by Walter Calnek

Created on: April 21, 2008

What does one want to know? What does one want to learn? What does one hope to achieve? These and many other questions assist when educating oneself on any subject.

It is vital to recognize who the teacher is at all times. Many people place the responsibility of teaching and learning in different corners. Who is responsible for teaching? Who is responsible for learning? He or she who wants to learn!

He or she is always and will always be both teacher and student. The capacity in which one learns should not affect this consideration. To suggest that one must have a teacher in order to learn a new concept, only suggests one has more to learn.

Consider subject matter that does not yet have any teachers. Subjects not yet explored will not have any guides. Advancement will often require one to explore the creative realms of the unknown. Many might consider this a scary path. The only way one can learn from this venture is to teach oneself.

Approached with the proper mindset, anyone can teach himself or herself anything they want to learn. The only thing holding someone back from learning any subject is oneself. No one can expect to know anything about any given subject without attempting to learn. How one learns will depend on how one approaches any arena.

Children can be excellent examples of how people teach themselves. They do not have the limitations that adults put upon themselves. They question everything and search for answers. Many adults are responsible for teaching children the wrong lessons. One such lesson suggests a person must have a prior understanding before they venture on to subject matter that interests them. Children, however, are not afraid to explore the unknown. Many adults teach children to be afraid of the unknown.

There is no question that one might be wise to have some fears. One of the falsest fears would be failure. Many are afraid to fail. Some teach children to be afraid of failing. The facts show that many of the most successful people have failed. It is inevitable that one will make errors. However, mistakes may very well be the creation of something incredibly successful. Science, in particular, has littered the world with example after example of new discoveries generated from mistakes. If a test is never attempted, one cannot fall short of expectations, though one can never reap the benefits of success either.

Consider the resources available when attempting to teach oneself any subject. There will always be some form of resource. Even if one is entering into an arena never yet explored, some form of resource will be available. One needs only to use their mind and believe they can do it. Then they can make it happen.

This will begin a journey of incredible proportions. Each day, one will obtain new information. Some days may feel filled with more failures than successes. One should not judge ones shortcomings too strongly. Recognize that failures teach one something. They teach one what does not work. Knowing what does not work can be equally as important as knowing what does work.

Don't be afraid. Learn like a child. Ask questions. Try different things. Be curious. Research what you can. Question others. Try things again and again.

Teaching oneself is the process of learning. One will know they understand the material they are attempting to learn when they can share their ideas with others and have others understand. At this point, one will be continuing to teach oneself as they attempt to teach others.

Learn more about this author, Walter Calnek.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.