Greg Whitby: Is there a right way to learn?

MOST of us went to school at a time when the only way to learn your times tables was to memorise and recall by heart. It goes against freeing up students’ minds for the kind of deep, creative and high-level thinking that today’s world demands.

Young boy solves multiplication table.

• Greg Whitby: Students must have the opportunity to explore
• Homework is no substitute for effective classroom teachers

MOST of us went to school at a time when the only way to learn your times tables was to memorise and recall by heart. This type of learning is called rote. Recently, NSW Education Minister Rob Stokes said he was supportive of students in primary school learning basic maths skills by rote.

The return to rote learning is happening elsewhere. From March, a number of primary schools in England will start testing Year 4 students on their times tables. Like phonics screening in Year 1, the multiplication test is aimed at identifying students who need support. From 2020, the test will become mandatory.

A boy writing out his multiplication homework.

The question that often follows from such comments and policy decisions is whether there is a right or wrong way to learn core concepts? The “skill-and-drill approach” which was popular when I went to school in the 1960s and 1970s was not limited to maths but extended across most subjects.

Back then, good learning was often attributed to memory skills. A good memory often meant you passed the test but it did not mean that you understood even the basic concepts. We know a lot more today about how people learn. There is an understanding that while memorisation is useful, the most important aspect is ensuring all students understand what they are learning and why they need to learn it. That’s called conceptual learning.

In the 1960s and 1970s rote was not limited to maths but extended across most subjects.

It’s a fact that traditional schooling models have relied heavily on memorisation at the expense of freeing up students’ minds for the kind of deep, creative and high-level thinking that today’s world demands. I asked my colleagues whether they could still recite the numerical value of Pi (3.14): some could, others had forgotten. Of those who could, all had difficulty explaining the concept.

And that’s the point: sometimes, memorising basic concepts like times tables or the periodic chart in chemistry or great poems represents half of the whole. It’s only when students can understand what they’ve learned and make meaningful connections that learning becomes whole.

Greg Whitby is the executive director of schools for the Catholic Diocese of Parramatta. Follow him on Twitter @gregwhitby