Saturday, June 28, 2008

Why I Ask My Students to Memorize?

I am really blessed to have met a professor who taught me the value of accuracy and deep understanding. In fact, it was her methods and techniques that partly form the foundation of my teaching techniques. I recall her saying "It is better to ask your students to memorize good poetry or verse because that will open the flood gates of possibilities.They may dislike it at first but it's up to you to deliver the needed push so that they fall off the cliff toward greater and more profound learning based on solid facts."

Memorization in present day educational setting has somewhat received a rather negative reputation. Memorization is frowned upon not only by students but by a considerable number of teachers, as well. If you ask students to memorize a poem or some lines of verse, the next thing you here is an uproar of complaints. And I do not blame them for doing that because it is, so to speak, "normal" these days for they live in an age of disillusioned love for liberty and have-it-your-way mentality. They should not be blamed for feeling that way likewise because memorizing is such a tedious task and human nature (particularly that of today's)tells you that most people just don't have that much liking for tasks like that. "The easier to accomplish something the better" is a conviction that has reached dogmatic proportions.

But, memorization if treated as the end all and be all of learning is not good. My belief is that memorization or remembering is the starting point of any other kinds of learning. The bone of my contention is this: How would you be able to apply, analyze, synthesize or even evaluate things without having solid data on which these thinking skills will be based on, in the first place? It is really impossible to gain "any" higher form of thinking without accomplishing the basic step--remembering raw data, that is.

Now, I'd like to enumerate what research and authorities have to say about memorization and remembering.

I
"The memorization and recitation of the classic utterances of poets and statesmen form part of a tradition of learning that stretches back to classical antiquity, when the Greeks discovered that words and sounds—and the rhythmic patterns by which they were bound together in poetry—awakened the mind and shaped character. They made poetry the foundation of their pedagogy. Athenian schoolboys learned by heart the poetry of Homer, through which they gained mastery of their language and their culture. They memorized as well, in versified form, the civic pronouncements of Solon, the founder of the Athenian political tradition."
--In Defense of Memorization,Michael Knox Beran

II
"Just like learning to walk before you can run, learning multiplication and memorizing the times tables are building blocks for other math topics taught in school - higher learning such as division, long multiplication, fractions and algebra."
--The Importance Of Memorizing The Times Tables
Susan Jarema

III
"The most important quality of being a good scholar is a trained and retentive memory."
--Our Father Abraham: Jewish Roots of the
Christian Faith, Marvin R. Wilson

IV
"First, at the base of the pyramid (Bloom's Taxonomy) is memorization. Every student must memorize in order to have a firm foundation. The base of the pyramid has the widest expanse which indicates the importance of memorization."
--The Need for Memorization, Drill, and
Excellence, Donna Garner

V
"Psalm 119:11 says, “Your word I have hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against You”. The Word of God is precious book to the Christian; it is our guide and manual for daily living. Because it is so valuable to us as Christians, the psalmist stresses the importance of memorizing it."
--Milford Bible Church

VI
"Why, then, do so many middle-class Americans now act as if education is nothing more than a 'game'? . . . Along with any serious commitment to subjects like English and History, the idea of education as a way to sharpen mental discipline, to cultivate higher cultural interests, or to teach civic principles has simply disappeared."
--Ready Or Not: What Happens When We Treat
Children as Small Adults,Kay Hymowitz

VII
"To learn "by rote," according to Webster's dictionary, is to learn "by memory alone, without understanding or thought." ...Plant precepts in small children's heads, and you'll shape their thinking and their actions as they grow.

But not all memorization is learning by rote. To commit something to memory isn't necessarily to learn it "without understanding or thought."
--The Difference Between Thinking and Knowing
(Memorization doesn't deserve its bad
name),Claudia Winkler


The space for this post is not enough to lay down all proofs and arguments in favor of memorization. What has been presented here is just a short list--a very small tip of an iceberg, indeed.

Memorization or remembering is not just like mushrooms that emerged from nowhere. Rather, it emerged from a long line of tradition the effectiveness of which has been tested throughout the ages. And thus, the derogatory notion about it is totally uncalled for and unfounded.

No comments: