As a future educator, I found Paulo Freire’s “The Banking Concept of Education” to be very thought provoking. For my whole life I have viewed education as an opportunity to learn and grow, and I have been lucky to have many “problem-posing” teachers who have allowed me to exercise my own consciousness about reality. I feel as though the author’s purpose is to allow readers to see that there are different approaches to education but it is obvious that Freire believes in and would like to see educators use the problem-posing, liberating approach. Freire spoke about teachers who simply make the deposits while the students patiently receive, memorize and regurgitate the facts, and this made me think of a few classes I have been in and did not particularly enjoy. He also states that “In the banking concept of education, knowledge is a gift bestowed by those who consider themselves knowledgeable upon those whom they consider to know nothing” (208). Students are merely blank slates to fill with information that will be beneficial to their place in society as the oppressed. This theory believes that students do not need to grow and transform their thoughts and ideas because they are not important to society. To me this sounds like something that would be standard practice in a dystopian future but it is important to note that there are places that it does happen. I am hoping to become a teacher and I could not even imagine thinking this way. The idea that teachers think they are better than students simply because they are the ones with the knowledge is very frustrating to me because, in my opinion, educators are there to guide students in their educational career, which is an important time where students are developing their own thoughts and ideas while learning facts that may be important as well. I also feel that many teachers in this time, including many education professors I’ve had at Kutztown, would agree with Freire in that education should be liberating and allow students to think critically about reality. Communication is significant between students and teachers to foster thought processes and personal growth. I also appreciate his last sentiment that education should be revolutionary, liberating, and “problem posing” from the start. When children are taught from the start that they are simply receivers of facts, it may be difficult for them to change their views on education, trapping them in an unfortunate cycle. Many people are educated for 13 years before the possibility of higher education and it is important to have a good foundation for the future in the form of an opportunity to communicate and think critically.