Apr 17 2012: Too often in our current education system what we call "understanding" is actually a memorized rationalization.
For me, the objective of education goes beyond both memorization or understanding. The objective of an ideal education is to guide an individual to the synthesis of new ideas and realities. In teaching science we teach 1) to observe, 2) to rationalize/generalize, and 3) to synthesize.
Memorization, as necessary as it is to establish language and the tools of communication, is not about thinking. It's place in education can be to give us a common framework upon which to build understanding.
Understanding is about rationalizing observations. It's value in education is that it begins the process of thinking. It makes us map our experience and make sense of it. But, understanding does not create by itself.
Synthesis is where the student trained to think take us all to new places. It uses understanding to carry us forward into the unexplored territory.
Given the opportunity I would focus on educating the student on how to think, working through memorization and understanding to synthesis. What they think would be not be part of the curriculum, how they think would.
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A comment on Conversation: Does Education teach us to memorize information, instead of understanding it, or is memorizing important for future use?
For me, the objective of education goes beyond both memorization or understanding. The objective of an ideal education is to guide an individual to the synthesis of new ideas and realities. In teaching science we teach 1) to observe, 2) to rationalize/generalize, and 3) to synthesize.
Memorization, as necessary as it is to establish language and the tools of communication, is not about thinking. It's place in education can be to give us a common framework upon which to build understanding.
Understanding is about rationalizing observations. It's value in education is that it begins the process of thinking. It makes us map our experience and make sense of it. But, understanding does not create by itself.
Synthesis is where the student trained to think take us all to new places. It uses understanding to carry us forward into the unexplored territory.
Given the opportunity I would focus on educating the student on how to think, working through memorization and understanding to synthesis. What they think would be not be part of the curriculum, how they think would.