Autodidacticism (self-directed learning)

Autodidacticism, or self-directed learning, is the process of learning something without any formal education or organized lessons. The term autodidactic comes from the Greek words auto (self) and didaktos (taught), and simply means “self-taught.” Typically, an autodidactic individual is self-motived to succeed and demonstrates a high degree of perseverance to continue their studies. In most cases, individuals with this trait focus on subjects in which they already have a considerable interest.

Research suggests that some autodidactic individuals demonstrate such tendencies from an early age, while for others, the process is a learned one. Generally, people need the structure and guidance provided by teachers and organized lessons to effectively learn. While an autodidactic individual seems to be able to function outside these parameters, some experts question whether anyone can truly be self-taught. Even those who pursue learning without teachers or structured classrooms need to find sources of information from which to learn. For most, that may mean reading books or scouring the Internet for information. They also may need outside help from a supportive mentor.

Still, many famous people throughout history found success without a wealth of formal education. They include political figures such as Benjamin Franklin and Abraham Lincoln; the inventors of the airplane, Orville and Wilbur Wright; filmmaker Steven Spielberg; and Microsoft founder Bill Gates.

Overview

For most of human history, structured public education was virtually non-existent. Prior to the development of agriculture about twelve thousand years ago, leaning was intricately tied to survival. People learned to hunt, fish, make tools, and build shelters. The agricultural revolution changed human societies by introducing settled communities and a division of labor. Freed from having to constantly move in search of food, human communities began to grow, and new roles developed within society. Different groups of individuals planted and harvested crops, tended livestock, manufactured tools and other items, and began trading with members of other communities. Although no written records exist from this period, it is likely that younger members of the communities learned to do these tasks through a combination of self-learning and tutoring by older members.

The first structured forms of education developed about 5,500 years ago—about the same time as the invention of writing and the advent of the first civilizations, Mesopotamia and Egypt. However, in these civilizations, education was limited to males in the upper classes and used to train scribes and priests. Ancient education could include reading, writing, astrology, religious training, law, and medicine. A similar system developed in ancient China where a series of schools was formed to teach the elite classes reading and writing, religious rituals, philosophy, and literature.

With literacy restricted to the upper classes, it is unlikely that anyone outside that social sphere could have learned such topics on their own. Most people would have followed in the footsteps of their parents and learned farming, craftwork, or a trade through instruction. The earliest form of public education developed in China during the Han Dynasty (206 BCE–220 CE). The government established a series of colleges where boys were trained in reading, writing, mathematics, and the philosophy of Confucius. Although education was still mainly restricted to the wealthy, boys from the lower classes could technically attend such schools to improve their social standing.

For most of the next two millennia, formal education remained mostly attainable only to the few in the upper class, while the larger majority in the lower classes worked as laborers, farmers, merchants, or craftspeople. With the onset of the Industrial Revolution in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, Western societies underwent a monumental change. As more people moved to cities and fewer family members were needed for labor-intensive activities such as farming, the idea of public schooling for children began to grow. The first public school in the American colonies had been opened in 1635, but the idea of mandatory public schooling began gaining momentum in the mid-nineteenth century. In the United States, all children were mandated to attend at least elementary school by 1918.

Autodidactic Traits

According to Merriam-Webster, the first use of the word autodidact to describe a self-learner was in 1784. The idea of self-learning was certainly not unheard of before this time. Many people became successful scientists or inventors by using a basic education or apprenticeship as a springboard and learning the rest on their own.

The literacy rate had been increasing steadily since the mid-fifteenth century when the moveable printing press made printing easier and increased people’s access to books. With the dawn of mandatory education in Western societies, literacy skyrocketed. Increased literacy would have greatly increased a person’s ability to learn topics apart from standard school subjects.

Few scientific studies are available that define the traits that make a successful autodidact; however, several psychologists and researchers have offered insights on the idea. In a March 15, 2021, article in Psychology Today, Professor Neil Farber lists ten common traits of successful autodidactic individuals. While this list is not definitive, lists made by other psychologists include many similar features.

• Among the chief traits of autodidacts is that they are driven and self-motivated. They have an all-consuming passion for learning, especially about their preferred subject matter.
• They are committed to understanding everything about their chosen subject. This commitment enables them to persevere even in the face of multiple setbacks.
• Autodidactic individuals are accountable, knowing that their learning falls entirely upon their own shoulders.
• They are confident that they will ultimately be successful, which keeps them from getting discouraged.
• Without a classroom environment, autodidacts must be self-disciplined. They are the ones who give themselves their “assignments” and must be the ones who devote the time to complete them.
• Autodidacts must be conscientious that their chosen subject matter matches their own values, thereby making it more meaningful to them in the long run.
• Curiosity is a primary trait of a self-learner, as it fuels the desire to learn.
• Because autodidactic individuals do not have the benefit of a structed learning plan, they must create their own innovative learning environment.
• In many cases, self-learning requires the courage to pursue knowledge outside the usual instructor/classroom environment. This may include the courage to leave formal schooling to pursue a self-education.
• Self-learners must also be critical of what they learn. They must understand what needs to be included and excluded in their learning.

In his 2019 book, The Science of Self-Learning: How to Teach Yourself Anything, Learn More in Less Time, and Direct Your Own Education, author Peter Hollins claims that self-learning has some advantages over traditional learning methods. He prefaces this idea by saying that traditional learning is indispensable for most people, and the impact self-learning can have on someone depends upon the individual.

Hollins writes that self-learning allows an individual to decide how much to learn about a subject. Traditional learning is constricted by a leaning plan and a specific timetable to present and learn the material. Self-learning gives a person the option to go beyond the textbook and learn at their own pace and level of difficulty.

He also argues that self-learning can turn into lifelong learning as people build on their traditional education. This can help a person learn new skills and adapt more easily when job requirements change or when changing careers.

Self-learning also allows individuals to study a variety of subjects. Traditional learning sets a person along a certain track, but self-learning allows them to branch off from that track and seek out different types of knowledge. This new information can be supplemental to their field of expertise or set off in a whole new direction. Finally, according to Hollins, self-learning can both lead to the pursuit of new fields of knowledge and the ability to hone the value of self-discipline.

Is Autodidacticism Possible?

Although many accomplished individuals have proven successful by taking the path of self-learning, some experts question whether people can be truly autodidactic and learn exclusively without the help of others. Researchers Kirschner and van Merriënboer (2013) even went so far to claim that self-learning was an “urban legend in education.”

According to them, most people are incapable of being autodidactic as they need the structured environment of a classroom to learn successfully. A main reason is that self-learners begin the process as novices. In that capacity, they are at a disadvantage as to how to make effective choices over the direction their education takes them. By choosing the subjects they pursue, self-learners may focus on what they already know and ignore other subjects that would be more beneficial to their goal. Also, self-learners may get overwhelmed at the amount of information they need to consume and the process of sifting through that information.

Even the most successful self-learners rarely learn effectively solely by themselves. Many have had some formal schooling that may have started them down the road to learning a subject. They may also have had a mentor who encouraged them to pursue their goals, even if that mentor was not a teacher. Finally, self-learners need resources to get the information they learn. This may come books, online information, or video tutorials. In each case, the information acts as the instructor.

Further insights

History is full of individuals who can be described as autodidactic. They can be found in almost every profession, from politicians to artists to scientists. Perhaps the most famous in American history was Benjamin Franklin, who was a towering figure in politics, science, and publishing in the eighteenth century. Franklin’s formal schooling lasted only until age ten, after which he continued his education on his own through reading. He also apprenticed in the printing business for a while with his brother James. Franklin was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States and a co-writer of the Declaration of Independence.

Abraham Lincoln was born to a poor Kentucky family in 1809 and went on to become one of the greatest presidents in US history. Lincoln had only one year of schooling but used a lifelong love of reading to further his education. He taught himself law before becoming a lawyer in Illinois in 1836. He briefly served in the US House of Representatives and was elected President of the United States in 1860.

Frederick Douglass was born enslaved in the early nineteenth century and later escaped to freedom. As a child, he learned the alphabet from the wife of one of his enslavers. From there, Douglass taught himself to read and write. After his escape, Douglass furthered his own education through voracious reading. He eventually became an author and speaker and one of the most prominent voices in the abolitionist movement.

Physicist Albert Einstein is often used as an example of an autodidactic individual even though he attended school as a child, attended college, and holds a doctorate from the University of Zurich. However, Einstein did the groundwork for many of his greatest theories, such as his theories of relativity, outside the classroom using nothing but thought experiments. He imagined chasing after a beam of light; lighting striking both ends of a moving train; or the fate of identical twins when one travels near the speed of light and the other does not. The ideas he gained from these experiments changed the face of science in the twentieth century.

Wilbur and Orville Wright were brothers who opened a bicycle shop in 1892 in Dayton, Ohio. Their primary business may have been manufacturing and selling bicycles, but the Wright brothers had a fascination with machinery and a curiously as to how things worked, which eventually led them to begin experimenting with the development of a flying machine. In 1903, the brothers made history by successfully flying the world’s first airplane.

Milton Hershey, who founded the chocolate empire bearing his name, was born into a Mennonite family in Pennsylvania. Growing up, Hershey worked on the family farm and only went to school until the fourth grade. Hershey learned the art of chocolate-making on his own and went on to create the iconic candy known as the Hersey Bar. The Hershey Company became a multi-billion-dollar business and one of the largest chocolate manufacturers in the world.

Philo T. Farnsworth was born in Utah in 1906. When he was young, his family moved to a house that had electricity. Farnsworth became fascinated with electronics and learned everything he could about them. He became an inventor at the age of six, and at age fourteen, came up with the idea that would become the television. Farnsworth was said to be plowing a field when he noticed the horizontal rows of the furrows. He imagined using an electronic source to transmit light into a glass camera tube where it could be reassembled into horizonal lines as an image. The idea for television had been around for years, but it was Farnsworth’s idea that made the process work. Although he won a lawsuit in 1934 crediting his patent for television, he spent his life fighting off other patent lawsuits and never received financial compensation for his invention.

Noted twentieth-century anthropologist Jane Goodall developed a fascination with animals as a young girl. She attended secretarial school and parlayed that experience into a job working with famed paleoanthropologist Louis Leakey. Leakey noticed Goodall’s passion for animals and gave her the task of studying chimpanzees at a Tanzanian game reserve in 1960. Goodall’s lack of formal training turned out to be a benefit as she became the world’s foremost expert on the social habits of chimpanzees.

American film director Steven Spielberg became obsessed with making movies as a child. Although he attended college at California State University, Long Beach, he immediately dropped out when he had an opportunity to work at Universal Studios. He learned his craft by directing episodes of TV shows and eventually moved up to TV movies. Spielberg became a household name in 1975 when his film Jaws turned into a cultural phenomenon. With Jaws, Spielberg is widely credited as one of the inventors of the summer blockbuster film. He would go on to make some of the most iconic films in history and win two best director Oscars.

As a teenager, Microsoft founder Bill Gates developed such a deep interest in computers that he would sneak out of his house in the middle of the night to work on the computers at the nearby University of Washington. The university’s computers were not in use between 3 a.m. to 6 a.m., so Gates used the time to teach himself how to program. In high school, Gates and several other students founded a company that sold traffic-counting software to local governments. He dropped out of college after two years to start the Microsoft company with Paul Allen, another self-taught programmer. Microsoft would go on to become one of the most successful tech companies in the world, and Gates would spend several stints atop the list of world’s richest people.

About the Author

Richard Sheposh graduated from Penn State University in 1989 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in communications and journalism. He worked twenty-three years in the newspaper industry as a writer and an editor before entering the educational publishing business.

Bibliography

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