Formal or Informal Education Mid-Life?

[financeguy]

I wrote a long explanation but deleted it and will get straight to the point: Have any of you taken a formal education program outside your field of study mid-life just for the heck of it? Pursued an interest outside your career informally instead? What were the decision points of why you did it formally vs informally and what were some things you considered?

[Ruralguy]

Although I am occasionally interested in semi-formality of learning stuff, like guitar lessons, I'm definitely sick of formality of exams and such. I don't even like making other people do this!

[ciao_yall]

I did a Spanish certificate at my local CC, but didn't take it too seriously from a grades perspective. I did it for my job but also because we might retire to Spain and I wanted to get a head start on the language.

Is that formal or informal?

[apl68]

I learned to ride a motorcycle at the age of forty.  There were no formal motorcycle safety instruction programs available anywhere nearby, so I learned from a family member who was a seasoned rider.  He spent the spring and summer incrementally taking me from basic maneuvers in unused parking lots, to riding the back roads and streets of a small town, to riding down the highway to bigger towns.  With instruction on things like panic stops and take-offs from steep inclines along the way, and some night riding when I was confident riding by day.  Within a few months I had gotten enough practice and enough variety of practice to be considered a proficient rider.

The important thing is that it was an incremental approach--practice one thing, then add another thing to it, in manageable chunks.  There was a continual push to stretch my riding skills, without any potentially hazardous sudden major leaps.  In building further proficiency, I've continued this approach ever since--I only try one thing I'm unfamiliar with in my riding at a time, not several all at once.  If I start riding an unfamiliar bike, I consider myself back at beginner level until I've had a chance to familiarize myself with that machine.

[bio-nonymous]

Although I am occasionally interested in semi-formality of learning stuff, like guitar lessons, I'm definitely sick of formality of exams and such. I don't even like making other people do this!

Definitely this: "...sick of formality of exams and such."

I have tossed around the idea of taking some formal classes in a discipline unrelated to my scholarship because I am interested in it for a number of reasons, but just couldn't bear to go back through "schooling" with exam and assignments--MAYBE I could bear auditing, but IDK... Honestly, if I apply myself enough I should probably be able to successfully learn "whatever" by reading and doing/practicing without any formal learning activities..

[lightning]

I've thought about this topic a lot. Thanks for your post.

My brain doesn't seem to want to slow down, and a formalized, learning environment would only work for me in the very short-term. I do want to keep learning about anything and everything, but in a formalized environment, eventually things like any disorganized content, any disorganized instructors, any poorly delivered curricula, any obsolete items in curricula, any fellow classmates who don't really give a s**t, any messed up bureaucracy, any non-responsive faculty/staff/admins, any idiots on the faculty/staff/admin, etc. IOW, I've been in this business too long, and I know too much, to be able to enjoy formalized instruction as a student.

However, even though I no longer need to be research-active in order to keep my job, and I've been promoted as far as I care to be promoted, I still do research, so my active brain has something to do. Research, for me now, is a combination of both formal and informal self-teaching, because I learn a lot. Research has ended up becoming a vehicle for informal learning, because I now tend to go interdisciplinary, outside of my comfort zone, and I tend to look for venues and outlets that allow me to learn stuff outside of my core discipline that got me here. I've met a lot of new people, and I've learned a lot of new things, as a result.

[kaysixteen]

As I suspect I have hinted at here, I am and remain a big fan of The Teaching Company and its 'Great Courses'.   I have listened to dozens of them over the last maybe 5 years, and recently also subscribed to their subsidiary 'Wondrium' service, which has many of the courses for a monthly fee, plus other courses that are somewhat lower in academic intensity. I just recently, whilst doing a decent amount of driving over several days, listened to a 24 lecture (around 30 min each) 'Understanding Japan' history course ( I forget the prof's name offhand).  A very worthwhile investment.

[jerseyjay]

I am not sure if it counts, but I have regularly taken courses at the university level. While I was an adjunct, I took various Spanish-language courses. Then for several years I took English courses (mainly because I was interested in the readings), and last semester I took an introductory French course. These are formal in the sense that I completed the courses and got a grade--I probably have 20 something credits. They are not formal in the sense that they are not part of a degree program. I have thought about doing another BA, either in English or Spanish, but I probably won't.

I have taken the courses because I find them interesting. They are not completely unrelated to my work (and the language courses are actually useful), but I really do them for fun. I also have taken individual Portuguese and Italian lessons, which are not part of any formal program.

[Kron3007]

I did a Spanish certificate at my local CC, but didn't take it too seriously from a grades perspective. I did it for my job but also because we might retire to Spain and I wanted to get a head start on the language.

Is that formal or informal?

I decided I need to learn Spanish as well, for works and just because it is useful.  I was considering formal classes and could have done them for free, but ended up starting with Pimsleur and will go from there.  I went this path because formal in person courses would have been hard to fit in my schedule while I can do a lot of this during my commute.

I have taken Spanish courses before during undergrad, and have to say that I have learned a lot more from Pimsleur than I did in class.  This is all on me and my lack of doing all the homework, but I suppose that is part of the point in that there is no homework with Pimsleur.

Unfortunately, I am close to the end of their system and need to find something for the next phase.

[apl68]

As I suspect I have hinted at here, I am and remain a big fan of The Teaching Company and its 'Great Courses'.   I have listened to dozens of them over the last maybe 5 years, and recently also subscribed to their subsidiary 'Wondrium' service, which has many of the courses for a monthly fee, plus other courses that are somewhat lower in academic intensity. I just recently, whilst doing a decent amount of driving over several days, listened to a 24 lecture (around 30 min each) 'Understanding Japan' history course ( I forget the prof's name offhand).  A very worthwhile investment.

Some years back somebody at our library donated DVD sets of several Great Courses series.  I recall viewing courses on ancient Greece and on the history of Buddhist thought.

[MarathonRunner]

My PhD program was full of practitioners in their 40s, 40s, and 50s who continued to work part time while doing the PhD part time. So, not outside their professional field, but also not aiming for academia. I'm one of the outliers, in that I'm aiming for academia (and didn't continue working as a professional during my PhD).

[pgher]

I am very active in my church and decided I wanted something to help me take it to the next level, but not a degree like an MDiv. I found a certificate program, all online asynchronous. Each course was effectively 1 credit hour--assignments but no tests--and the program had 8 courses. By the end, it was a bit of a slog, but also it felt strange to stop. Like, I had gotten used to being a student and didn't quite know how to channel that time and energy. Very pleased that I did it, and now one of my colleagues is in the same program.

[Antiphon1]

At all the places that offered free tuition for faculty and staff, I always took classes outside my field for fun.  As a consequence of these opportunities, I've picked up some extra teaching fields.  Keeps you fresh.  I love my primary field, but it's nice to branch out occasionally. 

[lightning]

At all the places that offered free tuition for faculty and staff, I always took classes outside my field for fun.  As a consequence of these opportunities, I've picked up some extra teaching fields.  Keeps you fresh.  I love my primary field, but it's nice to branch out occasionally. 

In an online asynchronous class that I taught during the pandemic, I suspected that I had a faculty member from another discipline enrolled in my class. They never revealed anything about themselves other than they were a non-traditional student, but their level of writing, rhetoric, and discourse was PhD level or higher. After they turned in their fabulous final paper, I just had to google, and yeah, they worked for the university as a part-time faculty/full-time admin. The person's work really stuck out. If they were trying to disguise themselves, they only remained disguised because I didn't care to know who they really were until I posted grades.

[jerseyjay]

At all the places that offered free tuition for faculty and staff, I always took classes outside my field for fun.  As a consequence of these opportunities, I've picked up some extra teaching fields.  Keeps you fresh.  I love my primary field, but it's nice to branch out occasionally. 

In an online asynchronous class that I taught during the pandemic, I suspected that I had a faculty member from another discipline enrolled in my class. They never revealed anything about themselves other than they were a non-traditional student, but their level of writing, rhetoric, and discourse was PhD level or higher. After they turned in their fabulous final paper, I just had to google, and yeah, they worked for the university as a part-time faculty/full-time admin. The person's work really stuck out. If they were trying to disguise themselves, they only remained disguised because I didn't care to know who they really were until I posted grades.

Being able to take a free course is a great perquisite of working for a school--only after being able to use the library and the gym. When I was an adjunct, I found that it drew me closer into the academic community. As a full-timer, I have got to know my colleagues. In both cases, it has been useful to get a sense of how others teach.

However, each time I take a course, I always ask the permission of the instructor. Nobody has ever said no, but it seems just sort of courteous to ask. This is especially true now that I am a tenured professor and some of the courses I have taken are taught by adjuncts.