Hello!
This blog is about my experiences as an autodidact. I hope to encourage others who have had similar issues with traditional education and choose to educate themselves. It is something I have written about for The Guardian (http://www.theguardian.com/education/2014/feb/28/could-you-be-an-autodidact).
My education was cut short at 17 due to long term illness; something that I was devestated by at the time. My academic grades had always been pretty good, and I thought I was going to go to university when I finished school. I tried to continue my traditional studies (AS and A-Levels) from the hospital I was in for two years, but I freaked out and was only able to do some of the exams.
Since getting out I have been determined to get my education back on track; though not in any kind of traditional way. My interests are vast and unruly, and I have always wanted to learn about a wide range of subjects. Due to continuing ill health, full time education still isn’t a plausaible option; so I have decided to kill two birds with one stone by educating myself.
But what does that involve?
A LOT of reading. And writing. I process information much better through being creative. As a result I use what I’m currently learning about in my writing (I write journalism and in a variety of creative styles) and my art (I study Fine Art part time at a local college). I complement this with distance learning courses from the Open University and the Open Study College. I also use MOOCS (Massive Open Online Courses) from sites such as Edx and FutureLearn.
Mostly though I read. I split my reading into several groups:
1. I read four books a week that I GENUINELY want to read. These range from children’s picture books to existential philosophy (this week- The Lost Thing by Shaun Tan, The Divided Self by R.D. Laing, The Hound of the Baskervilles by Arthur Conan Doyle and A Spy in the House of Love by Anais Nin). The range is vital to self-education. Finding links between books that are seemingly extremely unconnected is also a great spark to start off creativity.
2. Reading as direct research for creative writing or articles (for example I write a column about maintaining creativity despite the effects of psychiatric medication, and I read a range of research books for this including Micheal Atavar’s trilogy of creativity books, and a book published by John Hopkins University called Poets on Prozac. I also use a lot of pictorial children’s books to influence scenes to set my creative writing amongst- such as an illustrated guide to Victorian Inventions that I am using to write and illustrate a Steampunk novel I’m working on).
3. Reading to review. I read a number of books a week (usually around 3 or 4) specifically for the purpose of reviewing them (I usually get these for free which makes me oddly excited). I review books for my other blog (http://imaseriousjournalistyouknow.wordpress.com/) And I have recently began reviewing literature for Sabotage Magazine as well (http://sabotagereviews.com/)
4. Reading for courses. When I engage in distance learning courses they always have a reading list…then in the back of those books are recommended reading lists…then in those books…you get the idea
5. Reading for a long-term project. I am working on a huge sprawling book about Outsider art from Cave Painting onwards, the reading required for this is monumentous (will probably take me longer than actually writing the book)
6. Religious reading. I don’t want to go into it much, but basically religion is important to me; yet at the same time I find organised religion a difficult concept for my brain to handle. I have had negative experiences with church, and religion has previously been the cause of much of my paranoia. As a result I am trying to find god for myself- I am going back to the raw texts behind religious organisation. So far I have read the Bible, the Bhagvad Gita and the Qu’ran. I won’t tell you what I’ve discovered- you have to find it for yourself. The only reason I’ve brought this up at all is to encourage you all to realise that nothing is out of bounds. Follow you curiosity about subjects no matter how huge they are (this goes for trivial curiosities also!)
So here we go. The idea is that I use this blog almost as a diary, combined with creative responses to what I am reading/studying, and the way the concepts in a variety of books are connected. I’m hoping it will be an informal though intelligent space for autodidactism to be explored (SO PLEASE COMMENT ON POSTS TO START DISCUSSIONS). I will be listing and writing about the books and courses I am working through, so feel free to use this site as a source of informal reviews.
I can’t promise it will be a regular posting situation but I will write as often as possible.
If you would like to see other bits of my writing have a look at these:
Luna Luna: http://lunalunamag.com/author/sarahgonnet/
The Bubble: http://www.thebubble.org.uk/authors/sarah-gonnet
My other blog: http://imaseriousjournalistyouknow.wordpress.com/
I also write for Screenjabber (film reviews) and Sabotage Reviews (literature reviews)