Ralph Waldo Emerson and Paolo Freires Visions of...

Ralph Waldo Emerson and Paolo Freires Visions of Traditional Methods of Education #65279;Paulo Freire and Ralph Waldo Emerson share a similar vision in regards to traditional methods of education. A main common view is that both writers feel that the current education system in most places does not allow for people to reach their full capacity. Freire and Emerson share many other ideas regarding education such as their view of practice and theory and of free thinking. Their works are among the most thought-evoking. In ?The American Scholar? Emerson places a strong emphasis on the role of books in education and their usage of conveying ideas. He states that, ?Books are the best things, well used; abused, among the†¦show more content†¦There is indeed a difference between strictly learning theory and learning theory through practice. The theory or ideas can be deposited in a person?s head and he or she is to put into action the unrefined concepts. Freire is opposed to this ?Banking theory? (p. 357) because he feels that it is inhibiting to the mind. In his mind, problem-posing theory is the proper route, due to the fact that it actively engages a person?s own ideas and personal thoughts and makes him analyze and question reality. Freire classifies standard systems of education to be a banking system. This label is used in a literal sense, in that Freire feels that a human brain is like a vault. In the banking system teachers deposit information in the student and it is to be expec ted that the student will retain the information until a withdrawal is requested, at which point the information will be regurgitated back in the same form that it was put in, without any processing of the information. This idea assumes many things about the teacher-student relationship. Among these assumptions are that: the student begins education with a clean slate, the teacher knows best or knows all and that the student has nothing to contribute to his own education because he or she knows nothing. One other assumption in the banking system is that a person is not considered to be a conscious being that interacts with others; he is considered to be a spectator, not someone who is able to make