“When specific knowledge is taught, it’s through apprenticeships, not school.”
“School focuses on learning through one primary lens — rote memorization. The very nature of specific knowledge — full — makes it a type of knowledge that requires a variety of different methods of learning.”
Phase One: Rote Memorization
There are multiple reasons why I think this is the case. For one thing, school focuses on learning through one primary lens — rote memorization. This concept promotes memorization through repeated exposure. I do not deny its efficacy. I think it is efficient, but only to a certain extent, and only to a certain end.
I think the very nature of specific knowledge — full — makes it a type of knowledge that requires a variety of different methods of learning. The active involvement of apprenticeships is one of the greatest avenues for building knowledge. Apprenticeships usually come in two phases: rote memorization and active application. Akin to school, the period of rote memorization in an apprenticeship is categorized by its immense inflow of information. Unlike school, though, the applicability of the information is obvious and immediate.
Phase Two: Application
The second phase of an apprenticeship is categorized by utilizing conceptual knowledge. This second phase is guided and aimed toward exploration. One asks questions and draws notable conclusions. “Stand on the shoulders of giants,” Isaac Newton once advised. This is what one does within an apprenticeship — he takes the knowledge and accumulated experience of someone else and builds off of it. Maybe one day, he will eventually create his own style and change his field forever…
In any type of education system, someone has to decide what material will be taught, and how to teach it. Objectively, it is difficult for any person to break down a subject into sufficient fragments. Imagine, though, being so entrenched in your field that uncommon information has become common. At that point, it is even more cumbersome to break everything into fragments.
Though both classroom learning and apprenticeships cannot be absolute methods of gaining information, I think apprenticeships offer an advantage over classroom learning. Within a classroom, comprehension is bound by the knowledge and instruction of a fallible person, a teacher. In apprenticeships, comprehension is not bound by instruction, instead, the information must be utilized to craft and create. While observing and creating, many questions will inevitably arise, and many connections will inevitably be drawn.
My experience…
Recently, I decided to learn something new, and have been apprenticing under some experts in the field. Though they thoroughly explain their techniques, as I watch them work I observe peculiarities that incite more questions. Additionally, when I practice on my own, I recognize the causal relationships that work for and against my desired result. This apprenticeship experience proved my hypothesis that when people are deeply embedded inside a field, they understand the interworking like it is second nature. They don’t always know what you don’t know. What they might categorize as common knowledge, is anything but.
A Concluding Thought on Teachers
To conclude this thought, I want to deviate from the topic of specific knowledge to express my appreciation for good teachers. I believe that if utilized correctly, their ability to impart information and answer questions can accelerate and vastly benefit a learner. We have created a system that skews the relationship between teacher and student. Teaching is a service, and yet we expect it. We have forgotten that learning should not begin nor end with school. Teachers should not be expected to impart the entirety of a subject. That is unreasonable. We should strive to honor teachers, their expertise, and their guidance. I think apprenticeships do that best.