Informal learning

Learning is typically seen as formal, occurring at schools and education institutions. However, the majority of adult learning happens in workplaces, where learning is mainly informal (Marsick & Watkins 1990).

Nevertheless, all forms of learning, formal, nonformal, and informal, can occur at work. This chapter presents the differences between formal, nonformal, and informal learning.

Formal learning occurs in a structured and organized environment and is explicitly designated as learning (in terms of objectives, time or resources).

It is always intentional from the learner’s point of view and it often targets validation and certification (Cedefop 2008). Formal learning has a clear purpose: the acquisition of certain knowledge, skills and competences.

Typical examples of formal learning are schools and structured training programs or courses. Marsick and Watkins (1990) found that only 20 percent of employees learning comes from structured and formalized training. (Werquin 2010)

Nonformal learning can be placed between formal- and informal learning.

It is learning which is embedded in planned activities not explicitly designated as learning (in terms of learning objectives, learning time or learning support). It can be intentional or in some cases completely incidental. Nonformal learning takes a wide variety of approaches, which makes a consensus regarding the definition harder to reach. While activities leading to nonformal learning may not necessarily be specifically defined or denoted as learning activities, they may not constitute informal learning either. The advantage of this concept is to meet the potential need for an intermediate concept between formal learning and informal learning. To clarify, nonformal learning can occur alongside other activities, which may or may not have other learning objectives. An example might be a project management course in the workplace (formal learning), in which the students incidentally learn something about themselves such as their punctuality or initiative taking ability, or about teamwork and problem solving skills (nonformal learning). Therefore in this example, nonformal learning is incidental compared to other activities which have an educational objective. While participation in the main activity is intentional, the nonformal learning that comes as a byproduct from it may not be. It can be difficult to perceive directly, which makes recognition of learning very difficult for those who are unaware of these nonformal learning outcomes as a byproduct. A further example can be people who deliberately decide to teach themselves with very clear aims in mind (such as proficiency in using new software), yet without any funding or scheduled time. (Werquin 2010)

Informal learning is not organized, has no set objectives in terms of learning outcomes, and is not intentional from the learner’s point of view.

Informal learning is learning that results from daily activities related to

work, home or life in general. It is often referred to as learning by experience or just as experience. The idea is that people are constantly exposed to various learning situations. This definition, with a few exceptions has reached a fair degree of consensus. (Werquin 2010)

Conlon (2004) summarized that informal learning takes place when employees take time to question, observe, listen, read, and reflect on their work environment. The majority of learning in the workplace is informal and involves a combination of learning from personal experience and learning from other people (Eraut 2004). Informal learning is typically incidental and often a byproduct of other activities, such as social interaction, accomplishing tasks, experiencing organizational culture, trial-and-error experimentation, or formal learning activities. As informal learning is happening all the time, it should be noted that it can be supported and leveraged by the organization. Informal learning can be incidental, which means that it takes place so that the learners are not aware of it (Marsick & Watkins, 1990).

Table 3 presents Eraut’s (2004) typology of informal learning. The columns distinguish between three levels of intention. Implicit learning refers to independent knowledge acquisition without conscious attempts to learn and without explicit knowledge about what was learned (Reber 1993). Implicit aspects are especially common with learning from experience. Learner’s conscious effort and awareness of explicit learning do not exclude implicit learning from happening. Reactive or opportunistic learning is spontaneous by nature: learning can be intentional, but if it occurs in the middle of action there is little time to think. Thus that particular type of learning is reactive, not deliberate. In deliberative learning, time is allocated for learning and achieving some work-related goal. This is done with purpose to acquire new knowledge and to engage learning activities such as problem solving or planning. Because these activities are common in working life, they are rarely considered as learning activities even though they often lead to increased learning. The top rows relate to possible temporal relationships between learning

episode and the experience that caused it. Schön (1983) describes these as reflection during action and reflection after action. In this typology the context where learning occurs is always in the present, but the focus of the learning can be in the past, present or future. While the planning of future learning opportunities is commonly informal, the opportunities themselves can be either informal or formal. (Eraut 2004)

Table 3. A typology of informal learning (Adapted from Eraut 2004, 250)

Time of

focus Implicit learning Reactive learning Deliberative learning

Past

Experiential learning is actually not a theory, but a combination of various approaches and methods of experience-based learning. Experiential learning is based on the notion that ideas are continuously formed and reformed by life experiences. Experiential learning methods are commonly used when designing professional development initiatives such as job rotation programs. They can be also used when explaining how employees learn from experience gained outside formal learning environment, and to provide hypotheses on how the process of learning works – providing practical application to some cases in the context of adult learning. (Cheetham & Chivers 2001, 255)