somewhere under the sky

a response to Jaclyn's critique of my "critique"

please see the post "rote-ness" below and "a response to leah's critique" on "togo or not togo" on the sidebar links.

i agree with everything Jaclyn says, and some of our ideas even coincide on my original post. i said that i agree that learning a foreign language is impossible without memorization (although i do believe that a 2nd language can be learned in the same way as our 1st) and that it is important to know dates and figures in historical contexts (done through memorization) in order to understand them.
i also agree that in fields such as biology, memorization is crucial (i certainly hope that doctors memorize anatomy so that when they are operating, they operate on the correct body part, etc). i also concede that memorization can be a basis or foundation for knowledge. if, for example, we memorize the key players in the Spanish civil war and when it happened, we can then discuss its impact on Spanish peasants and other European countries for the rest of the 20th century; a discussion which would be impossible without the memorized foundation of certain factors.

first, my post was an emotional reaction to having spent 3 hours memorizing events and dates for an exam, all information that i have since forgotten.
my aversion to memorization comes when it is used as the sole learning method in a particular class. in this particular spanish history class, there was no discussion or analysis of any of the events we had to memorize. i hope Ms. Janis would concede that essays are a better assessment than matching of what a student has learned. my final cumulative exam, however, was fill-in and matching. essays allow students free range to take all that they have learned and process it, instead of just regurgitating information. memorization can be used quite effectively, but when learning stops at memorization, this is what i call an insult to knowledge.
i freely admit its "potential in education." but when this potential is left unearthed in the classroom, when education does not challenge students to think analytically and critically about what they have memorized, students are cheated of the opportunity to expand their knowledge and understanding of the world at a deeper level. in order to create solutions to today's social problems, we must be able to think critically.
as Ms. Janis knows, i normally do not draw stark lines; as a favorite mutual friend, Mr. Darko, points out: "life is not that simple." actions cannot be divided into two categories: good or bad. i apologize for seemingly to draw such line between memorization and immersion. it's what happens when i write from emotion. as an educator, i fully realize that learning comprises myriad forms, as no two people learn in the exact same way.
my hope is that in all disciplines, creativity is encouraged so that young people may effectively work towards a better, more socially responsible society. education is key, but it must be good education.

posted by leah v @ 4:22 PM