A Comparison of the Works by Freire and Bloom.

Wanqiao Li, BIS 300 E,December 13th, 2023

Freire and Bloom express concern about the present state of education in modern society. In his book "Pedagogy of the Oppressed," Paulo Freire argues that the traditional educational system operates as a "banking" system, where students are passive consumers of knowledge deposited by their teachers. Freire contends that this educational approach is oppressive and perpetuates existing power hierarchies. Allan Bloom adopts a distinct perspective in his book "The Closing of the American Mind." He argues that higher education has not effectively imparted students with a significant sense of purpose, resulting in a decline in the quality of democracy in the United States. In this essay, I will analyze, compare and contrast the two literary works by Freire and Bloom.

These two readings exhibit several similarities, with one of the most prominent being their shared emphasis on the need for critical thinking. Education, as advocated by Freire and Bloom, should be a process of inquiry that fosters students' inclination to scrutinize assumptions and confront established power systems; as Freire (p.8) claims,  “whereas banking education anesthetizes and inhibits creative power, problem Posing education involves a constant unveiling of reality. The former attempts to maintain the submersion of consciousness; the latter strives for the emergence of consciousness and critical intervention in reality. Both of these concepts are held by the two educators. Nevertheless, they employ distinct strategies when it comes to achieving this goal. Freire promotes an educational system that emphasizes active student participation, encouraging them to take an active role in the learning process; “The role of the problem-posing educator is to create, together with the students, the conditions under which knowledge at the level of the doxa[opinion] is superseded by true knowledge, at the level of the logos (p. 8).

On the other hand, Bloom thinks that schools should help future generations find their footing in this complicated world by teaching them a coherent set of values and a feeling of purpose. Both interpretations provide a critical analysis of the present condition of things, another notable similarity between them. Freire argues that the financial system is repressive since it reinforces established power structures and hinders students from participating in critical thinking. A degradation of American democracy, according to Bloom, has resulted from universities' disjointed mission statements. The current education status in modern society is a major issue for both authors, and they both think reforms are necessary to solve this problem. Bloom, in his book, asserts that a lack of knowledge leads pupils to seek enlightenment from easily accessible sources without the ability to differentiate between profound and worthless, genuine insight and manipulative propaganda (p.64).

Freire's critique of the banking system is based on his belief that education should be a liberating influence, empowering students to engage in critical thinking, challenge established power dynamics, and question the fairness of simply depositing knowledge. "The students — no longer docile listeners — are now critical coinvestigators in dialogue with the teacher. The teacher presents the material to the students for their consideration, and re-considers her earlier considerations as the students express their own" (p. 8). Given this circumstance, education might be conceptualized as a process of depositing knowledge, with the students assuming the role of recipients and the teacher functioning as the provider. The teacher's interaction with the students is limited to issuing communiqués, which are messages, and making deposits, which the students passively receive, memorize, and repeat (p. 1). Higher education's influence on students' worldviews is at the heart of Bloom's criticism. Democracy in the US has deteriorated, he says, because academics are too preoccupied with relativism. The present state of education in modern society is a concern for both writers, even though they focus on distinct aspects of the subject. This boils down to Freire's main point: the monetary system in schools is repressive and just helps to solidify existing power dynamics.

A large section of Bloom's critique is on how students' college experiences shape their worldviews. Freire argues in his writings for a form of education that empowers students to be agents of their own learning by providing them with the resources they need to do so. Nevertheless, Bloom argues that schools have a responsibility to assist new students in understanding the intricacies of the contemporary world by offering them explicit guiding principles and a sense of direction. According to Freire on page 72, education can either be used to assimilate young people into the existing system and promote conformity, or it can be a practice of freedom that allows individuals to critically analyze and engage with reality in an innovative way. Ultimately, this empowers them to contribute to the transformation of their society.

Freire draws upon critical pedagogy, which emphasizes the significance of social justice and critical thinking. Bloom employs the Western canon as a philosophical guide, emphasizing the significance of literary and artistic achievements. Bloom's work targets a wider American readership, whereas Freire's publications primarily focus on educators and students in poor nations. User-generated content will not be visible to you. In his article, Bloom characterizes the current state by stating, "The university no longer possesses a distinctive aesthetic that attracts young individuals." "This appearance no longer holds appeal for young individuals." This student may have relatives who were deeply impacted by the transformative experience of attending college, but they lack personal narratives of such experiences due to their upbringing in a culture heavily influenced by media. According to the author, the belief that education may lead to social advancement has decreased, and there is uncertainty about whether it can help someone escape from any particular situation (p.25).

Despite their divergent ideologies, both Freire and Bloom express a shared preoccupation with the condition of education in contemporary society. The writers of these two works contend that for societal advancement, it is imperative to educate children in the skills of critical thinking and challenging authority figures. By doing a comparative analysis of these two works, one can gain valuable insights into the challenges plaguing the educational system as well as potential remedies for these issues.