Independent Learning

I now move on to something I believe has strongly influenced me as an academician and also my academic achievements so far in my career. And this is the concept of ‘independent learning’.

I essentially define this as the achievement of a state where one has learnt how to ‘learn’. Thereafter, it becomes very easy to learn, understand and apply just about any topic that can be thought of. It then becomes a question of interest and determining what topics to learn as to augment one’s skill set or one’s tastes. This would certainly open up a wide range of career options to choose from, not inhibited by whether one has the required ‘aptitude’.

There is no doubt that my two years at IIM-A steepened my learning curve immensely and I am indebted to this great institution for the same. However, it is important to note that the seeds of ‘independent learning’ were sown very early on in my childhood. I was pushed very early on to study by myself, encouraged to be inquisitive and take interest in my studies and develop a logical framework for understanding concepts; all very essential ingredients to develop ‘independent learning’.

My motivation behind writing on this topic is neither to just introduce this abstract concept nor to boast about my learning capability. Rather it is to urge those thousands of parents who insist on sending their children to tuition classes for each and every subject from the primary level itself. Besides the various other obvious concerns (which I shall not discuss on this post), not allowing your child a chance to study by herself and experiment will destroy her ability to ‘learn’ and may be detrimental to her intellectual development, not allowing her to exploit her full potential.

So parents, please give your child the freedom to explore her studies independently and focus on equipping her with the tools needed to develop ‘independent thinking’ so that she can then do whatever she wants and is needed in life.