Rote Really Isn't Right

As a child in school, I was NEVER the teacher’s pet or the class prefect or even a “first-bencher”. Those accolades were reserved for the smart kids. I was always on the last bench, dreaming about the book that was hidden in my bag, which would come out as soon as the teacher turned her back. And unfortunately for me, the teachers, who were hell-bent on me memorizing the Pythagoras theorem and Newton’s third law of gravity, never appreciated my care-free spirit. Hence, every month end, when my mother had to come to school to meet the teachers, she would find me just walking the red line.

I was constantly told that I had the potential but I just did not apply myself. I could be a topper if I wanted to, but I was lazy and I did not study because I was going through a rebellious stage. They constantly complained to my mother saying that my head was too filled with clouds and nothing else. Hormones were apparently the cause of this serious problem that was my over-imaginative mind.

Is this called an education? Shouldn’t a child be taught to learn and grow on his own, rather than memorize what has been done centuries ago by Pythagoras and Newton? Sure, a little help from the experience is needed, and I’m not saying that such things are not important, but learning by rote is not the end of it. We should be able to apply what we have been taught. If we learn everything through books, but cannot apply the concept in real life, then what is the point of that knowledge? It will just flow right out our heads like a leaky bucket.

I asked my little three year old brother what he wants to be once he grows up. He said in all seriousness and solemnity that he wants to be an elephant. When I asked him why, he promptly replied that elephants did not have to memorize anything. I had still not understood what he meant, and so he explained to me (with all the patience of an adult explaining to a child) that our grandmother had told him that elephant’s had a great memory and so, his inference was that if he became an elephant, he would not have to memorize his ABCs and nursery rhymes, because he would remember them in one go.

I knew immediately when he said this that this child was going to turn out like me. He was going to be called stupid in school and told that he should not dream but study, memorize and learn by heart. But doesn’t it require at least a little intelligence for a child of three to come up with a thought like that? Children are constantly learning and absorbing the things around them. This could be called their “memorizing” of the world, if you will. But giving them practical knowledge of the world will just enhance their understanding of that very same world.

By telling a child over and over again that he must or mustn’t do something, we are just crippling the child’s intellect. We are stunting its imagination, its reasoning and its understanding of the world. But by explaining to a child why some things should or should not be done, we are giving him a chance to think for himself. Parents of young children know and employ this technique often. They often have to deal with their inquisitive young ones and their constant questions, and most of the time they try to answer those questions. They know that if they tell their child not to put a fork in the microwave, the child will inevitably be curious to know what would happen; but if they explain to the child that by doing that, the microwave will explode, they will save themselves a lot of money. (My mother learned that the hard way). However, somewhere in the growing-up years, this technique is lost in the oblivion of the universe and as a result, life becomes about rules and how to memorize them.

Basically, to make a child memorize and learn by rote is not educating the child, but training it. Even dogs can be trained. But to explain, and thus broaden its horizons, is to share knowledge and to make it think. That is definitely something that most dogs cannot do, with the fair exception of the average Indian politician (though I believe his brain activity is not too significant either).