Overview
Self-Directed Behaviour is designed with the hope that you will learn something new, challenge yourself, have some fun, become a more effective self-manager, and put yourself in a position to help others to learn self-management skills. This course differs from most university courses because in it so much of the emphasis will be on you, the student. Essentially, the course seeks to apply psychological self-management principles to the conduct of your day-to-day life—or at least significant portions of your day-to-day life. Although we will touch upon different approaches to self-management, a consistent focus will be on collecting data about your own behaviour and on evaluating that data.
Issues of the self and of self-management are neglected in formal education. From kindergarten to graduate school, educational curriculum is focused on teaching students to master educational content and develop skills. In the early grades, students learn reading, writing, and arithmetic. Later they learn more advanced skills in those basic areas and are also expected to learn science, social studies, history, typing, and computer use. These are all essential subjects, of course, but they bear no necessary relationship to the selves of individual students. At no point in their formal education are students explicitly taught to define themselves in relation to the subjects and skills they study, although some students are lucky enough to have parents and teachers who encourage them to develop a sense of self, to define their personal objectives, and to evaluate the extent to which they achieve their personal objectives. The purpose of this course is to help you to broaden your understanding of self-management principles and to teach you practical self-management skills.