INFORMAL EDUCATION

Informal Education is a general term for
education that can occur outside of a structured
curriculum. [1] Informal Education encompasses
student interests within a curriculum in a regular
classroom, but is not limited to that setting. [1] It
works through conversation, and the exploration
and enlargement of experience. Sometimes there
is a clear objective link to some broader plan,
but not always. The goal is to provide learners
with the tools he or she needs to eventually
reach more complex material. [2] It can refer to
various forms of alternative education, such as:
Unschooling or homeschooling, Autodidacticism
(Self-teaching), Youth work, and Informal learning
Informal Education consists of accidental and
purposeful ways of collaborating on new
information. [2] It can be discussion based and
focuses on bridging the gaps between traditional
classroom settings and life outside of the
classroom. [2]
Role of Informal
Education
People interpret information differently, and
therefore a structured curriculum may not allow
all learners to understand the information.
Informal education is less controlled than the
average classroom setting, which is why
informal education can be so powerful. [3]
Informal education can help individuals learn to
react to and control different situations and
settings. In addition, it combines social entities
that are important for learning. Informal
Education may be viewed as the learning that
comes as a part of being involved in youth and
community organizations. [1] This type of
education is a spontaneous process, which helps
people to learn information in a new way. It
helps to cultivate communities, associations and
relationships that make for a positive learning
environment. [2]
Characteristics of
Informal Education [4]
1. Informal Education looks to create or
deepen situations where people can learn,
explore and enlarge experiences, and
make changes.
2. Provides an environment where everyone
can learn together and can scaffold off of
one another.
3. Understanding that the activity can be
based on any form of learning, the
teaching does not have to be deliberate,
more so implied. We give students the
tools to do complex materials over time,
rather than teaching the complex material
and then giving the tools.
4. Focuses on the social aspects of learning,
and how important collaborative learning
is.
5. The tools students are given are tangible
for the processes in which they will be
applied.
6. Bridges the gap between school and life.
7. Allows students a choice in learning, and
how to approach the material.
8. Make learning accessible in every day life
and in the future.
9. Informal Education is driven by
conversation and interacting with others.
Informal Education
offers the following
1. Responsiveness when interacting with the
environment.
2. Possibility to act freely in unknown
situations.
3. Possibility for an individual to learn
without any obligations or restrictions.
4. Allows for free choice and changes in
interests.
5. Ability to create ones own identity.
Informal Education
tends to emphasize
certain values it
includes
1. Work for the well being of all.
2. Respect the unique value and dignity of
each human being.
3. Dialogue.
4. Equality and justice.
5. Democracy and the active involvement of
people in the issues that affect their life.
(Jeff and Smith 2005:95-6)
Informal Education focuses on values. There is
no curriculum or guiding plan for a lot of work.
Informal Education in
Indigenous African
Communities
Informal education has been the practice of
indigenous communities in Africa as long as
people have lived there. The tradition of African
education has long been closely intertwined with
the daily life of the African people with the idea
that children "learnt what they lived". [5] The
philosophy of traditional African education
suggests that one’s education cannot be
separated from the everyday life and the
“curriculum” is thus considered “a way of life”
with the ultimate goal being to create a
"complete individual, [and] a lifelong learner". [6]
The knowledge and practices that are important
to the community are generally passed down
through the sharing of memories and
participation in cultural activities. Their education
system serves as “the information base for the
community, which facilitates communication and
decision-making”. [6] Similar to other indigenous
communities such as the Chillihuani in Peru,
African education is created with goals in mind
but is not limited to typical classroom settings;
students continually participate in various
learning activities as they grow in the
community. [6]
The culture within traditional African
communities contain methods of learning.
Through song and dance children learn more
about their language as well as how to read and
write. Oral traditions are used to teach children
about history and morals as well as other forms
of culture and practical skills for survival. In
northern Tanzania and southern Kenya, the
children of the Maasai pastoralists learn skills
such as "where to find water and green shrubs
that can be fed to young calves" in case of
drought. [6] Children are encouraged to show
respect to their elders and through this, children
learn how to show respect though their actions
and words. A child can even learn the
circumstances of their birth through their names.
Onipede, a Yoruba name in Nigeria, suggests
that the child was born soon after the death of a
family member. [6] Through their traditional
science, children learn how to contribute to
health and food production. everything that is a
part of their life is used as a means to learn
about themselves, their communities, and their
culture.
Advantages
If a person masters a skill by becoming deeply
engaged in solving a problem, then giving
students real world issues or opportunities to
solve problems in their own lives and
communities would significantly motivate and
help them to master new concepts. [1] Teaching
students new scientific concepts by using
cultural tools could eliminate the time spent
trying to figure out whether concepts are useful
or not. This may motivate learners and help
them to master what we teach from the start. If
we applied english and grammar lessons to
effectively communicate with others in the
community, students would be more inclined to
effectively master these concepts since they
would be using them for individual or group
purposes. Finally, formal schooling, unlike an
informal school setting, discourages students
from learning and problem solving on their
own. [3]
See also
Nonformal learning
Formal learning
Informal learning
References
1. ^ a b c d Rogoff, Barbara; Callanan,
Maureen; Gutiérrez, Kris; Erickson,
Frederick (March 2016). "The Organization
of Informal Learning". Review of Research
in Education. 40 : 356–401.
doi: 10.3102/0091732x16680994 .
2. ^ a b c d Rogoff, Barbara (2003). The
Cultural Nature of Human Development .
Oxford University Press.
ISBN 9780199813629 .
3. ^ a b Callanan, Maureen; Cervantes,
Christi; Loomis, Molly (2011). "Informal
Learning". WIREs Cognitive Science . 2:
646–655. doi: 10.1002/wcs.143 .
4. ^ Brown, John; Collins, Alan; Duguid, Paul
(1989). "Situated Cognition and The
Culture of Learning". Educational
Researcher . 18: 32–42.
doi: 10.2307/1176008 .
JSTOR 1176008 .
5. ^ "INDIGENOUS AFRICAN EDUCATION" .
sitwe . 2011-10-30. Retrieved 2018-05-08.
6. ^ a b c d e Omolewa, Michael (2007).
"Traditional African Modes of Education:
Their Relevance in the Modern World".
International Review of Education /
Internationale Zeitschrift für
Erziehungswissenschaft / Revue
Internationale de l'Education . 53 (5/6):
593–612. JSTOR 27715419 .
Bibliography
Brown, J. S., Collins, A., & Duguid, P. (1989).
Situated cognition and the culture of learning.
18(1), 32.
Blyth, C. (2008). The Art of Conversation.
London: John Murray.
Callanan, M., Cervantes, C., & Loomis, M.
(2011). Informal learning.2, 646. doi:10.1002
Dewey, J. (1933). How We Think. New York:
D. C. Heath.
Rogoff, B. (2003). The cultural nature of
human development. NY: Oxford University
Press.
Sennett, R. (2012) Together. The rituals,
pleasures and politics of cooperation.
London: Allen Lane.
Zeldin (1999). Conversation: How Talk Can
Change Your Life. London: Harvill Press.
External links
Formal vs. Informal Education , WGBH.
Informal Education , The National Academy
of Sciences .
Research on Learning in Formal and Informal
Settings , National Science Foundation .
Moving Beyond Broadcast and Traditional
Pedagogy: Making a Children’s Documentary
for the New Media Landscape Master of
Fine Arts Thesis, Science and Natural History
Filmmaking, Montana State University.
[1]
http://infed.org/mobi/what-is-informal-
education/
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