In chapter 2 of ‘The Pedagogy of the Oppressed, Freire
talks about the ‘banking- method’ of education where the teacher serves as an
ultimate source of knowledge and the students are considered as the ‘vessels’ who
take in the knowledge from the ultimate source. If we take a deeper look at it,
the traditional teaching methods employed in our classrooms is based on the
banking method. During my school days we used to take the notes the teacher
passed on to us, we used to by heart the notes and write the same in exams, that’s
how it always worked till I completed my schooling. When I entered my undergrad
classroom, everything seemed very different and frightening because the teacher
did not give us any notes rather, we were asked to express our opinions and
interpretations on the text which was complete opposite method of the teaching we
were used to or rather conditioned to. As Freire calls a ‘dialogue’ was
initiated where there were no right or wrong answers rather it was a give and
take knowledge which made so much sense and allowed us to think independently
and critically.
This also makes me think of how there are hierarchies everywhere
in family, educational institutions, religious institutions, and society. There
is always an oppressor who controls the oppressed, the weakness of the
oppressed gives the oppressor the power to force his principles and values on
the oppressed. It is not always a conscious process but it’s how we as a
society are conditioned from our birth that makes us not to question the existing
hierarchies.
About our group work
As a group we will be working on the 8th SDG,
which is Decent work and Economic growth, which aims on promoting ‘sustained,
inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and
decent work for all’. Our focus group will be the international students in UK,
who often face many challenges while applying for jobs, most of the times
facing rejection due to many factors. One of the main reasons is because they
are foreigners in the UK due to which they do not get the first preference most
of the times though they have the necessary skills and qualifications required
for the work. Additionally, the housing and accommodation situation for the
international students is also a major challenge due to high rent and living
costs, some of them have come with their families and finding a decent accommodation
with reasonable rent is a big deal as there are more and more international intake
coming into the UK every year which makes the situation more difficult. As
international students we have heard stories and news of the hardships faced by
graduates, many of them having to return to their country with loans to be paid
which was the main reason to take up the community and investigate deeper by
engaging with the wider community and work towards betterment in relation to
the sustainable development goals.
REFERENCES
Freire, P. (2018). Pedagogy of the
oppressed: 50th Anniversary Edition. Bloomsbury Publishing USA.
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