Each action you take is part of your education and should be documented as related to your question. This could lead to the over-examination to which you refer in your sub-title, but I think the DIY aspect makes that unavoidable.

Since you seem to have an affinity for the formality of education, your studies could culminate in something concrete, say a book or a film, which could serve as a thesis, the answer to your question.

Later, if you’re feeling particularly ambitious, you could approach a university to see if they would give you a degree for the work you have done.

on the other hand – i do know stuff about book binding! and i only learnt about it by doing my apprenticeship in a printers…and these days most book binding (all types) are done by huge expensive machines – but, i do know a good way to bind note pads.

so, to get any kind of practical experience you’ll need to volunteer – i’m looking forward to become a member of the zoo so I can volunteer and get some zoo skills.

I think that once you have the confidence in your German ability, you could set about working in a bar – but not for the bar skills, just for the German practice. Working in bars in Japan, I have found that it really helped my Japanese listening comprehension especially.

I have to say that I agree with James in that the other things you want to learn should be economically viable in and of themselves. That said, I don’t mean economically viable in the normal sense but only as in are they cheaper than other ways and means of doing things: e.g. cheesemaking should be cheaper than buying cheese, playing the guitar (and buying one) should be cheaper than the equivalent entertainment hours spent on video games, DVDs, going to bars, etc.

In addition to your “What should I learn next?” question, it may be of interest to you to study psychogeography, which would tie in with your social urbanism interests.

At the risk of sounding ever so traditional, I’d spend some time doing some hands-on work in some of the sectors you think would support your interests (and learn stuff) and then supplement this with courses that interest you.

Wittgenstein’s view on all this is worth a look. He was largely self-taught and dipped into lots of different careers eschewing ‘formal’ qualifications. But he had good feedback from some excellent mentors. If you go down this route how are you going to get consistent feedback? You probably need to pick a few people who could help feedback to you in your chosen field(s) of study.

Learn what you know. I would also suggest having a bit more focus, but you sound like you are aiming to be a Polymath so perhaps that would be a bad idea.

Don’t be concerned about absolute efficiency. I find it better to make mistakes rather than worrying about making them. Plus i learn something from the experience.

As for how you can afford to do this – well, i would have thought that you would tie what you are learning or have learnt into some form of money-making model.

E.g. if you are learning German, why not translate? Permaculture? design them! Bookbinding? repair old worn out books! Pattern drafting? draft out patterns! Guitar playing? join a band! Cheese making? Sell your own cheese! Welding? well, you get the point.

The last resort of course would be to put a “Click here to donate to help support Pippa’s worthy cause” button on your site. Definitely not a serious long-term solution though.

In any case, i wish you the best of luck. Will be interested in seeing how studying at the academy of DIY all pans out.

I’ll be in Berlin next week, for a week, from the 25th to the 1st or 2nd, at the Chaos Communications Congress. I think you might really enjoy some of the talks there, and I’m sure you’d enjoy the atmosphere.

Right now one of my own research interests is taking the DIY/hacker ethic, comparing it to the autodidact/open education model, and bundling all that up and using it as a way to stir up revolution inside the academy (I’m a PhD student in sociology at the City University of New York, and also a member of the hacker space NYC Resistor, and I’ll be teaching intro to sociology to undergraduates next semester at Baruch College in Manhattan). I’m not alone in wanting to do this sort of thing — there’s a growing “edupunk” movement in the States that wants to loosen up the formal structures of higher education so that more *actual* learning can get done at college.

That’s not a direct response to your really well-formulated list of questions, though. I’ll give those some thought and come back to them. Off the top of my head I already know of one course you can take online next semester that I think you’ll find perfect — and it’s free!

I’m currently researching the concept and practicality of on campus community vegetable gardens that can be used by students that live on campus, for teaching and learning purposes with the school of agriculture and wine sciences and for staff learning through organisational development….

Adult education would also be a good way to learn. You can perhaps try open university, where you can pick one subject at a time at a postgraduate level.