This guest post is contributed by Mariana Ashley, a freelance writer who particularly enjoys writing about online colleges. She loves receiving reader feedback, which can be directed to mariana.ashley031@gmail.com.
One of the most important activities that a committed self-learner can engage in is reading. Of course, I don’t mean that self-learners should read just anything that grabs their fancy, though there’s certainly room for that sort of light reading every now and then; I mean that self-learners benefit the most when they pursue a targeted, focused kind of reading, one that combines their pleasures with their desire to learn more. The most successful readers create reading lists that combine these two factors, and they follow the reading list regularly.
As one of those readers, someone who is constantly looking out for great books to read, I’ve benefited from eventually creating a system of my own, which I use to organize my yearly reading. I’ve pulled some lessons I’ve learned from making this system and put them into a list of tips that can help you create your own focused reading lists.
Follow a Reading Routine and Calendar
I tend to organize my reading lists into three month chunks, simply because I really liked the semester calendar from my college days. Feel free to organize your own reading calendar however you’d like; the important thing is that you read regularly and often. I try to read for one hour a day in the evening after dinner.
Pick an Interesting Theme
Each reading ‘semester’ I pick a theme that will guide my reading. Two years ago I went to Russia for vacation, so for three months before the summer trip, I themed my reading list around Russian literature and culture. Another year, I somehow became fascinated by the First World War, so I made a reading list that grew out of Barbara Tuchman’s The Guns of August. It’s usually best to make this theme connect to some aspect of your life: an upcoming trip, a subject that could help your career, interesting relationships, or subjects that you’re passionate about.
Read a Variety of Books
You’ll also want to read a variety of different kinds of books. Don’t only read novels. Don’t only read self-help books. Try to spread your reading around a theme, selecting books from all areas of human knowledge: biology, fiction, philosophy, and so on. As a personal rule, I try to read three books at a time: one contemporary fiction, one classic literature, and one non-fiction book from a rotating discipline, such as history, philosophy, psychology, and so on.
Organize Your Reading List
This tip will try to keep you from having dead periods in your reading. How often have you stood in front of a bookshelf and couldn’t decide what to read next? I’ve done it many times, so I decided one day to organize my reading list so that I would know what book I should read next. This keeps me from losing focus in my reading, and it also forces me to make interesting connections between the books I read.
Keep a Reading Journal
Finally, you should keep a reading journal with you when you read. That way you can write down your thoughts about the book as you read or after you’ve read, and you can track how long it took you to read the book. The journal will be a record of your learning progress through each reading ‘semester,’ and it will help you plan out your future reading lists.
What Is Education Revisited?
by Race Bannon on July 26, 2011
In a previous post I visited the question of what education is. However, as I’ve been writing a lot about self-education on this blog, today I again had to pause and think about exactly how I define what an education is. Is it a set of skills and knowledge that prepares us for employment? Is it more than that? If so, what else is it? If I am to continue writing effectively about self-education, I needed to square with myself exactly what I think education is or else all of my future writing will be muddled and unfocused.
As I pondered this, I did what I often do – searched the web. I found the first online dictionary definition somewhat concerning. “[Education is] the activity of educating people in schools, colleges, and universities, and all the policies and arrangements concerning this.” (macmillandictionary.com) Really, I thought? Is the delivery mechanism for learning, such as schools and colleges, really what education is? The entry went on to further define education as “someone’s experience of learning or being taught,” “relating to education,” “the activity of teaching about a particular subject,” and “the process of providing people with information about an important issue.” I felt these definitions lacking, but to be fair to MacMillan, virtually every dictionary I consulted had similar entries.
With all due respect to the dictionaries of the world that provide a vital and often unheralded service to mankind (I use them constantly), I felt I needed something more meaningful as a definition if it was to propel me to continue writing passionately about self-education.
We often hear of the “educated person” or “pursuing an education” and the dry, dictionary definitions I was encountering don’t seem to adequately explain to me what such terms mean. To me, education is more about personal development and self-improvement than anything else. Yes, it can have utilitarian usefulness for employment and other pursuits, but ultimately I think education’s greatest accomplishment is when it makes a person better in some way. Perhaps that’s why I think subjects such as philosophy and interpersonal skills deserve their rightful place alongside the likes of accounting and computer programming if the desired end result is a truly educated, well-rounded person.
So, here’s the definition I intend to keep in my mind as I write about self-education. Maybe you’ll find it useful too as your pursue your own self-directed learning.
Education is both the end result, and the process of, learning with the best focus of such learning on improving someone’s knowledge base, analytical capabilities and skill sets in order to improve both their personal and professional lives.
Admittedly, that’s a mouthful and sounds a bit academic. And it’s far from perfect. Perhaps I’ll refine the definition over time as I mull this over more. But for now, this is the definition I’m going to work from and if this definition serves you well also, please feel free to use it too.
I’d be interested in hearing your thoughts about what education is to you.
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