Principles and Practice of Informal Education: Learning Through Life

Principles and practice of informal education: learning through life

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At other moments it will be necessary to begin with an experience and to develop a generalized understanding from it. The focus upon starting points and the debates between those advocating experiential or information assimilation methods tends to divert attention from the process that follows. By becoming wrapped up in the starting point, it often seems that the simple provision of information or experience is enough. The rest of the process is largely ignored and, hence, any understanding of the educative role is somewhat limited.

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If the information or experience is not interrogated, reflected upon and some theory developed, then there appears to be little educative point to the exercise. A major problem is that within the sort of settings we are considering here, even where there is some appreciation of the need for attention to reflection and theory-making, not enough time may be given over to such activity.

This may be a result of inadequate pedagogic skills, though more often it is an outcome of the fact that in the heat of a particular activity it is often difficult to encourage people to think about what they are learning. It is the activity that is the central object of their attention. This is an expression of the classic tension between process and product which has been the subject of some debate within both youth work and community work M.

Smith, Reflection and theory-making are left to the individual and the gains are made smaller than they might be had attention be paid to competences in, and commitment to, theory-making. It can take place in a variety of settings, many of which are used for other, non-educational, purposes. However, such purpose and intent may not always be marked by closely specified goals.

Timescales are likely to be highly variable and often structured by the dynamics of the particular institution s in which exchanges are set. Most of those institutions will not primarily be concerned with education.

There will be an active appreciation of, and engagement with, the social systems through which participants operate, and the cultural forms they utilize. When set against the characteristics of formal education, the contrasts are apparent. However, we should not fall into the trap of seeing these forms as polar opposites.

They are more akin to traditions of thinking. Nor should we regard one tradition as being superior to the other. They contain elements which are appropriate to specific situations and could be seen as complementary to one another. The obvious slippage that can occur when considering these, is the simple equation with classical and romantic notions of education:.

It can be quickly seen from this listing that particular formal and informal educational initiatives could be expressive of either of the two ideal types. However, it is probably true that educators with a more romantic view have been drawn to informal approaches and, as such, have tended to put form before content Yarnitt, Linked with this has been an assumption that in some way a concern with process and the so-called romantic curriculum is more radical, more likely to achieve social change.

That view is disputed here. First, pedagogic method is secondary to the overall purpose of education.

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Education aiming to promote the eradication of class division must include, at the very least, some old-fashioned instruction, set into an ordered curriculum, which includes basic information and skills required to execute necessary management tasks. Lovett et al. For this reason it is essential to pay due regard to direction and content in any conceptualization of informal education we may care to advance and recognize that an over-reliance upon informal educational methods can actively disable those involved.

One of the key points of orientation for informal educators is the quality of dialogue that exists in the settings where they work. By helping to create and maintain the conditions and context for dialogue, educators are performing an essential part of their task. The importance of this has been recognized by many youth workers, but often in a somewhat under-theorized way.

What features in these judgements is a concern with the nature and experience of communication. However, these ideas require rigorous examination.

Pedagogy: All you need to know about learning practices

In everyday usage, dialogue is usually taken to mean something rather more than conversation. It suggests a note of seriousness. For example, in the traditional political arena, the word is often used to denote the exchanges between parties prior to formal negotiation. For the informal educator, five important elements require attention.

First, dialogue implies a shared focus. A characteristic of many conversations is that they are often, in reality, separate monologues. The participants have their own themes which they develop as the conversation continues, but the subjects may never meet. Hence, dialogue entails some agreement about what is actually to be talked about, and adherence to this by those involved.

Secondly, dialogue presupposes listening, thinking and talking. It assumes that that participants make an effort to hear what is being said, attempt to understand it and apply their critical faculties before responding. This is not simply the application of a series of technical [page ] skills. In order to listen, and to engage genuinely in dialogue, participants must respect each other. Thirdly, while we have been using the example of face-to-face spoken exchanges, dialogue can also exist when using the written word or symbols.

Informal Learning – Foundations of Learning and Instructional Design Technology

Writing letters or communicating via electronic mail would be a reasonably responsive example of such a dialogue, but it could equally be the interaction of reader and writer. Similarly, the dialogue may only involve one person. Fourthly, dialogue requires a language of some form. Language allows communication, social interaction, thought and control. It is a means of transmitting ideas and perceptions of experiences between individuals and provides a medium through which people can categorize, order and direct their experiences, understandings, and relations with other people.

These functions do not operate independently. Individuals come to recognize the ways in which others communicate — the linguistic rules they seem to obey, the styles to which they conform, and the particular symbols they employ to describe the world and to order their knowledge of it. In learning how to use these practices for their own purposes, they internalize certain representations created by other people which can be used in the formulation of their own understandings and interpretations of the world.

Walker and Meighan, In this way, the language environment in which people are engaged will come to influence both how people communicate with others and how they conceptualize and think. The informal educator has, therefore, to pay special attention to words and symbols and their context. Within the word we find two dimensions, reflection and action, in such radical interaction that if one is sacrificed — even in part — the other immediately suffers. There is no true word that is not at the same time a praxis.

Freire places a particular emphasis upon praxis, upon informed action and thinking occasioned by action: [page ]. The act of knowing involves a dialectical movement that goes from reflection upon action to a new action. For the learner to know what he did not know before, he must engage in an authentic process of abstraction by means of which he can reflect on the action-object whole, or, more generally, on forms of orientation in the world. Freire, 50— Instead of existing in a culture of silence and submission, learners are to be encouraged to be creators and to become autonomous. First, there is a seeming disregard for content and direction.

Secondly, there is a tendency towards collapsing the roles of educator and learner. I have already argued that it is necessary to recognize the distinctions between the roles. In this formulation of informal education, the relationship is to be marked by mutual respect and this, in turn, is based upon the recognition of differences. The educator does possess certain forms or combinations of expertise which the learner, by and large, does not.

The learner certainly possesses other forms of expertise which are relevant to the enterprise and of worth to the educator, but this should not lead to the erroneous assumption that they are the same or necessarily of equal interest at that point in time. The recognition of the significance of dialogue for the educator is of great importance. This process of enabling ideas, attitudes and experiences to be viewed as problematic, as requiring questioning and analysis, is also directed towards action.

Here the notion of praxis is essential, directing attention to the importance of informed action and theory which has a meaning in the world. While there is an air of immediacy about informal education practice, of the need to start with the concerns that are presented, this should not blind us to the amount of planning and structuring that is necessary for effective practice. It is often those very activities which appear most unstructured and reactive, which require substantial preparation and critical attention. Without the usual rhythms and imperatives of building-based work, it is necessary to have a clear sense of purpose and to establish patterns simply to survive, let alone to undertake effective work.

Thus, a curriculum is not a syllabus, which rather suggests a detailed account of materials or resources to be used, nor a statement of aims, but an outline of the subject matter to be studied Barrow, 3. However, much writing in the field of curriculum studies has tended to redirect attention from content. For instance, Stenhouse argues that the fundamental questions on which curriculum research and development can throw light on are questions of translating purpose into policy and trying to realize aspirations, whatever they may be Stenhouse, This shift came about with a growing awareness of the range of extraneous factors that can make a substantial difference to how content is experienced and what is learnt.

As Barrow argues, it is easier to recognize that a curriculum, defined relatively narrowly in terms of content, may have unintended consequences, and then to explore that issue, than it is to be alert to all the conceivable ramifications of a broad concept Barrow, What this definition of curriculum does leave open is the way in which the content may be prescribed. Read how new approaches to modern learning are improving student results and school performance. In a digital-first world, pupils are surrounded by social media platforms.

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Considered largely a distraction by teachers, or a risk to e-safety, can there be a place for social media in education? Social media, however, is one of the biggest issues to behaviour and engagement in schools today. In some scenarios, however, can be beneficial to adapt social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook, and even Snapchat for the modern classroom.

For a complete guide to using Pinterest for finding and sharing teacher resources and inspiring pupils, read our blog. Flipped learning is a technique that gives students time at home to engage with a subject or topic, before undertaking relevant tasks and learning practices in school hours. Informal learning is like riding a bike: the rider chooses the destination, the speed, and the route. Three quarters of surveyed teachers report better levels of engagement in the classroom after implementing flipped learning.

Could it be the flexible approach? Flipped learning enables students able to access materials at a time that best suits them best.

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