It’s a crazy old world
28 October 2009
We were studying memory in the psychology class today when I had that revelation that I think most students who’ve been schooled in East Asian methods (i.e. rote learning) must have when they are introduced to the concept of memory in introductory psychology classes. It is this:
The system of rote learning in education and examination isn’t there to make students’ lives harder, it’s there to make teachers’ lives easier — when they’re marking our exam papers, it’s either right or wrong with rote learning. If it’s about how much we actually understand a concept or an event or even a word, teachers will have to interpret our comprehension of said concept / event / word and that requires them to exercise their brains.
(Neil adds that this also means the teachers will have to have a thorough understanding of the topic.)
And this system is meant to educate children. Does that make you worried?
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One could easily argue that if we demonstrate a thorough understanding of topics and master critical thinking, teachers will not be able to exercise control over the classroom. We don’t just learn information in school; we learn about hierarchy.
Comment by Maria — 28 October 2009 @ 10:49 pm
That sounds like a lot of what Bush 43 kept pushing with No Child Left Behind. The US public education system keeps falling further back in the world.
Comment by Terry — 29 October 2009 @ 2:28 am
Maria, that’s a very valid and interesting point! I would think that our teachers are meant to teach us critical thinking as well, though. Coming from a system where hierarchy was ‘taught’ as you describe, I can say for sure that I had no respect for the teachers who only wanted us to memorise the right answer and not try to explain concepts and theories so we understood why and how rules (in physics and so on) had been established. (I had really good physics notes because I had to figure it out for myself with the help of a private tutor.)
Terry, NCLB seems to be a good idea in principle but extremely flawed in the details (I’ve only just looked it up).
From what I understand, Singapore kids who go on to study at junior college must now not only take the British-based ‘A’-levels, they also must take the American SATs (I may be completely wrong but let’s assume they all have to). Maybe having different types of standardised tests will help?
Comment by Andrea — 29 October 2009 @ 9:49 am
A real failure of the NCLB?
Comment by Terry — 31 October 2009 @ 1:47 pm