"Yes, multiplication tables are important — students will be hampered if they don’t know the basics. But any policy that forces students to learn these properties by rote is hopelessy out of touch with society’s needs. We must nurture flexible minds that can apply number skills to solve novel problems"<p>I don't see why learning tables by rote is opposed to nurturing flexible minds and building deep understanding - which I also see as critical. How else are children to learn tables (or even the alphabet) if not by rote?
Thanks for your interest in my article. I certainly believe there's a place for rote, as your examples highlight. But to apply their knowledge of number in the real world, students need to combine their procedural skills with an understanding of how numbers behave and relate to one another. Indeed, understanding and context aid memory even if that is the ultimate goal. As does engagement - which rote learning, as practiced in most schools, largely dispenses with.