The Book of Learning and Forgetting (ISBN 080773750X) is a 1998 book in which author Frank Smith investigates the history of learning theories and the events that shaped our current educational structure.
Smith distinguishes between the "classical" and the "official" theories of learning. The classical view holds that people are constantly and effortlessly learning through immersion in a social community and its practices, and that this process of learning is universal. The official view suggests that learning requires effort, and that it only occurs when a student is being presented with the information. Standardized testing is closely associated with the official view.
Smith details the way in which the official view has gained acceptance despite its many negative results.
The Book of Learning and Forgetting summarized;
Smith, Frank, 1998, New York: Teachers College Press
The book deals as much with why we forget as with why we learn, and he really views these as inseparable ideas. To make his point, he contrasts what he calls the classic view of learning and forgetting with the official theory of learning and forgetting.
The classic view says that "we learn from people around us with whom we identify. We can't help learning from them and we learn without knowing that we are learning." (pg 3)
Smith lambastes the official view. As he lists on page 4, the official theory of learning and forgetting is responsible for:
compelling people to try to learn in the most inefficient way possible, with rapid forgetting guaranteed, persuading individuals that they won't learn unless they make a determined effort, and that the fault is theirs if they fail, Segregating learners at school so they can't help each other, in the process making life as difficult as possible for teachers, coercing learners and teachers into ineffective programs of study, designed by distant authorities who have no way of knowing or rectifying the difficulties they create, forcing learners and teachers to waste their time on repetitive exercises and drills that teach only that learning is frustrating and difficult, imposing discriminatory and discouraging "tests" that ensure that individuals who most need help an encouragement get the least, convincing teachers, learners, and parents that the most important thing about educations is scores and grades, making learning a trial when it should be a pleasure, and making forgetting inevitable when it should be insignificant. He then constructs a chart on page 5 showing the difference in the two visions:
The classic view says that learning is: The official theory says that learning is: continual occasional effortless hard work inconspicuous obvious boundless limited unpremeditated intentional independent of rewards and punishment dependent on rewards and punishments based on self-image based on effort vicarious individualistic never forgotten easily forgotten inhibited by testing assured by testing a social activity an intellectual activity growth memorization
His tag line is "you learn from the company you keep" at the top of page 9. He then discusses how people join clubs and learn from others in the club, down to speech and dress. Of course, clubs do not have to be called "clubs"; you just learn from the company you keep. Basically, clubs help us form our identities by helping us learn who we are and who we are not. (Note that Lave&Wenger refer to LPP as building identity.)
He goes on to show how student learn a tremendous amount of vocabulary each year, with no forgetting, even though teachers report it is a struggle to get the kids to learn the ten words on the weekly vocabulary list. (When asked when they can learn all those words, he retorts, "I suppose it's when they're not working on the word list.") He points out that the kids who learn the most vocabulary are firm members of the literacy club, and that by being readers, kids can join any club in the world. (pg 24). Authors are our guides, and kids don't really choose books "too easy" for themselves; instead, they are learning from the author. The author shows children how to read. Page 27.
How do we show children that they are members of the literacy club? It's really the other way, "What is critical is that learners must not learn that they are not members of the literacy club. pg 28.
In chapter 5, "Learning through life", he discusses the need for us to make connections for learning to effortless and that things go into long term memory effortlessly or not at all. That doesn't mean that it may not take time to learn. Even experts require time, but it does go in as the connections are built. As he says, "the struggle to learn...is always a struggle to understand." pg 35
He does acknowledge that occasionally ritual learning may be needed, in which case various techniques can be used to make it easier such as rhythm, music, etc.
In chapter 6, he discusses the fact that "official" learning theory really came from the successes of the Prussian army, so the theory is really based on a militaristic model.
In chapter 7, he brings up Hermann Ebbinghause's revelation about studying how people learn nonsense if you want to study how people learn without interest or past experience helping. Ebbinghause came up with the nonsense syllable. In short, people can learn up to about 10 nonsense items, then the curve flattens out. Basically, education bought this for the official theory. If you aren't learning, you don't have the right incentives or aren't trying hard enough.
The two oversights are 1) The theory is entirely based on nonsense and 2) most have ignored something else Ebbinghause discovered, the laws of forgetting. That is, most forgetting occurs immediately after the last learning trial or rehearsal. (But this only applies to nonsense.)
Combine this with Skinnerian behavior and politicians, and curriculum was replaced by lists and tests.
Chapter 8 covers tests and the history of tests. In the end, he points out that we don't have to test people to see if they are learning; we just have to look at what is going on in the classroom.
Chapter 9 discuss how logistics management came in after World War II and reduced teaching to logistics management, with task forces, ta