School learning is the acquisition of knowledge, subject matter, information, understanding, and skill from teaching. Research on learning and memory provides teachers with essential scientific knowledge that is useful for understanding and improving school learning.

What Can Be Learned from Teachers?

Schools and teachers have made much progress in the teaching of complex subject matter. Today teachers teach difficult subjects, such as calculus in high school, that were previously thought to be impossible for students of that age to learn. Even the learning of expert performance involves intensive work with teachers. See Ericsson and Charness (1994) and Ericsson, Krampe, and Tesch-Romer (1993) for discussions of expert performance.

Ancient and Modern Conceptions of Learning

Modern conceptions of learning originated in ancient Greece and Rome. Since Socrates tried to teach a slave boy the Pythagorean theorem in the Meno by having him construct the theorem from innate ideas rather than...