Detroit Business Daily

Why is the word Memorize a bad word in the Detroit Public School System?

I have just found out from former and current employees for the Detroit Public Board of Education, that in the past 10 years, asking children to "memorize" things is wrong in the Detroit Public School system. If you are asking a child to memorize something, then you are not teaching. So, kids are no longer required to memorize the Multiplication tables, prepositions and more... Is this acceptable in other school systems? Is it really acceptable for the city of Detroit? Where did this rule come from? Are there any Educators that can explain this?

Public Comments

1. wow i'd be glad if i didnt have to memorize stuff in school.i have never heard of that in any schools i went to.
2. It is the unfortunate - and idiotic - consequence of this whole 'teaching students how to think and be creative" "new" approach. In my opinion, it's been propagated for purely political reasons by people who either aren't very bright - or somewhat dishonest. The idea is that rote learning, which relies on memorization, is not "real" learning, as it does not teach students how to think. Of course, the thing that students need to KNOW some facts before they can APPLY, INTEGRATE, etc them gets completely lost this way. My opinion regarding this issue (and the morons making it a policy) is extremely negative.
3. memorization is a poor style of learning , should use constructive learning techniques, that make use of Conceptual learning. Instead of just memorizing, they need to think to get the answer, by applying they will retain it better then "meaningless' memory that goes unapplied. Or so they claim in Teacher Ed programs.; but I agree for some stuff like Multiplication tables, the memorizing seemed to work fine to me.
4. My guess is that is it just an issue of word choice. They will probably tell you that they want kids to "learn" their multiplication tables rather than just memorizing them, since learning connotes a higher level of understanding. They should have the list memorized, plus understand what it means to multiply (you would be amazed how many people don't!). I agree that many basic facts (including multiplication) should be memorized, but why prepositions? If they understand the definition of a preposition and its function in a sentence, they shouldn't need to memorize every word on a list.
5. I agree with john k. Also, for sight words. Just call it reinforcement in fluency or drill and go on.
6. Wow this is strange to me. With the NCLB law, teachers have to give practice tests all the time and ONLY teach what is going to be on the state tests so kids can MEMORIZE teh answers so the school can get more money.