The Voyage of a Buccaneer-Scholar

James Marcus Bach

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Learning To Write #1

In the video below, my mentor, Jerry Weinberg, describes how he helped me overcome writer's block by using his "fieldstone" approach to writing. Jerry's method is ideal for people whose minds wander. My mind wanders a lot.

Basically, Jerry not only told me how to overcome my writer's block, he then wrote a book about telling me how to overcome my writer's block. I guess that's what walking the talk means.

   


Learning To Write #2

My father wrote an excellent book about how to write, but few people know about it. That's because it appears to be a book about ferrets!

Dad wrote a whole series of stories about ferrets, actually. And each one teaches something different.



   



A Buccaneering Approach to Becoming an Expert

In my other life, I'm a consulting software tester. In this video, I talk about how to become a software testing expert. I bet a lot of what I'm talking about would apply to other fields, as well. You be the judge.



How I Was Raised... More or Less

Dad left the family when I was 4. I didn't really know him until I was 12. But I did have his book. I read Jonathan Livingston Seagull nine times before I was 16, and didn't understand it. As my own son describes it today, I thought the book was about "a bird with superpowers."

But then I read it again when I was 16, and the meaning exploded through my head. The story of Jonathan has informed my life ever since. As I got to know my father in adulthood, I found that he lives and breathes that liberation philosophy. Well, buccaneering is my own take on how to leave the flock and what comes next.

A Harvard Professor on Education-- in 1915

I searched Google Books for the word "heuristic" and was surprised to find a book about education form 1915 that seems to closely support my own views. The full text is available online, too.

In What is Education? Professor Ernest Carroll Moore supports the constructivist view of learning, which is all about students learning for themselves instead of being force-fed pre-packaged knowledge units.

 


Grand Traverse Independent Scholars Association

The Independent Scholars Association seems to be a clearinghouse for information about learning on your own terms. There are lots of links here. Check it out.