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Non-formal learning is more flexible than learning in formal contexts (Ionescu, 2020). This means that non-formal curricula can focus on content that relates to learners’ interests (e.g., focusing on content use in contexts that are meaningful to learners, or where learners exercise some choice in learning content).
- Introduction
- Informal Learning – An Administrative Concept
- ‘non-formal’ Learning as Implicit, Reactive and Deliberative
- Tacit Knowledge
- Situated Learning
- Self-Education and Informal Education
- Conclusion
- Further Reading and References
- References
- Links
Commentators in the UK adult education and lifelong learning field have shown an increasing interest in informal learning. Bentley (1998) has examined ‘learning beyond the classroom’; Coffield (2000) ‘the necessity of informal learning’; Marsick and Watkins (1990) and Dale and Bell (1999) ‘informal and incidental learning in the workplace’; and McG...
We can begin to see some of the problems associated with the term ‘informal learning’ as soon as we glance at the definitions offered. For example, Veronica McGivney used the following in her study. Informal learning is: 1. Learning that takes place outside a dedicated learning environment and which arises from the activities and interests of indiv...
Michael Eraut has contributed one of the most helpful discussions of ‘informal learning’ in recent years. He suggests, but doesn’t really make the case for, a focus on non-formal learning. The argument is that the term ‘informal’ is associated with so many other features of situations – such as dress, behaviour, discourse – ‘that its colloquial app...
Another path into the notion of informal learning is to view it simply as implicit learning. Such learning results in what Polanyi (1967) calls tacit knowledge – ‘that which we know but cannot tell’. However, as Eraut (2000: 16) again points out, a string of writers have explored how what they talk of as tacit knowledge can be made explicit (and ho...
This leads on to a fourth avenue of exploration – viewing informal learning as an expression of situated learning (see learning). This takes us beyond understandings of learning as being internal, or ‘within the skin’, of individuals (see discussion of atomized notions of the self) towards an understanding that takes in the social. When looked at i...
Thus far, the argument has been that the notion of informal learning only has a limited use as a means of highlighting the extent of learning and education activity beyond the school. As a basis upon which to develop significant theory or to deepen practice it has little to recommend it. Indeed, it could be argued that it diverts attention away fro...
My basic line of argument here has been that once the obvious point is made that much learning takes place beyond the formal confines of the classroom, then the usefulness of the notion of ‘informal learning’ quickly fades. Part of the reason for this has been the eagerness of policymakers, academics and practitioners to substitute the learning for...
Coffield, F. (2000) The Necessity of Informal Learning, Bristol: The Policy Press. 80 + iv pages. Useful collection of material arising out of ESRC Learning Society Programme. Includes Coffield on the significance of informal learning; an excellent piece by Michael Eraut on non-formal learning – implicit learning and tacit knowledge in professional...
Batsleer, J. (2008) Informal Learning in Youth Work. London: Sage. Bekerman, Z., N. C. Burbules and D. Silberman Keller (2006) Learning in Places – the informal education reader, New York: Peter Lang. Bentley, T. (1998) Learning beyond the Classroom: Education for a changing world, London: Routledge. Boud, D. and Garrick, J. (eds.) (1999) Understan...
DfEE Research – Informal learning in the workplace– summary of Dale and Bell’s (1999) study. John Ellis – Informal education: a Christian perspective Acknowledgement: The picture “Shadow Work” is by Tony Hall and is reproduced under a ccby4 licence– flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/anotherphotograph/3389627948/ How to cite this piece: Smith, Ma...
one of the most cited threads of informal learning. Coming from a United Kingdom perspective, McGivney (1999: 1) in Informal learning in the community, determined that: There is no single definition of informal learning. It is a broad and loose concept that incorporates very diverse kinds of learning, learning styles and learning arrangements ...
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May 23, 2023 · Informal workplace learning accounts for a large extent of employees’ learning. Informal learning activities such as reflection or keeping up-to-date resemble self-regulated learning strategies that indicate the ability to plan, monitor, and regulate one’s learning. However, little is known about the relationship between informal learning behaviors and self-regulated learning strategies ...
Aug 22, 2024 · The difference between formal and informal learning. The main difference between formal and informal learning becomes visible in the methods that are being used. These are shaped by the structure of the learning process, where as you can imagine, this is unplanned, self-directed and not specifically goal-oriented in informal learning methods.
While there are conceptual difficulties in distinguishing informal self-. directed learning, informal training, nonformal education, and formal educa-. tion, as well as methodological challenges in generating reliable readings of informal learning and training, the empirical research to date has at least.
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Definition of informal learning • Informal learning includes tacit knowledge that is not specifically sought and can remain unnoticed by the learner. Informal learning is embedded in meaningful activity, is likely to be initiated by the learner, and is motivated by a perceived need . It is voluntaristic and not ex plicitly structured by others.
