What is the main message of Don't Go Back to School?

The main message of Don't Go Back to School is that formal education isn't the only path to success.

How long does it take to read Don't Go Back to School?

The reading time for Don't Go Back to School varies, but it can be read in a few hours. The Blinkist summary can be read in just 15 minutes.

Who is the author of Don't Go Back to School?

Kio Stark is the author of Don't Go Back to School.

Education

Don’t Go Back to School Book Summary - Don’t Go Back to School Book explained in key points

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Don’t Go Back to School summary

Name: Don’t Go Back to School
Rating: 3.7 (64 reviews)
Author: Kio Stark

Kio Stark

A Handbook for Learning Anything

3.7 (64 ratings)

17 mins

Brief summary

Don't Go Back to School by Kio Stark explores the idea that education is not limited to traditional institutions. It provides guidance for those who want to pursue their interests and learn on their own terms, outside of the classroom.

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Learning Higher Education

Table of Contents

Don’t Go Back to School
Summary of 8 key ideas

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Key idea 1 of 8

What’s in it for me? Discover how to forge your own path without a college education.

Graduate high school, get a degree and get a good job so that you can retire with security. This is the path that many aim to follow, and more often than not each of these steps is considered integral for a successful life. In fact, the aspiration of getting a formal education has become a defining characteristic of the generations following the mid-twentieth century.

Think about it: how many times have you heard someone say that you had better get a degree “unless you want to flip burgers for a living”?

However, more and more people are discovering that there are other ways to equip themselves with the skills and connections necessary to succeed in today’s job market. In these blinks, you’ll learn how to forget about fighting for a lofty degree and saddling yourself with debt by taking a different path: independent learning.

In these blinks you’ll discover

how one entrepreneur became a high school teacher without having a high school diploma;
how having a little chutzpah can mean big rewards in the future; and
how taking a professor out to lunch can save you from the debt of a college education.

The value of college education is contestable.

Many people today have shelled out a lot of money and racked up mountains of debt in order to get a college education, hoping that a job opportunity down the line will help them recoup all of the money they’ve invested. However, many never find such an opportunity.

College degrees are losing their value, and it’s not always true that people with a degree will have higher lifetime earnings. While college degrees have proven their value since World War II, the trend has shifted.

When the GI Bill was passed shortly after World War II, war veterans returning home had an opportunity to start a new life by having their college tuition paid for by the government. Consequently, the percentage of US citizens with college degrees spiked hugely.

Meanwhile, a college degree became prerequisite for an increasing number of jobs, such as journalism or public relations.

In addition, more women began receiving a college education to secure better jobs. Already at a disadvantage in the employment market, women in the US were able to forge new job opportunities by demonstrating aptitude with a degree.

During that time, college degrees guaranteed higher lifetime earnings due to moderate loan debt, easy employability and an annual increase in the value of a college degree. But those times are over.

Getting a degree is no longer a safe path. As more people with similar credentials flood the job market and the cost of education rises, higher competition and generally low wages mean that repaying college debt isn’t easy.

What’s more, degrees aren’t the only kind of credential and are even becoming less necessary, while other credentials, such as portfolios and recommendations, are becoming increasingly important.

Work portfolios, for example, are as good at convincing prospective employers to hire you as is any degree. More and more often, jobs are found through network connections and within communities. Just knowing who’s hiring can help you land a job as much as a degree can.

Independent learning is far more satisfactory than traditional schooling.

When you go to school, teachers issue demands and then reward you with high marks for grades, tests and “correct” answers, and you eventually get a degree. This method can hardly be considered personally rewarding.

In fact, for many, these rewards are demotivating, and cause people to lose their passion and curiosity at school. The rigid structures and expectations, combined with the competition for artificially scarce rewards (grades), stifles and confines our curiosity.

Despite the need for a radical shift towards independent learning, we shouldn’t do away with schools just yet.

Even though independent learning has a lot to offer, too many people depend on schools to abolish them entirely. Moreover, independent learning still relies on the materials produced by and for schools and universities.

Independent learners have to learn how to obtain their own material and information in order to shift away from a reliance on standardized schools. Interlibrary loans, for example, are a great way to acquire the texts you need to learn something new. Independent learners can find copies of federal documents as well at Government Documents Centers, often housed in university libraries.

Don’t learn alone; be independent but not an autodidact.

Many people imagine that all independent learners are autodidacts, poring over books at home in complete isolation. However, self-teaching without community is not the best way to learn! Successful independent learners connect, interact and share.

Quality learning requires the support of not only learning materials, but also other learners. By learning with others, you have an opportunity to share your knowledge and experience with the group, and have others do the same for you. This exchange of information also allows you to share feedback on how you and others might improve.

Learn your way, and for the right reasons.

When you were in school, did you learn about what you were interested in, or what someone else decided was important for you? Probably the latter. But what would you learn if you were free to decide?

As an independent learner, you are free to choose your own educational path. However, you should make sure that you are learning things that you actually want to learn – your learning should be driven by curiosity and a thirst for a certain type of knowledge.

To be successful finding a job without credentials, you’ll need chutzpah.

Most people think that, without the right credentials, some jobs are impossibly out of their reach. Lacking a degree, some might not even try to get the job they want. But these assumptions are totally misguided.

If you lack proper credentials, then you’ll need to show chutzpah, or an insistent, confident attitude, in order to land the job, and you’ll have to be prepared to learn.

Build your own solid professional network.

People who graduate with MBAs love to tell you that the network you’ll build is worth the money you pay for the education. However, you can build a professional network as an independent learner, too.

If you embark on independent learning, then you should make it a goal to get in touch with others who are interested in the same or related topics, as connecting with like-minded people will help you make progress toward your own objectives.

Jobs are necessary and invaluable places to learn.

A job isn’t just a place to earn a paycheck – it’s also the best place to learn. Not only will you learn from your tasks and from the wisdom of others, but you also gain valuable networking opportunities.

But this is only possible if you remain objective about your work. In other words, don’t pretend to be an expert if you’re still learning, and know where you can improve. Being objective allows you to give and receive valuable feedback at work, meaning that both you and your co-workers have a lot to gain. In fact, you’ll find lots of people are also looking for feedback on their own work, and not just phoney politeness.

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What is Don’t Go Back to School about?

Don’t Go Back to School shows how not having a degree doesn’t doom you to an unsuccessful life. In fact, quite the contrary: chalked full of real-life examples, this book presents a strong case for independent learning as well as principles you can immediately enact to make independent learning a part of your life.

Don’t Go Back to School Review

Don’t Go Back to School (2013) is a book that challenges conventional thinking about education and offers alternative paths to learning. Here's why this book is worth reading:

It provides a refreshing perspective on traditional education, encouraging readers to explore unconventional ways of learning.
The book shares inspiring personal stories of individuals who have successfully pursued self-directed education, demonstrating that there are many avenues to knowledge and fulfillment.
Through thought-provoking insights and practical tips, Don’t Go Back to School empowers readers to take control of their own learning journey and create a life that aligns with their passions and interests.

Best quote from Don’t Go Back to School

There is something really special about when you first realize you can figure out really cool things completely on your own.

—Kio Stark

Who should read Don’t Go Back to School?

Anyone interested in learning outside of school
Anyone who wants to improve his or her knowledge and skills without breaking the bank
Anyone on the fence about whether to spend the money to go to college or university

About the Author

Kio Stark is a writer and adjunct professor at New York University’s graduate Interactive Telecommunications Program. In addition to conducting active research on learning and teaching she has also published a novel entitled Follow Me Down.

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