I believe Freire argues, under the banking concept teachers feel they are the only vital component to the students education. I believe teachers play a big part in education, but shouldn’t have a superiority complex over their students.

 I felt all of my grammar school classes and some college courses were like gas stations, fill her up please. I felt pumped full of information as Frieire states, “………. ‘Container’ into ‘receptacles’ to be ‘filled’ by teachers” (244).  As there are different types of containers, there are students, and not every student learns the same way. In some instances, I retained knowledge from subjects I was interest in. On the other hand, when some of my classes ended I couldn’t remember anything I was taught. I am a visual learner. If I can apply the subject to something relative, I can retain it better.  But should teachers take all the blame, or is there pressure coming from the educational system? The banking concept could be intertwined within the school system.

As students are pressured to learn, are teachers pressured to teach?  I do believe the majority of teachers love their jobs but is the educational system telling them how to conduct their classrooms. Do they have autonomy to apply what Freire call the ‘Problem-posing’ education? It is a shame, but I don’t remember the “teacher-student to student-teacher relationship”(249). Unfortunately, I felt I was always getting ready for the next big test. So, what I needed was not important because I had to past the IOWA test (a standardized state test that evaluated what level a student learned).

The teacher-student relationship is essential as the parent-child relationship. In America, most of a child’s life will be in a classroom, so this interaction is not a causal event. It is important that both parties learn and be taught by each other. To make the comment,” I have my degree, you need to get yours”, destroys relationships, and encourages separation. We are so concern about losing children to drugs. Have we lost the minds of those who are seating in the classrooms every day?