More from William James
October 5th 2010 07:06
Here's another quote from William James, in my ongoing quotes series.
The older pedagogic method of learning things by rote, and reciting them parrot-like in the schoolroom, rested on the truth that a thing merely heard or read, and never verbally reproduced, contracts the weakest possible adhesion in the mind. Verbal recitation or reproduction is thus a highly important kind of reactive behaviour on our impressions; and it is to be feared that, in the reaction against the old parrot-recitations as the beginning and end of instruction, the extreme value of verbal recitation as an element of complete training may nowadays be too much forgotten.
Talks to Teachers - page 34
I can only agree wholeheartedly with this. While it seemed extremely boring at the time to learn by rote, it's stood me in good stead over the years.
For example, learning the times table by rote....did anyone else ever have favourite combinations of numbers in the times table? I always like six sevens are fifty-six. It had a kind of rhythm to it. The same with nine nines are forty-nine. You have to say out loud to appreciate what I mean, like you do with poetry.
By the way, the link under William James name above is worth visiting - full of fascinating photos, quite apart from anything else.
The older pedagogic method of learning things by rote, and reciting them parrot-like in the schoolroom, rested on the truth that a thing merely heard or read, and never verbally reproduced, contracts the weakest possible adhesion in the mind. Verbal recitation or reproduction is thus a highly important kind of reactive behaviour on our impressions; and it is to be feared that, in the reaction against the old parrot-recitations as the beginning and end of instruction, the extreme value of verbal recitation as an element of complete training may nowadays be too much forgotten.
Talks to Teachers - page 34
I can only agree wholeheartedly with this. While it seemed extremely boring at the time to learn by rote, it's stood me in good stead over the years.
For example, learning the times table by rote....did anyone else ever have favourite combinations of numbers in the times table? I always like six sevens are fifty-six. It had a kind of rhythm to it. The same with nine nines are forty-nine. You have to say out loud to appreciate what I mean, like you do with poetry.
By the way, the link under William James name above is worth visiting - full of fascinating photos, quite apart from anything else.
| 117 |
| Vote |
subscribe to this blog
Comment by bevetal
Comment by Mike Crowl
Webitz
Work Report