This blog has been gathering dust for a while now, but I thought I’d give it some love, now that I’m off for the summer (ah, the joys of a teacher’s life).

So I’ll be adding pages and features, as well as writing blog posts regularly.

The aim is to help improve the way we approach learning, to learn broadly and study deeply.

I have a lot to share, and lots more to learn. It’s all exciting and I’m sure will be a fun journey for me, and the fine readers that will accompany me.

I’ll be sharing practical tips, as well as some theory to help change the way you look at learning.

Until the next post, I’d like you to think of the many ways you can complete the following two sentences.

1) I find learning about a new subject challenging because…

2) I can improve my learning by…

For example:

I find learning about a new subject challenging because… I feel intimidated and overwhelmed / I don’t know where to begin / I don’t have enough time to read about the subject / I have lots to do already / …

I can improve my learning by… reserving an hour a day for reading / cutting out distractions / spending less time in front of the TV / …

These questions will help you think about your own approach to learning.

You will then be able to figure out what posts will be most relevant to you and how best you can use them to improve your learning.

Photo Credit: LifeSuperCharger

You could have a PhD in cosmology but don’t know how to tie your own shoe laces.

But there’s a problem with this approach to learning. (Actually, there’s more than one problem, but I’m trying to be polite)

With specialization you can easily identify with only one area of expertise and limit your capacity to learn about others.

When you see yourself as a “psychologist” or a “biologist” or a “chemist” you can easily overlook your ability to learn about many other fields simply because they don’t form part of your identity.

Not only will this undermine the breadth of your knowledge but can even limit the depth you are able to go to in your own specialization!

How?

Knowledge rests on forming concepts that represent real-world phenomena. Scientists and intellectuals are constantly coming up with new concepts that help them better understand the world around them. “Borrowing” concepts from other fields can greatly enhance your ability to make sense of your own field, allowing you to break out of conceptual barriers to learning.

And what has all this got to do with this “polymath” thing?

Well, a polymath is one who masters a number of different disciplines. He (or she) doesn’t identify with a single field but has the desire to learn about many facets of the world and develop a wide range of skills.

If you feel choked up by specialization and yearn to explore subjects beyond your (presumed) reach, then this site might be of interest to you.

I’m chronicling my own journey of trying to become a polymath and I would love to share my thoughts with you and to learn from your own experiences and observations.

And don’t forget to subscribe to the site to receive the latests posts delivered to your RSS feed or your email inbox.