Look at everything in a new light, a mindful state. That seems to be Ellen Langer s plan in her new book, The Power of Mindful Learning . The basics must be learned so well that they become second nature. Paying attention means staying focused on one thing at a time. Delaying gratification is important.
Rote memorization is necessary in education.
Forgetting is a problem. Intelligence is knowing what s out there. There are right and wrong answers. If the basics become second nature, then true learning stops taking place. Learners become so conditioned to seeing things a certain way, the right way, that they don t learn, don t challenge, don t question.