Educational Psychology—Limitations and Possibilities

CHAPTER 70
Memory and Educational Psychology
LEILA E. VILLAVERDE
Memory as cultural phenomena is regarded with romanticism and nostalgia most times. Memory
as educational phenomena is considered as the quintessential storage space of intelligence. Memory
as psychological phenomena becomes the marker of true reality orientation and normality.
We tend not to think about memory unless we are loosing it or can’t remember an important
date, somebody’s name, where we placed something, or a password. Therefore remembering and
remembrance are both performances that mark our history or signal our emptiness. As the chapter
unfolds I will discuss memory in cultural, educational, and psychological contexts in addition to
elaborating on the performances of memory (remembering and remembrance). Last but not least
I will discuss public memory and its effect on our pedagogical practices. The chapter will start
with a brief history of memory, how it has been defined, how its use has changed through time,
and how it affects our use of it in pedagogical contexts.
HISTORY OF MEMORY
The creation of the printing press changed the use of our memory forever. Print culture privileges
isolated practices such as reading and writing as opposed to the more communal practices of
storytelling, folklore, and shared social learning. Prior to printing or other documenting practices
(i.e., writing), oral traditions and narratives were the main sources of knowledge construction and
transmission. Jeremy Rifkin believes print detaches people from each other, therefore allowing
words to be privatized and commodified. Dialogue, conversations, and other communicative
interactions exercise our cognitive processes employing information stored, applied, and enacted.
The use of memory to record history and pass it down from generation to generation was integral
to many cultures. The success of philosophers, poets, theologians, politicians, and other leaders
or orators relied heavily on the use and quality of their memory. Their intellect, creativity, and
imagination are the products of rich and extensive processes. Memory was considered the great
portal to history, morals, ethics, and culture. Different techniques were developed to sharpen
memory and improve the use of language, as well as to increase what was known and how. In the
ancient times of Greece and Rome memory was regarded as an intellectual/emotional space of
boundless potential and human transformation.