There are many ways to learn. Memorization is one of them. That’s how all children in China and Taiwan learn Chinese (and all other subjects, for that matter).
If memorization was your school’s MO, then it wasn’t your place to suggest an entirely different approach even if you think your approach is more effective.
What if your school switches to your approach? Will they need to retrain all their other teachers? Will they need to fire some of them who have no experience in teaching with your approach? Do you see how this can lead to all sorts of problems for the administration?