In conversation we, as educators, have to catch the moment where we can say or do something to deepen people’s thinking or to put themselves in touch with their feelings. It is the exchanges and the thoughts they provoke that leads us – not some predetermined curriculum or plan. When we put conversation at the centre of education something very important happens. People ‘have, as it were, two internal voices, so they can both create new ideas and look at them, criticize and admire’ (Zeldin 1999: 57). We can watch ourselves as we go about our lives, as we talk and think. As such it can be a very powerful experience – ‘conversation changes the way you see the world, and even changes the world’ (Zeldin 1999: 3).Īs well as talking and listening to others, we also have conversations with ourselves. When we join in conversation it is often difficult to predict where it will lead. It involves connecting with both ideas and other people. Catherine Blyth has described conversation as ‘the spontaneous business of making connections’ (Blyth 2008: 4). It develops through spending time with people – sharing in their lives – and listening and talking. Informal education, we argue, is driven by conversation and being with others. These ways of working all entail learning – but informal education tends to be unpredictable – we do not know where it might lead – and spontaneous. At other times we may go with the flow – adding to the conversation when it seems right or picking up on an interest. Some of the time we work with a clear objective in mind – perhaps linked to some broader plan e.g. In all of these roles we are also likely to talk and join in activities with others (children, young people and adults). When we are engaged in learning projects we teach ourselves. In the examples above we can see that whether we are parents or specialist educators, we teach. It works through conversation, and the exploration and enlargement of experience. Informal education is the wise, respectful and spontaneous process of cultivating learning. It’s purpose, we suggest, is to cultivate communities, associations and relationships that make for human flourishing. However, here we focus on informal education as a spontaneous process of helping people to learn. Informal education can be all of these things. Like friends or parents they may respond to what is going on but, as professionals, these workers are able to bring special insights and ways of working. In these settings there are specialist workers / educators whose job it is to encourage people to think about experiences and situations. Many view informal education as the learning that comes as part of being involved in youth and community organizations. We may take up fishing, for example, and then start reading around the subject, buying magazines and searching out other anglers (perhaps through joining an Angling Club). Others may view informal education as the learning projects that we undertake for ourselves.
#Participation in non formal education quiz how to#
As parents or carers we may show children how to write different words or tie their laces. As friends, for example, we may well encourage others to talk about things that have happened in their lives so that they can handle their feelings and to think about what to do next. Some see informal education as the learning that goes on in daily life. why have specialist informal educators?.what is the purpose of informal education?.contents: introducing informal education It’s purpose is to cultivate communities, associations and relationships that make for human flourishing. Informal education they suggest, works through conversation, and the exploration and enlargement of experience. They focus on informal education as a spontaneous process of helping people to learn. So what is informal education? Here Tony Jeffs and Mark K Smith cut a path through some of the confusion around the area.
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