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glitterkitter's review
3.0
Provides a useful list of resources to independent learning and anecdotes and tips from various people who were successful in their careers without tertiary education.
However, I can't help but feel as if this would be relevant to only people of a certain type of personality interested in very particular careers and unfortunately not to most people.
However, I can't help but feel as if this would be relevant to only people of a certain type of personality interested in very particular careers and unfortunately not to most people.
rinnyssance's review
3.0
This book is just a bunch of essays from people who have (a) taken a career route outside of that of their traditional degree, (b) learned on their own in lieu of a formal degree at all, whether it be a bachelors or a masters degree, (c) people who started businesses in a particular field on the fly, without an MBA, and made mistakes and learned lessons in a practical way they couldn't get from the classroom, (d) were artists and didn't need a degree anyway (honestly) or (e) learned by picking things apart or trying to create things through trial and error.
Congratulations, you've read the whole book just by peering at my last paragraph! The essays are motivating excerpts that will help you want to get up and learn on your own. One specifically listened some good books that I'm interested in finding to supplement my own self learning. At the end of it all, this book is simply a self help book for those of us who are not to happy with the structure and design of a formal education.
Congratulations, you've read the whole book just by peering at my last paragraph! The essays are motivating excerpts that will help you want to get up and learn on your own. One specifically listened some good books that I'm interested in finding to supplement my own self learning. At the end of it all, this book is simply a self help book for those of us who are not to happy with the structure and design of a formal education.
ricm's review against another edition
1.0
The best part was the Luke Muehlhauser interview, but even that was pretty lackluster :/
dropitlolo's review
2.0
Was not really a fan of this. I'm not really sure what the point was? The entire message at the beginning was that independent learning is a good alternative to institutional learning, and a series of interviews 'backing that up'. But liike, all the interviews felt the same. Some had interesting stories I guess but after the first couple, I found myself not really caring. Plus, it seemed there were no listed 'downsides' to it. It just felt like the book was just full of aggrandizing positive reinforcement.
lorianne_withane's review
4.0
Though feeling a little dated, this does offer both the inspiration and the techniques for how one might tackle independent learning outside of a classroom environment - and, by extension, it also acts as a critique on pedagogical practices in school and also the structure of academia. Much of that critique is similar to what I see in my current education studies, and the state of academia is well addressed in any adjunct’s twitter feed. The interviews were at turns engrossing, hilarious, passionate ... but also, sometimes, controversial and biased. The book really excels in the last section when it gives practical advice, resources, and a roadmap for how one might tackle their own learning. More of a 3.5 star rating but I struggle with the star system anyway. ;)
litdrivengirl's review
3.0
True rating 3.5.
This is a solid read. It is chalked full of words I wanted to write down, to keep always at my call for those times I need some words. I had high expectations for the book and it didn't live up to them entirely. I didn't go to college/university, but I seek to always be active in my journey through self-education in this world. I was hoping to hear more from people who went entirely unconventional in their path by not receiving a higher education from the public forum. While many in this book didn't seek out a normal career path they did still go to college of some sort. I wanted encouragement in that realm more, perhaps selfishly, for my own life. Please don't be swayed from reading this because while it didn't completely fit for what I looking for, it has so much information! I will be keeping it for sure and referencing it. I'm hoping to pass it on to others in my circle too.
This is a solid read. It is chalked full of words I wanted to write down, to keep always at my call for those times I need some words. I had high expectations for the book and it didn't live up to them entirely. I didn't go to college/university, but I seek to always be active in my journey through self-education in this world. I was hoping to hear more from people who went entirely unconventional in their path by not receiving a higher education from the public forum. While many in this book didn't seek out a normal career path they did still go to college of some sort. I wanted encouragement in that realm more, perhaps selfishly, for my own life. Please don't be swayed from reading this because while it didn't completely fit for what I looking for, it has so much information! I will be keeping it for sure and referencing it. I'm hoping to pass it on to others in my circle too.
fiona_leonard's review
3.0
I understand entirely why Kio Stark has called her book Don't Go Back To School. It makes good marketing sense and it speaks to an idea, a concern and a longing that many people have. But in placing the word "school" in big bold letters, this discussion again gets skewed in what I think is the wrong direction.
For the past five years and a half I have home schooled my daughter. She's now spent longer out of the formal education system than in it. It's a pretty fair assumption therefore to say that I'm a supporter of alternative forms of education. But that doesn't mean I'm anti-school.
In any debate on education I firmly believe that the discussion should be about learning and not about schools. It is so easy to get hung up on the institution - to point the finger at teachers and structures and infrastructure - and lose sight of the core issues.
I believe in the passion of learning. I believe in finding ways to achieve what you want, at the highest possible level, through the best possible means for your circumstances. And I believe that sometimes that happens outside formal structures.
Beyond the title, what Kio Stark's book so effectively illustrates is that people learn in a myriad of different ways. Drawn from over a hundred interviews, Stark introduces a collection of very successful people whose achievements have been supported by diverse methods of learning. Every one is an avid and passionate learner. Each has aggressively gone out in search of a deeper understanding of their respective skill set. They have found the knowledge required through research or on the job training, finding mentors, making mistakes, hacking formal learning structures, interviewing experts, forging their own structures or creating entirely new paradigms.
For people already outside the system, this book probably won't tell you much that you don't already know, but still it's reassuring. It's nice to know that there are other people out there discovering their own path and finding success.
And if you're looking for inspiration this is a good place to start. If you're passionate about a particular career path, but not passionate about college then it may be the spark to send you off on a different trajectory. Just be aware though, that it won't tell you exactly what to do. That's the whole point. If you don't go back to school, if you don't follow the same path as everyone else, the rest is up to you.
For the past five years and a half I have home schooled my daughter. She's now spent longer out of the formal education system than in it. It's a pretty fair assumption therefore to say that I'm a supporter of alternative forms of education. But that doesn't mean I'm anti-school.
In any debate on education I firmly believe that the discussion should be about learning and not about schools. It is so easy to get hung up on the institution - to point the finger at teachers and structures and infrastructure - and lose sight of the core issues.
I believe in the passion of learning. I believe in finding ways to achieve what you want, at the highest possible level, through the best possible means for your circumstances. And I believe that sometimes that happens outside formal structures.
Beyond the title, what Kio Stark's book so effectively illustrates is that people learn in a myriad of different ways. Drawn from over a hundred interviews, Stark introduces a collection of very successful people whose achievements have been supported by diverse methods of learning. Every one is an avid and passionate learner. Each has aggressively gone out in search of a deeper understanding of their respective skill set. They have found the knowledge required through research or on the job training, finding mentors, making mistakes, hacking formal learning structures, interviewing experts, forging their own structures or creating entirely new paradigms.
For people already outside the system, this book probably won't tell you much that you don't already know, but still it's reassuring. It's nice to know that there are other people out there discovering their own path and finding success.
And if you're looking for inspiration this is a good place to start. If you're passionate about a particular career path, but not passionate about college then it may be the spark to send you off on a different trajectory. Just be aware though, that it won't tell you exactly what to do. That's the whole point. If you don't go back to school, if you don't follow the same path as everyone else, the rest is up to you.
dominiqueisageek's review
3.0
Interesting to see how others have utilised learning/not learning in their lives. Keen to impliment some of the ideas.
vimesbootstheory's review
inspiring
2.0
'Don't Go Back to School' is not for me. I'm in healthcare, for which not going to school is not an option. To be a speech-language pathologist, you have to get a master's in speech-language pathology. That is in no way optional. So I spent the bulk of this book feeling very much like the author and the interviewees were talking to somebody else, and I just happened to be listening in. Anyway, all of these interviews are all saying basically the same thing, all of which are summed up in the introduction, and the rest of the book is just kinda... proof? Like, here, look at these twenty or so people who made it without going back to school. You can do it too! Ironically the most useful part of the book is the only part I did not really read, i.e. the resource charts at the end.