Rote Learning ????

Rote learning is a learning technique which focuses on memorization. The major practice involved in rote learning is learning by repetition by which students commit information to memory in a highly structured way. The idea is that one will be able to quickly recall the meaning of the material the more one repeats it. Alternatives to rote learning include Associative learning and Active learning.


With some material rote learning is the only way to learn it in a short time; for example, when learning the Greek alphabet or lists of vocabulary words.^{[citation needed]} Similarly, when learning the conjugation of foreign irregular verbs, the morphology is often too subtle to be learned explicitly in a short time. However, as in the alphabet example, learning where the alphabet came from may help one to grasp the concept of it and therefore memorize it. (Native speakers and speakers with a lot of experience usually get an intuitive grasp of those subtle rules and are able to conjugate even irregular verbs that they have never heard before.)
The source transmission could be auditory or visual, and is usually in the form of short bits such as rhyming phrases (but rhyming is not a prerequisite), rather than chunks of text large enough to make lengthy paragraphs. Brevity is not always the case with rote learning. For example, many Americans can recite their National Anthem, or even the much more lengthy Preamble to the United States Constitution. Their ability to do so can be attributed, at least in some part, to having been assimilated by rote learning. The repeated stimulus of hearing it recited in public, on TV, at a sporting event, etc. has caused the mere sound of the phrasing of the words and inflections to be "written", as if hammer-to-stone, into the long-term memory. Excessive repetition within a limited time frame can actually be counter-productive to learning, through an effect termed semantic satiation.

The above definitions are from the web based Wikipedia.

In Lodge we use "rote" learning almost exclusively. In fact when we buckle down and start working on a particular portion of the ritual we are amazed at how some parts come easily to us.....those are the parts that for whatever reason have stood out in the numerous lectures we have heard. Quite often murmuring is heard from the sidelines when words, phrases, sentences get exchanged and are not recited in the "proper" order.


There has been much discussion about the role of the DDI and their usefulness. I for one am a very strong proponent for the function of the DDI. He is an invaluable asset in ensuring that the proper words are being spoken at the proper time when conferring the degrees. Thus it is vitally important that we do the very best we can when conferring the degrees and presenting the teachings of the fraternity. While the same message may be conveyed, it's important that they portrayed accurately.......the framers and authors of the ritual wrote it in a very specific way and used words which are very specific and accurate to the meaning they meant to convey.


Brothers, just because we have heard things for weeks, months, or years doesn't make it accurate.....study the ritual and unlock the mysteries within.