I often wondered why our French teacher had us repeatedly chanting tables of possessive adjectives, but I can still remember them after more than 30 years: mon, ma, mes, ton, ta, tes, son, sa, ses, notre, notre, nos, votre, votre, vos, leur, leur, leurs! At the time I had little interest in French (mainly because I didn't like the teacher) and couldn't see the point. Now, I am learning French and looking back she was a very good teacher (and the possessive adjectives finally have a use).
I also still know my times tables up to 12 (today, my children learn up to 12 at home but they only need to learn up to 10) because they were chanted in class until we knew them by heart.
So, one thing is for sure: learning by rote does work.
Recently, I had the chance to travel back in time. No, not like Dr Who, but me and my wife took our boys (8 & 9 years) to Blists Hill (one of 10 museums in Ironbridge), which is a very authentic recreation of a Victorian town set in the year 1900. The majority of the industrial installations are original, but most of the homes and shops -- whilst being built in Victorian times -- have been rebuilt on-site at the museum. That said, you would never know that they have been relocated and you genuinely feel as though you have been transported back to a time when things were much tougher than today.
The homes, shops and factories were all manned by people in authentic Victorian dress, and they talked to you as though they were still living in that time. However, one person who stood out above all was the school teacher, which brings me full circle to the subject of learning by rote.
In the classroom, which comprised rows of slightly-angled wooden desks all facing the front, around 50 adults and children were seated. At midday, the time when the 'lesson' was due to start a rather stern woman, with a long black dress, pristine long-sleeved blouse, round spectacles and a straw boater, walked to the front of the classroom and very loudly ordered everyone to be silent and to stand up (who had given us permission to sit, she demanded).
We started by bidding her a 'good morning' and then after a rendition of 'All things bright and beautiful' we were allowed to sit down. The lesson had started.
During the lesson we were subjected to about 15-20 minutes of what our great-grandparents and grandparents (it wasn't that long ago) would have experienced until the age of around 12 or 13. We had to chant our times tables and we were asked facts about the Iron Bridge that we had only been told during our time this 'lesson'. There was no real threat of punishment, but I remembered the 3 facts about the bridge for fear of being humiliated amongst strangers: the bridge was built in 1779, it cost over £6,000 and used 378 and a half tons of iron. They are three facts that I did not know prior to this 'lesson' and I am sure I will remember those facts for some time to come.
What was clear from this experience was this: there was no messing around in class; there was absolute respect for the teacher and you would be punished with more than detention or being removed from the class if you misbehaved or failed to learn.
Whilst we have moved on, in all senses, since the times when we had to know our place (the teacher made us all repeat a number of sentences that were designed to keep the poor down). you can't help think that we should not have thrown the baby out with the Victorian bath water. Getting children to repeat their tables is nothing but a good thing so that they automatically know an answer without thinking. As far as I am concerned, primary schools should be concerned only with providing the foundations for learning; children can start to understand why and what they know when they're at senior school.
If my children can read, write and do maths well by the time they leave their primary school they will be well-equipped to cope with what comes next. And, if any evidence was needed that the current education system isn't working, in this country we have increasing levels of innumeracy and illiteracy.
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