"We don't need no education. We don't need no thought control"- Roger Waters

Remember when MTV used to play music videos? Well, here is the MTV version of one of my all-time favorite bands, Pink Floyd. This is the musical video to “Another Brick in the Wall,” from Floyd’s 1979 album The Wall. Please watch the video in its entirety, and pay attention to the lyrics, but the visuals as well. Lyrics are written in the description part of YouTube.



This video epitomizes Paulo Freire’s concept of banking education (1997). The video is set in the educational atmosphere of London. We see emotionless, faceless children. They are carbon copies of one another and are treated that way. They are seated in perfect little rows. Eventually we witness them marching in lines in a factory setting, where a comparison of education is made to that of mass-production. Around 3:20 in the video, I can even make a distinct connection to the imagery of students as cattle. There is a close-up of the feet of the children as they march, that chillingly reminds me of the hooves of cattle. The students are placed on a conveyor built and eventually end up as processed meat. The students rebel against their dictator- teachers by shouting, “We don’t need no education. We don’t need no thought control.”

The title “Another Brick in the Wall,” alludes to lyricist Waters’ vision of the teachers in this particular society as -bricks in the wall. He presents the notion that through the banking education that these teachers are imposing on the children, they (students) are having walls built up around them that will eventually close them off from others. Freire would explain these educational practices as “alienating intellectualism” (1997, p. 67). Waters explains to the teachers, “All in all it's just another brick in the wall. All in all you're just another brick in the wall.” This banking education created wall, without intervention, ultimately will lead to a society of isolation. In a society of isolation, there is no reason for humans to work collaboratively or for the collective good. An isolated society is comprised of members, not participants. A society in isolation is not a united society. Nor can it be proactive. A society of isolated members leads to greed, selfishness, stagnation and corruption. Humanity cannot thrive in isolation.

Enter Critical Literacy: Critical literacy is a response to injustice and the production of illiteracy in which students and teachers work together to create a just world where we (society) are ensured undeniable equal access; equal opportunity; and equal means to actively participate in the maintaining and sustaining of humanity. Through critical literacy, students and teachers explore and examine practices that have historically and institutionally perpetuated the oppression of sectors of society. In the exploration and examination of these practices, critical literacy allows us to develop and implement new practices that allow all to participate in humanity. Critical literacy education begs humans to interact with the world, and its other members. Critical literacy offers us the freedom to act on and change our world. Ultimately, critical literacy allows everyone, EVERYONE, to have a vested interest in society by tearing down “the wall” of isolation that is created by banking education.

Critical literacy education, or what Freire refers to as problem-posing education (1997), is a direct response to the banking type of education we see in the above video. Problem-posing education invites participants to be “those truly committed to liberation” (Freire, 1997, p. 60). Active participants of problem-posing education must also “reject the banking concept in its entirety, adopting instead a concept of women and men as conscious beings, and consciousness as consciousness intent upon the world” (Freire, 1997, p. 60). In essence, critical literacy/problem-posing education demands that we are no longer invisible students/members, but active, conscious participants/beings.

It is critical literacy that offers “education as the practice of freedom” (Freire, 1997, p. 62). Through acts of cognition and critical reflection, students of problem-posing education are enabled to act on and revolutionize their world. The isolation or alienation that we see in the music video and in banking education does not allow for students’ liberation. Freire argues, “But one does liberate people by alienating them. Authentic liberation- the process of humanization-is not another deposit to be made in men. Liberation is a praxis: the action and reflection of men and women upon their world in order to transform it” (1997, p. 60).

The educational process must not be stagnant. The world is constantly changing; therefore, pedagogical practices must represent this constant motion. Banking education only perpetuates the notion of a dormant world. It does not provide students with the necessary tools to be active participants in an ever-changing society. However, critical literacy embraces the notion that “education [must] be an ongoing activity” (Freire, 1997, p. 65). Critical literacy insists that humans have a relationship WITH the world and WITH one another, not apart from. Critical literacy summons humans to recognize our individual roles in making a better society for the common good.

In understanding critical literacy, the most important tenet is that of connection. We all live on the same planet and are ultimately bound to one another. It is imperative that we remember that our actions not only affect ourselves, but others as well. Although, yes, we are all individual, diverse, unique beings, we still have a common link to each other. When we live in the confines of mental and physical isolation, we do not see the connections that our actions may have on others. It is only when we become liberated through critical literacy that our blindfolds can come off and we can come together to work collaboratively towards the common goal of maintaining a just world for all.




***On a side note*** For anyone who is a music buff, I was fortunate enough to see Roger Waters’ (an original member of the band) recreation performance of The Wall. As I have been told by those who were able to see the original Wall preformed over 30 years ago, Waters’ solo performance was better. It was not just music; it was a complete theatrical performance in which they constructed and tore down an actual wall on the stage. I was blown away. And, I consider it to be one of the top ten experiences of my life!