Autodidactism vs. Formal Education

            Society overemphasizes appearances; it is concerned with superficialities rather than the truth—the prestige of the school attended and the grades achieved at said school rather than a person’s true knowledge.  It might appear as if grades equate to knowledge, as if a more prestigious school conveys more knowledge, but in actuality this is not necessarily the case.  In substance, a student can learn more independent of the curriculum of formal education by tailoring his studies to his specific learning style (versus the learning style of the majority) and speed.  Autodidactism is superior to formal education in that it does not concern itself with grades (which can be manipulated), but rather knowledge; allows for the student to work at his own pace rather than be hindered by the speed of the majority (whether hasty or sluggish); permits the student to tailor his studies to his individual learning style; and develops self-discipline.

            In essence, formal education attempts to summarize knowledge in the form of grades.  This system has merit, for a higher grade typically indicates more knowledge of a particular subject, but the system is also deeply flawed.  Grades are flawed in that they can be manipulated by the unscrupulous through the practice of cheating.  Another shortcoming of grades is that they promote lethargy amongst the brightest students.  For instance, a capable student wishing to minimize his workload might choose not to study—or even not to read entire chapters in textbooks—because he can achieve his desired grade (be it an A or B) without doing so.  The above student might rationalize that it is acceptable for himself to earn a 92 rather than a 97, since both a 92 and a 97 translate to a 4.0, and therefore are equivalent in the eyes of college admissions officers, but this rationalization is detrimental to the education of this student—who, by not studying (or reading chapters), is depriving himself of knowledge.  By liberating himself from formal education’s emphasis on grades, the student can realize the true goal of education—the retention of knowledge.      

            As is mentioned above, the pace of the classroom is seldom the pace of the student.  Regardless of which end of the spectrum the student may be, the student suffers from the inequality between optimal pace and actual pace, if the actual pace is too slow, by not covering as much material as possible or, if the actual pace is too fast, by not achieving a proper understanding of the curriculum.  By isolating the individual from the majority, the needs of the individual can be satisfied.  Autodidactism allows for the student to work at his optimal pace, because he is the only person in the classroom, allowing for increased understanding, depth, and/or breadth of information.      

            In addition to learning speeds, learning styles vary between individuals, and therefore between specific individuals and the majority.  Classrooms do a good job of teaching information in a variety of learning styles in order to allow virtually all students to be successful.  Though teachers tend to spend the most amount of time teaching to the learning style of the majority, they typically cover all grounds as far as learning styles are concerned.  But is this the most efficient way of learning for the student?  By high school (and hopefully before), most students have determined their learning style.  Autodidactism provides the student with an opportunity to ignore the learning style of the majority and focus on himself instead.  By concentrating on his individual learning style, the student can achieve higher rates of retention than in traditional classrooms, and therefore will have a more genuine understanding of covered materials.

            In addition to increased amounts of knowledge, autodidactism encourages the student to develop work ethic.  In contrast to formal education, which follows a strict curriculum, the autodidact has the ability to choose what to learn and how to learn it.  Similarly, there are no mandatory school hours during which the autodidact must learn; the autodidact must self-motivate or his education will pay the price.  Though it can be argued that students of formal education must self motivate or pay the price as well, in some cases (Such as the one described in the second paragraph of this essay.) there is absolutely zero merit to this argument. Regardless, the autodidact has to develop much more self-discipline than the student of formal education; self-discipline will help in essentially all aspects of life—until death.

            In conclusion, autodidactism offers a number of benefits that cannot be attained from formal education.  Namely, by eliminating the concept of grades, the student can focus on what is truly important—knowledge.  Furthermore, the student gains the advantage of being able to learn at his own pace and in his own style.  Additionally, the student gains work ethic which in formal education is minimized in many of the brightest students.  In a word, autodidactism offers many benefits over formal education and more efficiently serves the purpose of equipping students with knowledge.