Book Knowledge
A new idea of the nature of learning is beginning to spread. In a recent conference a Texas a professor discussed the old book-form of learning. This sort of learning is modeled as packages of knowledge and learning, perhaps bound in leather covers, that are digested by readers. The reader consumes the book, page by page, and upon completing states “I have read it.” This means that they have some comprehensive degree of knowledge; the finishing of the book is like the issuing of a diploma.
This form of knowledge has made it through our very mental structure and the method of learning embraced in our schools of primary and higher education. The person enrolls in a pre-packaged set of courses and requirements; he works his way through, checking comprehension at each stage and every final exam. At the conclusion he receives a paper bearing signatures that verify that he has completed “the book” and read every page; this is supposed to be a testimony that he has some standardized degree of understanding.
The world view of knowledge and intelligence is changing. In this age of Discovery Channel, blogs, Wikipedia and Google, this “cover to cover” approach is accused of being antiquated and out-moded. Many professors are predicting the end of these set certification procedures that are based on some four year block of school that is supposed to be comprehensive. Comprehensive itself has become a dubious term in the information flood. Just as attention spans are shortening, so the span of our intelligence is expected to become more specialized and custom-tailored. The same way that public television is dying as Pay Per View and Youtube put the control in the hands of the viewer, education is expected to become a free-lance thing in which the learner picks his own courses, chooses his tests, and studies only exactly what he will need.
“The age of the book-form of learning,” they say, “is coming to an end.”
I think that they have an excellent point; the path we follow to achieve our learning is certainly expanding. Some of my favorite classes have been those in which I was able to use Twitter and Blogs and Google Documents to coordinate work with fellow students and to gather the information that I need. But I also think that Latter-Day Saints can bring one more level of understanding to the playing field.
We ought to have something to add to the idea of “book learning.” We hold a special relationship and understanding to books. Our faith is that this period of the world and all the influence of God in it was inaugurated with the translation of an ancient record written for our days. As children we may be encouraged to read the scriptures, or at least the Book of Mormon, from cover to cover early on. But our use of Holy Books does not end there and we wouldn’t dream of there issuing a final grade.
Building the Mental Bedrock
As we work our ways through our Sunday school, personal reading, family scriptures, youth programs and seminary classes, we cultivate a special relationship with these volumes. Cover-to-cover reading is quickly lost as a primary goal in scripture study. In Primary, which begins at approximately kindergarten age, children begin to read and, later, memorize individual verses. These verses can be from any of the standard works of the church, be they antediluvian verses or modern revelation. These memorized verses take root in our minds and become part of the fabric of our thought; we repeat them, come across them often, and learn to use them as bedrock that makes our mind sound in challenging circumstances. From a purely cognitive point of view, memorization develops one of the pillar faculties of our mind and improves a mental muscle that will be needed in every endeavor of learning.
Search, Ponder and Pray
A primary song that I am particularly fond of uses the words, “Search, Ponder and Pray.” It is describing the fundamental pattern of spiritual study. Again, this method quickly dispatches with the priority of reading the books cover to cover. Instead we learn to study topically; we use the topical guide, and now the internet, to search for verses by their relation to a core concept. We follow scripture chains and consider different ways of asking questions and other keywords. Yet we still benefit from our cover-to-cover reading; often our search is brought to success when we realize that something we previously read ties into the thing we are looking for. Our geographic knowledge of the scriptures (the locations of certain topics and stories) allows us to find a launch pad for our searching.
Elder Scott, giving the first talk in the most recent General Conference, said that the next step in receiving understanding is to write things down; to keep a study journal. For me this means using the paper (or audio, or screen) as an oracle for straightening out my thoughts, echoing ideas, and following a train of thought without getting lost in forgetting or wandering off on a tangent. In the future these notes become personalized scripture for ever deeper, more personally-tailored learning.
For the student who is developing his education the ability to take notes and to study systematically is invaluable. In scripture study these notes are sometimes taken within the scriptures themselves or in separate places, but they are always personal and designed to be found and studied later. This is part of our book learning.
Prayer
The next step that Elder Scott points out is prayer over that which is being pondered and written. A friend of mine, conversing with me about eastern philosophy, once made the statement that prayer is the Mormon meditation. He is right; it is through prayer and the listening for an answer that we are taught should follow prayer we gain insight and inspiration. Elder Scott would ask whether there was any more that he should know; further inspiration kept coming.
In this form of learning prayer fills the role of asking questions and seeking answers. The old phrase is, “If you want to talk to God, pray; if you want God to talk to you, read the scriptures.” Our form of book learning embraces the formula of asking questions and gaining the answers, and being able to find those answers in a familiar and understood place. The scriptures make a physical model for our mind; can we search the mind to find our answers we need, knowing the places, relations, and highlights that we have put there?
Application
Our understanding of the scriptures involves application and living the teachings. These aren’t books to be digested and then passed through the system; the system of our lifestyle is to put them to work. Regardless of the criticism that comes upon us in regards to our views on the demands of salvation, the principle of putting to work the things we learn from our books is something of invaluable use in the world of education. What would teachers give to have students who can launch into application of what they’ve learned? What would employers give for graduates who have already been striving to apply the tenets of what they have studied?
The scripture study we practice is considered pointless if it can’t be applied; those who don’t practice the scriptures are usually the same people who don’t bother to read in the first place. Our book understanding demands application.
Rereading
Douglas L. Callister quoted one as saying that it is unthinkable to imagine a man who truly enjoyed a book as only reading it once in his lifetime. The idea of closing a book and returning it to its place like a corpse to its grave is not one held with scriptures. From the first time we open the scriptures, likely before we can read, we never touch the book with the idea that we will one day finish them. There is no portion of what we take from our books that we would be justified in considering temporary. On the contrary, we believe that knowledge is the one thing that will rise with us after this life. If the world is in the business of dissecting education into ever-smaller compartments, we do not follow this scheme; we seek to hold onto the things we learn and magnify them larger and larger.
Sharing
Missionary work is a major part of our religion, and the crux of missionary work is one of our books. Crucial to our relationship with our books is our ability to share our scripture findings with others. This demands understanding our material well enough to relate it in different ways with people of varying understanding; this even motivates thousands to learn new languages in order to share our book. This starts as soon as the primary children share scriptures on Sunday, advances through home/visiting teaching and missionary splits, and eventually spreads broad as it culminates in traveling proselyting.
Teachers want to see this in students. Presentations, essays, and power points all revolve around the fact that sharing the learning is crucial. This is nothing new to our book learning, and any new medium to facilitate this is quickly embraced.
Conclusion
It was argued that the book-format of knowledge distribution is coming to an end. By this is meant a disappearance of large packaged learning routines. However, Latter-day Saints should not at all be phased by such a “change.” We should be exceptionally prepared for this because of our unique perspective on book learning, which envelopes an entire system of study.