By Seamus Corkery
Discussion Group Names- Olivia Vearling, Jeff Biancaniello, David Macmullen, Sam Livornl, Amanda Regan, Gwen Jordan, Maura Kelly, Caitlin Mangini, Laura Mcgroary, and Hailey Clark.
Our group discussed how teachers force students to abide by their teachings versus being able to learn on their own to have their own understanding of different topics. This was one of many topics from Paulo Freire’s “The Banking Concept of Education.” The title for our group discussion was “the teacher knows everything and the students know nothing.” The thing is that this agenda can sometimes be true depending on what is being taught in the specific class. For example, in a very hard subject matter such as physics or maybe calculous, the students may need to be treated as if they know nothing due to them actually not knowing anything about the subject. The agenda that the teacher knows everything and the students know nothing can be proven wrong when you begin to discuss more broad subject matters that provide better learning experiences when you discuss the subject with your students and they able to give their own input as to how they feel about the topic. I feel that students learn best when they are in an environment where they can give their own input and maybe even help another student out versus the teacher being the only one allowed to speak and the students must listen and act as spectators.
