The Problem of Too Much Focus on Memorization in Schools
Right now, I'm glad that the K+12 education (read more about it here) got implemented during the time of the late Benigno Simeon C. Aquino III. There are times that I tend to remember how dreadful high school life can be, how I kept complaining that high school is difficult nearly 24/7, I felt weekends weren't even weekends (and I ended up addicted to gaming and television as a form of escapism), and how often I felt like I wanted to drop out of high school. It was the K+10 curriculum which was six years of elementary and four years of high school. I barely passed and I always considered myself stupid, therefore, if you're stupid, you can't learn anything.
The emphasis on grades became another thing. Too many times, we're told that if our grades in math and science weren't good--why not take Hotel & Restaurant Management (HRM)? Not even being told that a chef's salary can be decent convinced me it may not be a bad thing. I was even told that if HRM was "so easy" then that course shouldn't exist at all. A better thing to say is that if you don't study hard--you might as well be an editor of vernacular comics instead. Though, taking B.S. Business Administration and having classmates taking B.S. HRM made me realize its importance (read here). It's because the B.S. Information Technology course (BSIT) was so glamorized. It was pretty much, "If you're not taking it--you must be very stupid."
How was grading done? One could think about the overemphasis on memorization. True, memorization helps in real life. You need to memorize the basic arithmetic table to function in life. You need to memorize the color coding of traffic lights, street tules, and the like to be street smart. Memorization of basic science also helps in life. Knowing how vaccines work helps deal against the flood of disinformation done by the anti-vaxxers. Knowing about how a virus is transmitted would help in times of a pandemic. Memorization is indeed part of life. The problem isn't memorization but too much on it without understanding what's memorized.
From Education Week--I felt this is another reason why history classes are failing in the USA:
Students in U.S. classrooms are startlingly ignorant of American history, but it’s not because their teachers have failed them. It’s because the curriculum in most schools focuses on memorizing “irrelevant, boring” names and dates, according to a study released Tuesday.
Researchers for the Woodrow Wilson Foundation surveyed the 50 states and found that students are indeed weak on their knowledge of American history. But unlike some critics, who fault teacher training or weak course requirements, the report’s authors say bad curriculum is to blame.
“Based on our analysis, this is not an issue of whether high school history teachers are adequately prepared or whether children today even study American history in school,” the foundation’s president, Arthur Levine, says in a statement. “The answer to both questions is yes. This is an issue of how we teach American history and whether today’s learners see relevance and are engaged in what and how history is taught.”
The same can be true for any subject. I confess that I hated mathematics with a passion in high school. The more it haunts me--the more I did research and found out that we're teaching mathematics wrong (read here). Nothing in mathematics makes sense until you know how they're used in real life. Calculus is heavily used not just in engineering but also in business and economics decisions (read here). Every mathematics is part of life. Yet, the way it's taught makes it so separate from life. How can science and mathematics make sense if the way they're taught is pretty much like they're disconnected? I even tried to divorce physics from mathematics when they're just related. I'd say it's the way it's taught. We had brilliant teachers but the Philippine education system really sucks. Either school apply too much pressure or too little of it. Too much pressure can break a person down. Too little pressure can make a person too soft. The right amount of pressure makes a person better. It's like the pressure is used in the exercise. Apply too much pressure in exercise and you can injure yourself. Don't exercise and you can start to experience a lot of health issues like extreme obesity and higher stress.
This has resulted in another vicious cycle. Some people may have wanted to drop out of school because of their grades. Many times, I just wanted to drop out of school, especially during my fourth year during K+10. I felt like mathematics was truly my biggest Waterloo. The teacher tried to help me but I just kept shouting in her class. I even told the teacher to forget about me because I'm just stupid and useless. My science teacher would warn me about my lack of diligence. Both the math teacher and science teacher tried to help me. I only told them that once a person's stupid--there's no hope for it. I barely passed because they prodded me. I took a two-year course--something I felt ashamed of as a "badge of shame". Later, I felt that not being accepted into BSIT was probably for the best. A lot of BSIT students shifted after their second year or even after their first year. I kinda had a good laugh meeting somebody who admitted he shifted.
What I felt became the problem is how too much memorization is focused. The grades are usually focused on memorization. I think another problem in foreign language courses is how often people just memorize without understanding. I felt I hated the Chinese subject because of that. Was I really learning Mandarin with all those memorizations? I felt that zhuyin (use of the ancient Chinese alphabet) should be abolished in favor of pinyin. I use pinyin to search for Chinese characters on the Internet these days! I feel the Chinese language course needs to focus more on how to speak and how to read instead of memorizing too much. During my MBA, I remembered a Chinese language teacher from Cebu Eastern College (CEC) serving as an interpreter. Yet, it also reminded me of how I also hated the Chinese language subject and hated my Chinese blood in the process. What became the result was that people didn't learn to speak Mandarin--only memorized without understanding. The same goes for almost every subject.
I guess that's why cheating's very prevalent in schools too. People care too much about their grades can be a good reason. Another reason is because of the one-size-fits-all scenario. I remembered how my classmate got suspended for cheating on a Chinese language exam. I remembered attempting cheating back then when I was in my late tweens. It's because we had to have good grades or else. I guess the threat of punishment over failure might enforce the need to cheat. The student cheats, get punished, and then for all we know, the student may have some form of attention deficiency going on. Even worse, people who somehow can't fit in the whole one-size-fits-all scenario might even decide it's better to fail honestly than cheat. However, honesty seems hardly rewarded in society which may also encourage cheating even if cheating remains a punishable offense.
I think we need to do this--connect everything to life applications. Mathematics and sciences should be viewed as more than just, "If you don't do well here-- take HRM!" Instead, it should be viewed as, "If you don't know these--you'll fail to understand life regardless of what course you'll take." I felt like our science teacher was intelligent but she was wrong about HRM. Mathematics and sciences are used everywhere. I feel like I understand trigonometry and geometry now (two mathematic subjects that are just not my type) in building the Cebu IT Park at Salinas Drive. Knowing about mathematical algorithms help me appreciate the computer technology I took for granted. I may have failed to become an IT expert--I can still make money via IT feeder funds. Learning biology, chemistry, and physics helped me appreciate my food trips and appreciate food preparation. Just imagine taking HRM and you don't know basic science. It'd be dumb actually if a chef doesn't know that cooking food is a chemical change. Schools should prepare students to think beyond the classroom.
We need to look at how lessons are taught. Lessons will get harder because of new information. It's best for parents to stop expecting their children to be honor students if they were honor students. Instead, focus on the learning process. School back in my day can be easier than school today. Lessons will get harder but the learning process can be made more encouraging. If people see a better connection between the lessons and life--the difficulty of the struggle will be worth it in the long run.
References
Websites
https://www.edweek.org/teaching-learning/history-instruction-indicted-too-much-memorization-too-little-meaning/2019/05
