The Use of Literature as a Tool for Holistic Development of Students’ Personality (Published)
Man is not just a physical being but also has several other dimensions which include the spiritual (soul and spirit), social, cognitive and emotional aspects; the proper development of all these listed aspects of man can be viewed under the scope of holism. It is not only the intellectual and vocational aspects of human development that need guidance and nurturing, but also the physical, social, moral, aesthetic, artistic and spiritual aspects. As a result, this paper looks at how holistic education can be used in developing Literature-in-English curriculum in Nigeria, the interconnectedness of all aspects of human life vis-a-vis Literature-in-English, its implication on teaching and learning. This paper draws ample instances from two texts from the present West African Examination Council (WAEC) 2016-2020 Literature-in-English syllabus. It concludes by stating that education should be based on experiential learning and should empower all citizens to participate in meaningful ways in the life of the immediate community and society at large. It also advocates that holistic education as an approach to pedagogy meets the needs of all types of learners, serves as a source of fulfilment and gratification for teachers and parents which should therefore be integrated into the Nigerian education at all levels.
Keywords: Literature, Pedagogy, holism, interconnectedness, personality and curriculum.
A Constructivist Appraisal of Paulo Freire’s Critique of Banking System of Education (Published)
Education is considered a prerequisite for all individuals to make meaningful impact in their society. It enlightens the individuals and engrains in them the capacity to develop critical ability that would enable them transform their society in the best way they can. However, the actual teaching method and the structure of the curricula across the tiers of learning seem to have defeated this basic purpose of education. In most cases, education has been designed as an instrument of conservatism, where the learner becomes a passive receptor of certain knowledge. This makes the learner unproductive and sterile so much so that rather than the learner utilizing the knowledge acquired, the learner gives value to the certificate awarded. Paulo Freire considers this method of education as a banking system of education, which for him is a dangerous approach to impacting knowledge. He suggests problem-posing as the alternative model to the banking system of education. This alternative model engrains in the learner the liberty to develop thinking abilities, which aid such person to contribute in the learning process. This model conceives education as a kind of symbiotic method of learning. While we appreciate Freire’s alternative model, our work assesses it as inadequate. This paper therefore aims at exposing the limitations and pragmatic bankruptcy of a problem-posing pedagogy as espoused by Freire in contradistinction to a problem-solving type of education, which our paper strongly advocates. Our study also underscores the fact that it is not enough for a learner to participate in the learning process, which only results in posing problem. Adopting the constructivist approach, this paper strongly argues that the most appropriate model that gives the learner that huge independent capacity to transform the society is the problem-solving type. Through this model, the learner develops critical abilities to address societal and contextual problems.
Keywords: Banking System., Conscientization., Constructivism, Education, Pedagogy