In today’s classrooms we educators spend a lot of energy promoting life-long learning. When I contemplate this topic I am reminded of an interesting book I came across last year. The book is entitled Learning at the Back Door: Reflections on Nontraditional Learning in the Lifespan, written by Charles A. Wedemeyer, Professor Emeritus at the University of Wisconsin at Madison.

Wedemeyer devoted most his lengthy career as an educator to the creation and promotion of nontraditional learning methods and programs. During WWII he developed courses to enable our nation’s soldiers to earn their high school diplomas while serving overseas. Wedemeyer was an early proponent of university extension courses, and was also dabbling in long-distance learning methods such as computer courses before he passed away in 1999.

You can find his discussion of nontraditional learning methods in Learning at the Back Door, available at amazon.com.