The Poor Scholar's Soliloquy: Constructivism vs. Memorization

The Poor Scholar's Soliloquy

This piece was written in 1944. Is the situation the boy describes still typical of American education? Can you cite ways in which more constructivist approaches could benefit this child? 

To me, "The poor scholar’s soliloquy" is about a boy who must memorize his information. I can remember having to memorize the Gettysburg Address, the Presidents (in the same order they took office), the 50 states and their capitals, where each state belongs on a USA map, where each country is on the European map... the list is endless. I am very good at memorizing--but what am I learning? Sure, I can tell you that Grant was president after Johnson, but do I know anything about either man? Since I have started teaching, I have seen that the strategies and overall teaching philosophy has changed immensely. This boy would benefit from a constructivist approach because the information is not meaningful to him. As I continued my studies in college, I was glad that I could name the presidents of the USA because I once hoped to teach American history. This boy needs to be able to connect this information to something he can relate to--like trucks. Once this boy has a more meaningful learning experience, he will be able to actually use his knowledge, and not just rattle off names and dates! What good is knowledge if you can't use it? Constructivism also allows flexibility when demonstrating competence. This boy knows how to do things, he just cannot do his teacher's only means of assessment as well as his classmates.