While memorizing vocabulary words, definitions, names, dates, and places seems to be a huge part of our school experience, Langer suggests that much of what we memorized was never truly learned. Let's be honest--how much did you really learn as you prepared for that ninth grade history midterm?
Not only does memorization fall short of true learning, Langer asserts that a focus on memorizing "facts and figures" strips the context of the subject from our learning and contributes to our mindlessness.
If I had to pick one stand-out quote from this chapter, it would be: "Memorizing is a strategy for taking in material that has no personal meaning," (p. 67). I believe this quote resonates so strongly with me largely because it aligns closely with the ideas of both John Dewey and Jack Mezirow, the two educational theorists who most strongly influenced my own teaching and learning philosophy.
In Experience & Education, Dewey (1938) argues for progressive education built around the concepts of experience, continuity, and growth. He states, "Anything which can be called a study, whether arithmetic, history, geography, or one of the natural sciences, must be derived from materials which at the outset fall within the scope of ordinary life experience," (p. 73). In other words, learning takes place when people build upon what they already know from their past experiences. Memorizing an isolated set of "facts" to which a person has no prior personal connection is in stark contrast to this idea.
As a part of his Transformative Learning Theory, Mezirow (1997) offers that learning may entail strengthening our point of view, creating a new point of view, changing our point of view, or becoming more aware of our point of view. None of these four learning processes comes about through memorization.
If we can agree that rote memorization does not equal learning (and may likely be detrimental to it), the next question for educators becomes, how can we foster actual learning? If memorization is, as Langer offers, "taking in material that has no personal meaning," the answer seems to be to increase personal relevance. Educators must work to connect our material to our learners and to help our learners find ways to connect with our material. Easier said than done, perhaps, but I believe this is critical.
For more on making learning relevant, check out this 2010 article by Sara Bernard: Science Shows Making Lessons Relevant Really Matters.
Dewey, J. (1938). Experience & Education. New York, NY: Kappa Delta Pi.
Langer, E. J. (2016). The Power of Mindful Learning. (2nd ed.). Boston, MA: Da Capo Press.
Mezirow, J. (1997). Transformative learning: Theory to practice. New Directions for Adult and Continuing Education, 74, 5-12.