We explain what a self-taught person is, its advantages and disadvantages. In addition, advice to be self-taught.
What is a self-taught person?
A self-taught person is one who, instead of going to teaching traditional and third-party guidance, teaches itself new knowledge, using the means at its disposal.
In this way, the knowledge acquired in a self-taught way are those that we have learned on our own, without going to teachers or tutors, or to institutes or schools of any kind.
The word self-taught comes from two Greek words: cars (“by itself”) and didaskein (“teach”), and this way of acquiring new knowledge is also known as self-learning. It is a form of learning common to both humans and different species of mammalsAs with learning through play of the pups.
Self-taught learning has numerous virtues compared to guided learning, in the sense that it allows the individual to learn entirely in its own way and at its own pace, applying reasoning constructive, that is, "discovering" what has been learned.
It is a usual model in distance (and online) teaching, in which curiosity, deductive capacity and passion are of vital importance.
However, self-learning also has the disadvantage that not everything can be learned in this way: certain knowledge is very theoretical or counterintuitive and its acquisition requires specialized guidance.
In addition, in many cases the self-taught learner lacks the objective criteria to differentiate the information unreliable information, which is reflected in the absence of socially accepted documents that legitimize it (such as titles, diplomas, etc.).
How to be a self-taught person?
There are people with marked vocation self-taught, for whom learning on their own comes naturally, while others find it easier to stick to a traditional teaching method. This does not mean that some are better than the others, far from it, but rather that each person has certain privileged forms of learning.
In fact, it is also common that some topics and knowledge are more susceptible to self-learning than others. However, if we want to encourage self-taught learning in ourselves, there are certain tips that we can apply, such as the following:
- Be passionate about knowledge. A vital component of self-directed learning is that it is pushed by a large dose of enthusiasm and passion. It has been shown that the brain more easily incorporates knowledge for which it is enthusiastic, so a self-taught person would do well to cultivate their passions, that is, to try to get excited about the very idea of learning.
- It encourages curiosity. Curiosity and interest in knowing how things work is a great ally of self-taught learning, since that desire to know will be what leads us to study on their own. After all, a self-taught person does not know in advance how to learn things, but discovers it along the way, thanks to his dedication and interest.
- HE disciplined. The third crucial aspect for self-taught learning is self-discipline, that is, the ability to organize time and resources on one's own to make room for new knowledge. To learn something well you have to be tenacious, consistent, and you can't spend little time on the subject.If you really want to learn, you must be diligent, whether you go to classes or learn on your own.
- Be methodical. The ideal for learning on one's own is to focus on the subject before moving on to another, in such a way that knowledge facilitates the learning of the following, like a door that opens the following. Thus, it is convenient to be orderly and advance step by step, without wanting to run before you fly, since there will be no one there to tell you what to do first.
- Go to different methods. In case you run into difficulties, try to vary the method you apply. Test schemes, mental maps, summaries and conceptualizations, always trying to discover what is your ideal method to learn. Keep in mind that this method can vary according to the subject studied, so you will often have to progress through trial and error.