Chapter 2 Reflection

In chapter 2 of the book “Pedagogy of the Oppressed” Paulo Freire talks about the teacher-student relationship. According to the author, the teacher-student relationship is one where the student almost has zero rights they know nothing and depend on everything from the teacher. On the other hand, the teacher knows it all, and he or she does not need the input of the students to conduct teaching. I believe that the ideas by Freire are true and they explain the real situations in modern classes (Freire, 2018). As opposed to Freire however, I believe that to some extent this teacher-student relationship should be maintained but should be modified a little bit such that the student is allowed some more participation though not in the same level as the teacher.

Just like Freire, I think that the current method that is used to teach students is way passive. While the proper way of teaching should be participatory, the contemporary style of teaching is passive. Students are there to be taught and nothing else to do as the setting dictates. In the other side, teachers have the absolute power and theirs is to teach. The teacher, therefore, is a resemblance of a perfect human who is not bound to err.  The students can only set down and acquire wisdom and learning from the teacher in such a meek way because they know nothing. My view of this situation can be expressed that by standing in class while students are sitting, a teacher commands respect (Freire, 2018). They make the students view them as objects of authority and hence they have to be meek whenever the teacher is around. The same attitude trickles into the minds of the students such that they no longer have to learn anything other than what their teachers command.

In my view of the proposition that is fronted by Freire in the chapter, there is a level of passiveness needs to be maintained. In a school, there is a need to maintain discipline. To maintain discipline, there has to be an aspect of authority else, the situation will be all chaotic. I, therefore, believe that by teachers being symbols of authority in a school situation discipline is enhanced. At the same time, teachers are already trained to teach while students attend school to learn. Teachers, therefore, reserve the right to teach because they have such a wide repository of information that the students need. The process of teaching thus ought to be a mix of passive and participatory. Engaging student’s participation could be done by giving the students the right to choose activities that they want to engage in, giving the students the right atmosphere to act in the manner that they deem fit as far as it does not break school rules and also making time for teacher-student consultative forums.

In conclusion, I agree with Freire in that the setting of the education system has been made way too passive such that there is almost no growth that is depicted by students. It is a process that is characteristic of the banking concept of education which seems to oppress students. I, however, believe that there is a need to engage some level of command still but where there is more inclusivity of students in the learning process. By doing so, better performance and enjoyment can be witnessed in schools. 

Reference

Freire, P. (2018). Pedagogy of the oppressed. Bloomsbury Publishing USA.