By Marianne Hopwood

19th October 2016

Why do we do it and how studying can be seen as a gift to your future self

By Marianne Hopwood

19th October 2016

By Marianne Hopwood

19th October 2016

My latest pack of study materials arrived last week. When I tell people that I’m studying for a second degree I get a variety of reactions, some positive, some confused, occasionally even some hostile reactions. It’s amazing how many people have really probed deeply to find out why I’m studying. What’s the point?

What can I use this potential new degree for? I even get raised eyebrows when I don’t confidently announce it is to be used for a particular known job opportunity that will result in boundless wealth. I’m immensely proud of my husband who recently completed his first degree by studying with the OU. His studies have propelled his career forward and within a year or so of starting his degree he was already enjoying the benefits. My studies on the other hand may seem like a vanity project, a waste of money and time, and I can totally understand that it could look like that. I thought it might therefore be helpful to pin down in writing why I study, and why I believe that everyone can gain something from continuing to study after they leave formal education. The list is in no particular order of importance.

1 Continuing Professional Development (CPD) is the term employers use for the courses their employees undertake. These courses are often organised by the company and endured more than enjoyed by the participants who see them as hoops to jump through to stay employed, or gain promotions or bonuses. If we take ownership of the concept it can be so much more meaningful to us, picking long or short courses for ourselves that will deepen our understanding of our subject, or expand our horizons. I also don’t think you need to be currently employed to make the most of opportunities for CPD. My son’s speech and language development worker started off as a mum on a children’s centre volunteering course. She is now employed by the children’s centres, assessing and referring children with developmental delays in their communication skills. She had no idea when she took the free course that it would turn into a career. If you’re a working parent, perhaps you will improve your satisfaction at work, increase your salary, or use your studies to branch into a new career. If you’re unemployed or a stay-at-home parent you will be building up a portfolio showing future employers how you’ve used your time away from work to pursue your interests and increase your skills. These skills and interests don’t even have to directly relate to the job you want. What you are demonstrating is that you are open to new learning and new opportunities.

2 Self-esteem should never be underrated Being happy and confident isn’t selfindulgent. You radiate happiness to the people around you, most importantly your own family, making their lives happier too. Taking a course builds self-esteem, whether it is a practical one such as cooking or an academic course such as learning about the history of art. You may come into contact with new people who share interests with you, leading to new friendships. Good social networks are an important factor in good mental health whatever age you are. There is strong evidence that combatting isolation in mothers by engaging in baby swimming classes is helpful in reducing post-natal depression, and in the elderly it is believed that those with the most active social lives suffer from the least dementia. Whatever makes you feel good and whatever your goals, there will be a course somewhere supporting it. Every course I have participated in has provided me with some insight or skill that has made me happier. One of my favourites was a face painting course. I made friends and gaineda skill that is useful at parties and which I have traded for other people’s skills, such as when I needed a headshot photograph for a magazine article. Being pro-active is also setting a great example for the children in your life. It makes it normal for grownups to be open to learning. Young children believe that whatever they see their parents doing is the norm for everyone. Charles Darwin was an expert on barnacles and spent so much time studying them that his young son George, when told that his friend’s father did not have a study, asked incredulously ‘[but] where does your father do his barnacles?’.

3 Mental agility is something that needs exercise just as much as your body does Your brain uses less energy while watching TV than it does while it is asleep. There are some really great, informative shows on TV that challenge and inspire us, but how many people complain there’s nothing on, and then spend four hours watching TV anyway? I also believe that for me ‘baby brain’ is a definite phenomenon. Whether it’s due to hormonal changes or to sleep deprivation I found that my memory was far worse after having my babies. I had the feeling that if I spent my whole day talking to a little person who wasn’t capable of much more conversation than requests for biscuits, and my evenings were spent slumped in front of the TV in exhaustion, it wouldn’t be long before my brain dribbled out of my ears. I would never want to downplay how wonderful this time with my boys has been, but personally I needed some serious brain exercise to fulfil the needs of my mind as well as those of my heart. My main studying is done in the evening during the time when I would otherwise have been watching repeats of CSI. If the kids bedtimes go smoothly I study from 8 until 10pm, and I try to get ahead so that when it all goes wrong for a week or two I can still meet my deadlines. Up until he went on to a bottle at 6 months, I used to study with my youngest in a sling feeding from me so you definitely can attachment parent and study at the same time - for example Mayam Bialik PhD, Big Bang Theory Actress and author of a book on attachment parenting did it. In addition I want to be able to talk to my friends and family about a whole range of interests, not just about the things that are important to me as a parent, although I am a bit of a broken record when it comes to education. The best thing is your brain can get the stimulation it needs from any learning experience you participate in, so go to samba classes, join a drum circle, or take a free online course in thermodynamics. Think of it as a gift to your future self.

Marianne is a mum to two boys, former teacher and current OU student blogging about the educational things she does with her children at maz-shack2.blogspot.co.uk

MORE INSPIRATION

VISIT The Open University (open.ac.uk) for inspiration on what to study

READ Beyond the Sling: A Real-Life Guide to Raising Confident, Loving Children the Attachment Parenting Way by Mayim Bialik

EXPLORE Free online courses from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology at ocw.mit.edu and free online courses to help with returning to work or to help your child with their homework: nidirect.gov.uk/learning-for-free

WHAT COURSE IS RIGHT FOR YOU?

Finding a career to suit you: While it can be tempting to skip straight to looking at specific careers, it’s often a good idea to spend some time thinking about what motivates you as a person. What are your interests, inside and outside work and what are you looking for from a career? Once you’ve worked this out, you can start building up a picture of your ideal job and then discover which careers match it most closely.

Career planning: where should you start? Unless you’ve got a clear idea of what you want to do, it can be difficult to know where to start. And if you do have a career in mind, how do you know whether you’ve considered all your options? As a starting point, you could try sitting down with a piece of paper and listing: • Courses you’ve taken or are taking now • Any jobs, including voluntary • Interests outside work • Any other significant experiences, like travelling for example Then ask yourself: • Why you chose to do them • Which parts you really enjoyed • Which parts you found frustrating • Which parts you were best at • Which parts you found a challenge • What other people have said about your contribution • What other people have told you you’re good at. You should start to see some patterns emerging: • The types of skills you enjoy using • The sort of environment you perform best in • The types of people you like working with

You can use this knowledge to help pinpoint areas of work you might enjoy.

Adult learning, or higher education, can be a great way of opening up new career opportunities. And remember, it’s never too late to return to learning.

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