1-3: Learning as an Adult

Let's state some obvious truths. For starters, focused learning as an adult is vastly different than as a school-age student. Your time is no longer compulsorily dedicated to study. Instead, you need to carve that time out yourself. Consequences and incentives are likely to be entirely self-imposed. And with myriad other responsibilities, it can be difficult to dedicate the amount of time you feel is appropriate to learning.

Theory of Margin

In 1963, Howard McClusky codified a phenomenon we all intuit in his theory of "Power-Load Margin." Put very, very simply, the theory goes like this: on one hand, you have a set of skills, values, support systems, and academic abilities which comprise your "power" to handle whatever life throws at you. On the other hand, you have, well, whatever life throws at you. That is the "load" in the system, borrowing from electrical utility terminology.

If this feels gobsmackingly obvious, welcome to ed. theory. But bear with me, because the point is worth making. In order for you to learn and grow, you need a surplus of power in the system. That's the "margin" in the "Power-Load Margin" theory. Without surplus power, there's simply nothing left to give over to the work of learning.

Again, no kidding, right? The catch is that making a full and honest assessment of both power and load is quite tricky. It's easy to overestimate power, or underestimate load. Those of us motivated enough to learn as adults tend to bite off more than we can chew. Even if we don't, the complexity of adult life has a way of throwing wrenches in the works. From illness to work responsibility to kids, kids, kids, something always comes up.

Besides "adulting is hard," what's the takeaway here? First, that education theory is a bit of a kludge. Second, that you need to be honest about your capacity to learn as an adult. It is no failure to recognize your limits.

Communication and Support

As you start to develop your goals and discern what kind of time investment you can give them, you'll have to communicate these to anyone with whom you share your time and/or space. This could be a partner, a co-parent, a child, or even a roommate. Expectations need to be clear on all sides about how a new time investment will impact the status quo. In one way or another, those in our life will have to support you in your learning journey. That support can take various forms, from additional household chores to words of encouragement.

At this point you're probably thinking something like, "Damn Taggart, why are you being so serious about this? It's not a lifestyle change or anything."

Yeah, it is. If you haven't been in the habit of dedicated self-study, introducing it to your life is absolutely a lifestyle change, and that's worth considering deeply. If you're hoping that your study leads to further changes, like a new career, you need to take it seriously if you want to succeed.