Do you think that this approach on education is good/can work?

I don’t know where you live, but I’m in America and I don’t use any of those terms related to education. I don’t work in education though, so maybe the people who do think in those terms, I don’t know. I’m going to forward the Q to some teachers here.

For me I think in terms of learning and curiosity. To me people are not empty or incomplete without education, the terms are so negative. There are people who are highly educated who still know nothing about some topics. Or, people can be highly educated and lack skills not taught in school. Some people are self taught. Some people lack education, but their real world experience and success is “complete” to use your term.

Education is there to provide a formal way to learn. Learning to help be successful, learning for curiosity’s sake, learning to be able to function in society.

It’s hard for me to know what some of your phrases mean:
“world-mediated”
“fully human”
and it’s not clear what’s the difference between the “empty bank account” and “incompleteness”
What would you do that’s actually different?

As @JLeslie notes, “Education is there to provide a formal way to learn” there is always a “power” relationship of teacher ‘over’ the student as the teacher has knowledge and understanding that the student does not.
This doesn’t suggest the students are defective, more that they’re normal and don’t come with a head full of that subject already.

If, at the end of the day, you’re suggesting that teachers treat their students with respect, I’m all for it, but it’s an old rant.

“authentic approach”? This what you need to do: whatever idea you have in your head concerning education, reduce it down to it’s basic elements and, in plain English that even an fifteen year-old can understand, re-ask the question. That is, if you’re really interested in getting any meaningful answers to any of the questions you’ve posted so far today.

What, specifically, do you propose to do differently? Give some examples of real world scenarios happening now, and scenarios of what you would do differently. And leave the vague, meaningless jargon out of it.

I am with @Jak on this. My teacher in philosophy 101 was in the habit of writing BS in blue books, which she insisted stood for “be specific”.

I think there needs to be an education program that focuses less on memorizing facts and more on testing a persons brain in different ways. The education system already does this at more younger levels. I’m talking about word association. These same principles can be applied but in a more advanced level to progress gradually.

Memorizing facts, doesn’t necessarily mean the students understand what they are receiting

@NerdyKeith Yes, people would be better off learning to think critically and logically. Yet your description of memorizing facts as opposed to different ways of thinking smacks of what is called “Common Core” in the US. Through Common Core, Mathematics has moved from being a precise logical discipline in search of an elegant answer to an alternatives based demonstration of ways to approximate.

And @dopeguru posits two ways of approaching education, yet my opinion is those are two extremes, neither of which matriculates a good independent thinker with a sound factual foundation.

My observations have led me to believe the Montessori method is superior to either of the methods outlined by @dopeguru.

Sometimes memorization is the best way to learn something. Math and spelling are two good examples of that.

Anyway, I too am curious as to what @dopeguru means, exactly. What ages are we talking about? Kindergarten, or college?

I have never heard the term, “An empty bank that the teacher makes a deposit in.” I have never heard a teacher even come close to saying anything like that. From the instant a kid develops enough neurons in the brain to think, while still in the womb, deposits are being made. As teachers we consciously build on what the kids have learned previously.

Memorizing is how doctors get through med school. Memorizing is an incredibly important skill and it is a part of intelligence. Memorizing, which is filing information away that can be recalled when needed, is how we create a basis for putting information together and using old knowledge to figure out new puzzles in life.

America always has to go from one extreme to another, which is a big problem in my opinion. It’s not either or. Memorizing, critical thinking, permission to make mistakes/failures (a huge part of scientific learning and invention) creativity, it’s all important.

@JLeslie Memorising while being a vital skill. But imagine, taking a thousand words from a foreign language and memorizing these words but not obtaining the knowledge to what here words mean. When too much focus is put into memory work, it is memorizing facts without sufficient context.

I’m only saying memorizing should not be attacked in the way that it is in my country. I agree with you that understanding something takes more than just memorizing.

@NerdyKeith she said memorizing in addition to other learning methods is important.

Ok I see. Sorry for the misunderstanding. I agree it is important in addition to what I have suggested.

@JLeslie Memorization is NOT how you get through medical school. You become a physician by learning medical terminology through understanding the meaning of the roots of the words used, then with that knowledge you learn the anatomy and learn to understand symbiotic relationship of each component of the body and how one affects all the others. That’s just a simple rundown, but one must learn the mechanisms that make these systems work or not in both homeostasis and pathologically, how these systems react to various stimuli and be prepared for a lifetime of study. The memory of all this comes only with understanding, not in cheap mnemonical rhymes.

Memorization is not how you learn to be a physician. Memorization is how you learn to play one on TV.

She said that memorization in addition to other learning tools is important, @Espiritus_Corvus. Understanding the meaning also means you memorize the meaning.

@Espiritus_Corvus doctors on average actually have a larger memory part of the brain, much like how those people with super memories do who can recall every day of their life. Doctors can hold a lot of information and find it in their brain files. Yes, they need to understand meaning, but they also spend time memorizing/learning tons of information. It’s quite impressive. Anatomy, diseases symptoms, how operations are done, the treatments for many many medical situations, and on and on.

Memorization is actually a good brain exercise.

^^Marilou Henner, who has hyperthysemia, says her dad used to play memory games with her as a child. She was part of the studies that were done fairly recently regarding super memories. During those studies is when they discovered people with the condition actually have part of their brain larger. The scientists didn’t expect to find a measurable difference, but there it was.

When you think about it, that’s all “learning” really is…memorizing stuff. We have these questions because early on we memorized how to talk. We memorized our letters and the sounds they make. I memorized a key board and 10 Key.

Exactly. Memory is a key part of learning, you can’t escape that fact. The movement trying to separate memorization from critical thinking and understanding I think should be talking about how both are essential. It’s not one or the other.

Someone mentioned math up above, and I couldn’t agree more that math often has some memorization without understanding initially. Sometimes the understanding comes later. Like a recent Q that asked about subtracting a negative number. Subtracting a negative is the same as adding the two numbers basically. You can memorize that and get the equation right, and not really understand it. I think that’s fine in that case. All this “verbal” crap being taught with math in very young grades now is very upsetting to me. The kid who is great in math and slow in reading now can’t do either subject well.

@dopeguru You said, “The approach I’m suggesting is more world-mediated, mutual approach to education that considers people incomplete. This “authentic” approach to education must allow people to be aware of their incompleteness and strive to be more fully human”

What exactly do you mean? What does world-mediated mean? You said your “approach” is authentic. What does that mean? It makes no sense. How are other types of education not authentic? It doesn’t make any sense when you say that people need to “be aware of their incompleteness and strive to be more fully human.” What does that mean?

As far as I know, educated and uneducated people are all fully human. Really smart people, people of average intelligence, and people of very low intelligence, and even people who are in vegetative states are fully human. Care to explain what you mean?

On the same note, who are you to decide which people are complete or incomplete? What knowledge must they possess to be complete in your estimation? Do they need to be a genius in physics? Must they be able to shop for and cook a complete meal for a family of 4 on a daily basis? Must they be able to guide a son or daughter through a bout of online bullying? Must they be able to locate water if they live in an arid rural area? Must they be able to know what the opposite sex is thinking and choose a mate who doesn’t cheat on them? You tell us?

I was googling a little and there is a lot about “working memory” and IQ on the web. Here is one article that talks about how important memory is.

We’ve all asked him that same question, @Kardamom. What da fuq you talkin’ about? Wish he’d come back and answer.

Memory is a funny, funny thing. The older I get the more uncertain I am of it.

I’m pretty sure the OP is a female if This Q is any indication.