Principle #9:  There are at least two approaches to memory

One is to store or archive isolated facts, skills, and procedures.  The other is to simultaneously engage multiple systems in order to make sense of experience.

Memory is what makes any type of performance possible, so memory is indispensable for survival and success.  However, there is a great deal of confusion about how memory works, and this confusion is one of the reasons why the goals of education are often conflicted. 

The key distinction that educators need to make and understand is between rote memorization, which is the hallmark of traditional approaches to teaching, and the dynamic memory that is engaged in everyday experience.  Sometimes facts and procedures do need to be memorized, but rote learning is different from dynamic memory, where the learners are more likely to be engaged naturally as they sift through what they recognize in order to make decisions in new contexts.

Capacity #9:  All students can learn more effectively when taught through experiences that engage multiple ways to remember.

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