dre,
i have been teaching myself for the last thirteen years (best teacher i ever had). what i have found, comparing teaching myself to being taught by someone else, is similar to newt gingrich's distinction between entrepreneurial learning vs. credentialed learning. gingrich (nobody's totally worthless) points out that credentialed learning assigns a body of information to be acquired and that acquisition tested. upon passing the test, the credentials are earned by that student. in entrpreneurial learning, the student has a vision and not knowledge is sought after for the purpose of solving specific problems and achieving goals.
in credentialed learning, the acquisition of knowledge is the goal. the application of that knowedge, it is assumed, comes later. in entrepreneurial learning, knowledge is a means to an end. the problem with the former being that the information may never apply to the stuations that student may come across. the problem with the latter, is the answers this student seeks may lie in the most basic of credentialed studies but, may be missed by someone who is looking only nearby for the quickest solution.
ideally, i think the role of teacher shoul be as consultant, leaving the student ultimately responsible for decision making. the student decides what is to be done and how it should come out and the teacher provides various approaches that can be taken to achieve those goals as well as pointing out unknown factors.
those of us who claim to teach themselves are not on a deserted island using trial and error to learn. we borrow from wherever we can to get our answers. what is ours is what we decide to do with that information and, in a slightly more restrictive manner, those with teachers, can make the same claim.
mike
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