As an individual teacher or an astrological school, it is helpful to consider not only the content of our instruction but the social context of how a student learns.
- A student can be independent and learn on their own.
- A student can team up with someone in the role of a tutor who ensures they understand the material.
- A student can join a group of people in a class setting or for mutual support.
Self-study can range from listening to a podcast, watching a video lecture, or reading books or articles to actively casting charts and working through an interpretation. The advantage of self-study is its flexibility. The learner controls the content, pacing, timing, location, and duration of their studies.
Self-study is the primary learning environment for students of astrology for two main reasons. The first is that our field is so vast, there’s always something new to learn. Most astrologers don’t have the time or monetary resources to take classes for everything they want to know. The second is that an astrological chart always has something new to teach us. Every time we read a chart for a friend or a client, we learn new ways the symbols can be expressed in real life, in real time.
Self-study has its drawbacks. It requires considerable self-motivation and discipline. More importantly, because astrology is a complex discipline, it can be hard to understand how the symbols work together. While the core basics for planets, signs, and houses are relatively easy to memorize, combining that information is challenging.
The challenge is evident as soon as we move past the basics of astrology to interpreting complex interactions. Learning to layer meaning by adding in ruling planets, aspects, dignities, and other considerations is frustrating, and the nuances are challenging to understand. New students struggle when they first try to interpret a planet’s likely expression in an astrological house when the sign ruler differs from the ruler of the house cusp. And students have been known to scream in frustration when first trying to untangle, for example, Venus conjunct the MC and in detriment in Aries, out of sect, but fast in motion, sextile Jupiter, but opposition to Saturn in exaltation in Libra.
The above examples show that self-study has its place; learning the nuances of astrology is generally more effective when combined with other social contexts, such as one-on-one or group learning. Interacting with others allows students to share experiences, test ideas, obtain support, and compare multiple perspectives.
One-to-one learning involves the learner working with an instructor, coach, mentor, or practicing astrologer, either in person or remotely. This can result in a highly individualized and potentially very effective course of study. But the quality depends mainly on the quality of the instructor.
One-to-one learning is valuable but also tends to be costly. For most budding astrologers, this only works when no other options are viable or the benefits justify the expense. Another disadvantage is that the learner receives only one outside perspective. This can make it more challenging for the budding astrologer to develop their path and perspective if they have not had a chance to explore different viewpoints directly.
Group learning has two variations: a group of peers who have joined together to learn, or an instructor-led group. The advantage of having an instructor is that you have an expert who can provide direct and individualized feedback. Either way, the advantage of a group is that you have many voices to share multiple perspectives, insights, and provide mutual support and peer pressure.
One-to-one and group learning can occur in a physical or virtual environment, or asynchronously via email, discussion forums, wikis, social networks, and similar technologies.
Each of these three social contexts has advantages and drawbacks. The optimal approach for a teacher or a school is to decide what social contexts they can offer their students and where other resources are available. This will best help their students combine these three possibilities into a blended solution that works for them.
