Misconception #145: Learning loss is a serious problem

Over the years, I have been writing about misconceptions regarding the schooling process. The purpose of these posts is to explain why I disagree with various comments that I have heard people make about schooling. These are meant as personal thoughts rather than conclusive proof, and I will admit that I'm not always the best at explaining my thoughts. Regardless, I have decided that I should be willing to share these posts when I encounter someone online who makes an argument that I have already discussed.

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We tend to worry about learning loss that school-aged children encounter during the summer. If you know the fundamentals of education, you will find this area of concern to be ridiculous. Children simply do not lose what they learn.

A big problem with the concept of learning loss is that it's usually dependent on a lack of understanding regarding the difference between learning and memorizing. You can forget what you memorized, but nothing truly learned will be lost. For example, you might forget the capitals of the 50 states, but you will not lose the ability to walk once you learn that skill.

To further complicate this issue, retaining memorization relates to the practicality of the facts. Knowing a specific year in history isn't likely to come up during the summer due to the low practical value. Remembering your name is easy because it keeps coming up. If children are forgetting material, it's likely because that material never comes up outside of school.

Learning loss is not caused by giving children summers off. It's caused by schools focusing on low-value memorization rather than practical learning. If schools focused on the right things, learning loss wouldn't happen.

I should probably mention that teachers momentarily changed the definition of learning loss during the COVID-19 pandemic. They compared what children were expected to learn to what they actually learned during that time. Even in this case, terminology is problematic. Not learning as much is not the same as losing learning. You could argue that they lost opportunities that were planned for them, but not any actual learning.

Of course, even this supposed form of learning loss amplifies flaws in our schools. If the schools didn't destroy the natural desire to learn, children would have learned quite a bit, but not in alignment with overly rigid standards. Unfortunately, closures were replaced far too quickly with a digital version of the same mentally unhealthy system added on top of social isolation. In all honesty, I think full closures were better than so-called distance learning.