The relationship between recall, working memory and learning

Memory tasks are often seen as good homework or independent work.  Where this is certainly true for older learners with good memory strategies, are we leaving younger learners to 'teach themselves'?   According to Atkinson and Shiffrin, (1968, 1971) the recall process requires the brain to filter incoming information as it passes through one of the sensory registers, where it can remain for up to a second (Hayes, N. 2000:71) If attention is given to it, information proceeds to short-term-memory. Here, according to the working memory model, retention can be extended in consciousness by way of auditory rehearsal in the articulatory loop or by visual-spatial memory conservation in the visuo-spatial sketchpad, and then be recalled or forgotten. (Baddeley and Hitch 1974 and Baddeley 1986)   Simplistically, this means that the information one takes in from the external world is filtered and then proceeds to the short-term working memory area.  Here its essence is either retained by repetition in the auditory circuit in the brain or manipulated by the visual-spatial one.  The effectiveness of either of these processes determines whether something is remembered or forgotten.   If we understand the above to be true, it has significant implications for the way that we teach our children in schools in Australia and around the world.  In primary education in particular, children are often asked to take home memory and learning tasks because they are considered to be time-consuming or impractical to teach in the classroom.  However, if we understand the above cognitive psychology, educators should be teaching children how to utilise both auditory rehearsal and visuo-spatial strategies, rather than leaving this important task to chance.