In recent years, there has been a heated debate about heutagogy, which is also known as self-learning. Some claim that self-learning is inefficient and cannot replace the role of conventional teaching methodologies like the talk and chalk approach, whereas some suggest that self-learning is the trend of the 21th century and it is more powerful than we thought if used properly. In this feedback, I would like to highlight some of the benefits of heutagogy to explain why I support Mr. Chan’s idea.

　First and foremost, students can learn at a stable pace that they are comfortable with. It is universally agreed that every student has different abilities and learning speeds in terms of digesting new knowledge. Therefore, it is manifest that self-learning provides an avenue for students to empower themselves to take control of their learning process. During self-learning, students are able to make decisions on what they want to learn and when to stop so that they are not crammed with knowledge that they are unprepared or uninterested in to learn. This is vital for students since it reduces their frustration throughout their learning journey and it is the key for motivation. In contrast, students in traditional classroom are compelled to follow the ossified syllabus which may not be the most suitable learning schedule for students who have difficulties with learning.

　Besides, self-learning encourages students to delve deeper into the topics and knowledges. As mentioned before, students who learn in conventional classrooms follow an ossified syllabus and it inevitably stifles students’ creativity to learn beyond the textbook. Worse still, students are assigned with loads of homework and exams which prevents them from investigating into knowledge since they lack free time. On the other hand, self-learning offers opportunities for students to explore the topics that they are interested in. Not only do they gain more free time to look for concepts or theories from this unrestrained learning method, but they also get a chance to evaluate their learning process with questions and curiosity so that they can focus on certain topics that they enjoy learning the most.

　“Everyone is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.” This is the famous quote that Albert Einstein once said, and obviously it still works in the 21th century. We all have different ambitions and goals, then why don’t we study differently by self-learning? Traditional classroom is terrific, but it may not be the silver bullet for everyone, it is better that we coordinate our working schedule so as to discover our own abilities that make ourself different from the others and achieve our goals.

　　在家自學或在家教育（homeschooling）是指不進入學校系統，而靠家庭與社會資源的學習方式。自學的概念，在歐美國家其實已經行之有年，然而在台灣等亞洲國家，卻仍舊有許多家長及學生並不熟悉自學或實驗學校的實際運作方式，甚至認為自學就是放牛吃草。

　　我雖然沒有接受過自學或實驗教育，卻很幸運地在小學時就有機會了解到自學這項概念。成長的過程中，我身邊大多數的案例都是孩子希望有更多機會與時間學習自己所感興趣的事物，不用被學校的框架限制，但往往遭到父母反對，在我們家卻恰好相反。事實上，我的母親非常認同實驗教育，從小也不斷鼓勵我申請在家自學，然而我是一個較為循規蹈矩、做事嚴謹的學生，喜歡有正確答案的題目;再加上我是家中的獨生女，我總是很珍惜每天能夠到學校和同學相處的機會，也很享受需要團隊合作的活動。我很清楚自己非常適合傳統學校的生存規則，通常指令越明確、規定越繁複，我就發揮得越好。因此，當我的母親詢問我是否要跳脫體制，進行自學，我沒有接受這個選項。

　　然而，我並未因此而成為一個思想僵化的學生，即便接受所謂傳統的學習方式，我仍舊保有自己的思考模式，也會對於不認同的事物提出疑問。我認為自學的關鍵並不在於是否離開學校，而是在於是否具備能從生活中不斷觀察、學習、自我反思與面對挑戰的能力。

　　在學習方式上，可以粗略地將學生分為兩種—視覺圖像型與聽覺序列型。而狹義的自學通常較適合視覺圖像型的學習者，也就是較富有想像力與創造力的一群人，自學提供他們更廣闊的空間以及更彈性的時間，讓視覺圖像型的學習者能夠發揮所長，不受框架限制。反之，多數的聽覺序列學習者傾向有條理的系統性學習，自學的概念對於他們來說太過空泛與自由，反而使其無所適從。上述現象雖非絕對，但過猶不及，若未依據學習類型實行不同的教育方式，僅一昧的追求在家自學，便可能落入和義務教育一樣的結局。

　自學不是教育的特效藥，選擇脫離傳統的教育體制固然可以擁有較為寬廣的學習空間與較有彈性的學習方式，卻不見得適合每個人。現代教育以因材施教、適性發展作為重要目標，那麼就應該賦予每個學生選擇的權利，無論是傳統學校，或是實驗教育、在家自學，都需要根據學生不同的個性與學習方式去做最合適的調配。