Alan Pritchard's Ways Of Living In Taiwan

I grew up in Taiwan. From an early age, I was encouraged to be independent. Like most Taiwanese parents, mum and dad prioritised their children 's learning. Their own schooling had been limited by the need to go out to work at eighteen. This experience made my parents all the more determined to make sure we made the most of our chances at school. My parents sent me to a Chinese primary school that was considered outstanding locally. I was one of the few Taiwanese children there. Taiwan was ruled by the Kuomingtung party (KMT) who imposed martial law on Taiwan for 39 years in order to safeguard their privileges and interests. During this time, teachers were supplied by training colleges governed by the totalitarian government 's policies. Their main political agenda was to reform Taiwanese people into Chinese. The majority of my class teachers were strict. Corporal punishment was common. The authoritarian rule and the authoritarian education meant that all subjects taught through formal education system were controlled by the government and …show more content…
While learning by memorisation could be useful in many situations, I find it frustrating as I am naturally an experimental learner. That is not to say that learning in this way has no value. There is a common perception in the West that rote learning is repetitive and hence, is mindless. In Ways of Learning, Alan Pritchard argues that learning can take place in a rote fashion, with little understanding involved at first, but is later supported by ‘well-focused teaching and experience’ that understanding should follow (Pritchard, 2014, p.125). Indeed, understanding complexity requires repetition. It is what you do in addition to that learning method that is important. If we can help our students to make sense and work out the meaning, i.e. to reflect on their own learning, the memorising approach can be a very effective way of