What is Learning?

It seems that most people could agree that the main purpose of school is student learning. Oddly enough, most arguments seem to surround the question of what exactly constitutes learning. Is learning simply memorization of material or does it require higher level thinking? Can personal experience qualify as learning? Does learning only occur when knowledge is imparted by another or can one learn on their own?Truthfully, learning can take many different forms. Yet, our society frequently classifies learning as something that requires another person, often a teacher, to deliver information that is gobbled up and retained indefinitely by learners. This, however, is not truly learning. Decades ago Albert Einstein agreed with this conclusion when he asserted "Learning is experience. Everything else is just information." True learning involves knowledge acquisition through experience, not solely from the transfer of information.

Einstein's words were never more true than in the present. We live in a time when access to and acquisition of information is faster than ever. With a steadily increasing number of young people having 24/7 access to the Internet via phone, tablet, or other device, students no longer need to rely on the teacher to provide facts. Nearly everything that can be memorized can also be found online at a moment's notice. Why, then, do so many people see learning as merely memorizing facts? The fact of the matter is that many people believe the role formal education should be to provide information to students for the purpose of memorizing and repeating that which is readily available to them anyway.

If memorization is expected to be the goal of education, we will be disappointed with the quality of employees entering the workforce. While memorizing trivial details may be a valuable trait for a Jeopardy contestant, it does not provide students with the necessary life skills. Businesses in the United States have repeatedly stated that they need employees who are problem solvers, good communicators and team players. Sadly, these are not the skills being taught in schools.

I do believe that memorization has its place in school, but it should be done in moderation. There is obviously a need for memorizing basic math facts, but word for word definitions or memorizing how to spell words are not helpful as stand alone skills. As Einstein said, memorization is only information, not true learning. Learning should be about experience. For this reason, definitions and spelling should be placed in context around experiences. For example, if a student does a science experiment demonstrating the rates at which various objects fall, vocabulary should be generated from the experience. Terms such as gravity, rate, and mass naturally emerge as academic vocabulary to which students can relate through their personal experience. This goes way beyond memorizing spelling and definitions. Experiential learning is authentic learning. Mere memorization is not education.