Internal Memory Drive





2 responses

  1. I have noticed a growing disdain for memorization on the part of my students in the last ten years–and they’re not shy about sharing their disdain. And you’ve got a good ear, Kevin, when you say that not all memorization is rote memorization because that’s the word most students use when they disparage memorization: It’s just rote memorization, they say. But it’s easy, in this increasingly digital age, to understand why students speak this way. Why do we need to memorize this stuff when we can just access the enormous data storage system on our desk, or on our lap, or in the palm of our hand? It’s hard to see how, with the ever growing integration of digital technologies in the classroom, students’ skepticism about and resistance to memorization will lessen.

  2. I agree that it is a growing challenge. That’s why I’d encourage a discussion of memorization practices of historical and global cultures. 9th-century monks did not view memorization as a rote activity. Chants and their texts were considered sacred, a gift from God, and their ability to “know” them was an intimate way of channeling the divine spirit. Each utterance had significant impact, a privilege of those who truly knew and understood the words. In many non-Western cultures, learning songs and texts is a form of enculturation. One is part of the society when one has internalized the appropriate texts of the cultural group. Ask students if there are any texts with which they have formed a significant bond. Do they remember them?

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