Question

In his book, Pedagogy of the Oppressed, Freire (1968) refers to two types of
educational concepts: the banking and problem-posing types of education. How do other citable researchers, except Freire himself define these concepts?

Answer 1

Here are concise, citable definitions of Freire’s two educational concepts—banking education and problem-posing education—as described by other scholars of critical pedagogy and education (not Freire himself). Each entry gives a short definition, key characteristics, and a citation you can use.

1) Banking education
- Definition (paraphrase of common scholarly descriptions): a teacher-centered model in which knowledge is treated as fixed “deposits” that teachers transmit and students receive/memorize; it emphasizes passive learning, repetition, and adaptation to existing social relations rather than critical inquiry. The approach is seen as authoritarian and as reproducing social inequalities.
- Key characteristics: teacher as authority/knower, students as passive repositories, emphasis on memorization and rote learning, reproduction of established power relations.
- Representative citations:
- Giroux, H. A. (1983). Theory and Resistance in Education: A Pedagogy for the Opposition. Bergin & Garvey.
- Brookfield, S. D. (1987). Developing Critical Thinkers. Jossey‑Bass.
- Darder, A., Baltodano, M., & Torres, R. D. (Eds.). (2003). The Critical Pedagogy Reader. Routledge.

2) Problem-posing education
- Definition (paraphrase of common scholarly descriptions): a dialogical, learner-centered model in which teachers and students engage together as co-investigators; knowledge is constructed through reflection and action (praxis), critical questioning of reality, and collaborative inquiry aimed at empowerment and social transformation.
- Key characteristics: dialogic teacher–student relationship, curriculum grounded in learners’ contexts, emphasis on critical thinking and reflection, praxis (reflection + action), emancipation/consciousness-raising.
- Representative citations:
- Shor, I. (1992). Empowering Education: Critical Teaching for Social Change. University of Chicago Press.
- hooks, bell. (1994). Teaching to Transgress: Education as the Practice of Freedom. Routledge.
- Mayo, P. (1999). Gramsci, Freire and Adult Education: Possibilities for Transformative Action. Zed Books.
- Darder, A., Baltodano, M., & Torres, R. D. (Eds.). (2003). The Critical Pedagogy Reader. Routledge.

If you’d like, I can:
- provide direct quotes from any of the cited works,
- assemble a short annotated bibliography with page numbers you can cite directly, or
- give brief classroom examples (activities, lesson design) that illustrate each model. Which would be most useful?