Is there a place for rote learning in schools today? Should there be?

There are many perceived ways to learn, though some methods may seem more

antiquated to educationalists when set alongside their contemporary counterparts. One

of these perceived antiquated methods, to the modern teacher, is rote learning. Rote

learning is described by the New Oxford Dictionary of English (2001) as, ‘mechanical

or habitual repetition of something to be learned. Whilst on placement at a rural

primary school in Lincolnshire, one classroom teacher when asked, do you use rote

learning within your repertoire of teaching methods, replied, no, rote learning no

longer has a place in a formal school learning environment. This view contradicts a

form of learning that has been used widely in the past to reinforce knowledge of a

subject. Even as far back as the first century A.D. Quintilian was both deriding and

championing the use of rote learning in children depending on the context it was used.

Quintilian argues that learning letters solely by rote in one order hinders a child’s

understanding of their meaning and form when placed in a different context

(Quintilian (2006:1.1.25). He also champions the use of rote learning, when learning

syllables, giving instruction that they must be repeated until they are impressed in

memory (Quintilian 2006:1.1.31). This view that rote learning is acceptable when

used in certain circumstances, fails to corroborate the view that the teacher made in

the rural primary school that rote learning has no place in a formal school setting.

Mayer showed via three scenarios in his work, Rote versus meaningful learning

(2002), his view regarding the value of learning by rote. He described how if a child

skims a text without concentrating on it, that when asked to recall that information

they are unable to. Likewise if a child reads the same text but reads more carefully

concentrating on remembering the key facts that child will be able to recall the

information but if then asked to put that information into practice would fail to be able

to. However if a child whilst reading the same text studied it with a view to

understanding the concept of what they were reading, when asked to recall the

information they would be able to much as the second child. This child however when

asked to complete an experiment using the knowledge would be able to having

transferred the knowledge to a new situation (Myers, R.E. 2002:2). From this Mayer

states that, two of the most important aspects of learning are retention of knowledge

and the subsequent transfer of that knowledge (2002:1). Mayer argues, that although a

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student may read an article, memorising the key facts within it and can then at a later

occasion remember these facts, unless that student can then transfer that knowledge

into problem solving it is not meaningful learning (2002:2). Smith M.K. speaks of

research done by Säljö in 1978 where people were asked, what their preserved views

were in regards to learning (Säljö, R. 1979 in Smith, M.K. 1999). The findings were

separated into five categories the first three all relating to the retention of facts to be

recalled on a later occasion. (Smith M.K. 1999) This retention and recall explanation

of learning is an example of rote learning as perceived by the people in this study and

common to the conceptual understanding of learning. Paul Ramsden is described by

Smith as commenting that the first three are as if learning is done to us in the sense

that we go out and shop for knowledge. (Ramsden, P. 1992 in Smith, M.K 1999). The

final two categories take the concept of meaning in learning further and describe

learning as doing something to assist in understanding the world (Ramsden, P 1992 in

Smith, M.K 1999).

This concept of learning mirrors Myers viewpoint that learning needs to be retention

of information coupled with transfer of information to enable a more rounded and

effective learning (Myers, R.E. 2002:1).

So rote learning in schools must be tempered to include not only retention of

information but also transfer of that information into readily available knowledge and

facts. Without this further enrichment of the knowledge gained, the child will only

have snippets of information available for use in quizzes but of no structural use in

their working lives.

New Oxford Dictionary of English. (2001) 3rd edition. Oxford: Oxford University

Press.

Quintilian. (2006). Institutes of Oratory. Edited by Lee Honeycutt. Translated by John

Selby Watson 1856. [online] Available from:

http://honeyl.public.iastate.edu/quintilian/1/chapter1.html [Accessed 20th October

2009].

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Mayer, R.E. (2002) Rote versus meaningful learning – 1 Theory Into Practice.

Reference publications [online] Available from:

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0NQM/is_4_41/ai_94872709/ [Accessed 20th

October 2009].

Smith, M.K. (1999) Learning Theory. The encyclopaedia of informal education.

[online] Available from: http://www.infed.org/biblio/b-learn.htm [Accessed 20th

October 2009].

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