Blog Post #6

The Banking Concept of Education, by Paulo Freire, discussed some issues in educating. The one issue that stood out to me because it pertained to experiences I had was "The student records, memorizes, and repeats these phrases without perceiving what four times four really means, or realizing the true significance of "capital" in the affirmation "the capital of Para is Belem," that is, what Belem means for Para and what Para means for Brazil"
When I think about the items I learned in elementary, junior high, and even high school I realize I really did not retain any of the information. As the quote stated, I was able to memorize and repeat the information...but only for the test or class discussions on it. If one were to ask my a week later, I most likely would not be able to recite the information I "aced".
To me this is startling especially knowing I am not the only one who experiences this based on discussions with other students or simply observing midterm reviews where fellow students are basically relearning everything in order to pass the exam.
As a future teacher, I believe we need to look at ways at better having kids retain information. Although, all children learn differently there is something to be said about students remembering lyrics to songs that are 5 or more years old but not being able to remember educational information that was taught a week or two ago. According to Freire, "knowledge emerges only through invention and re-invention". As future teachers, I believe we need to think of ways to make students actually learn. One student in class on Tuesday mentioned the fact her teacher had students create their own definitions to vocabulary. I think this is a good example to get students to think because they are applying their knowledge and are able to see if they have a true definition of what they are learning instead of a simple "book definition".