Policy Press
Seven The role of informal learning
Abstract
This chapter begins by questioning the narrow definition of learning used in much present writing concerning lifelong learning, which tends to focus on the purported economic and societal benefits of prolonging and widening participation in formal education and training programmes. In contrast, much valuable and non-trivial learning already goes on, and has always gone on, outside formal programmes of instruction. This is true both at work (Fevre et al, 2000) and in leisure (Gorard et al, 1999d). If such informal learning continues to be ignored by proponents of a learning society, then the result may be an unnecessary exclusiveness in definitions of a learning society, and an unjustifiable reliance on certification.
An individual’s position within the social-structure of the determinants of participation, described in Chapters Four to Six – the objective opportunities available to particular social groups at particular places and times – is located chiefly by their personal characteristics such as age, gender, and family background. A 1982 ACACE (Advisory Council for Adult Continuing Education) survey suggested that the ability to take up opportunities was affected by personal motivation and individual circumstance, as well as by individuals’ knowledge of and the availability of learning opportunities (Sargant, 1996). Being a learner has therefore been described as a ‘praxis’ (Mezirow, 1990).
However, at least one other possibility has emerged, as there are some individuals who do not fit our more general theory of early socio-economic determinants, since their will to act comes from a crisis in their later life. Their motivation may be dispositional (Edwards et al, 1993), of the type that tends to be the most underestimated by survey-type methods (Harrison, 1993).
Abstract
This chapter begins by questioning the narrow definition of learning used in much present writing concerning lifelong learning, which tends to focus on the purported economic and societal benefits of prolonging and widening participation in formal education and training programmes. In contrast, much valuable and non-trivial learning already goes on, and has always gone on, outside formal programmes of instruction. This is true both at work (Fevre et al, 2000) and in leisure (Gorard et al, 1999d). If such informal learning continues to be ignored by proponents of a learning society, then the result may be an unnecessary exclusiveness in definitions of a learning society, and an unjustifiable reliance on certification.
An individual’s position within the social-structure of the determinants of participation, described in Chapters Four to Six – the objective opportunities available to particular social groups at particular places and times – is located chiefly by their personal characteristics such as age, gender, and family background. A 1982 ACACE (Advisory Council for Adult Continuing Education) survey suggested that the ability to take up opportunities was affected by personal motivation and individual circumstance, as well as by individuals’ knowledge of and the availability of learning opportunities (Sargant, 1996). Being a learner has therefore been described as a ‘praxis’ (Mezirow, 1990).
However, at least one other possibility has emerged, as there are some individuals who do not fit our more general theory of early socio-economic determinants, since their will to act comes from a crisis in their later life. Their motivation may be dispositional (Edwards et al, 1993), of the type that tends to be the most underestimated by survey-type methods (Harrison, 1993).
Chapters in this book
- Front Matter i
- Contents iii
- List of tables and figures iv
- Acknowledgements vi
- Preface vii
- Contemporary policies for a learning society 1
- Lifelong learning trajectories 15
- History, place and the learning society: the case of South Wales 31
- Patterns of individual participation in adult learning 43
- Families and the formation of learner identities 65
- Lifelong learning trajectories and the two dimensions of change over time 87
- The role of informal learning 105
- The learning society and the economic imperative 121
- The impact of policies to widen participation 135
- The prospects for a learning society 145
- References 157
- The research sites 179
- Index 185
Chapters in this book
- Front Matter i
- Contents iii
- List of tables and figures iv
- Acknowledgements vi
- Preface vii
- Contemporary policies for a learning society 1
- Lifelong learning trajectories 15
- History, place and the learning society: the case of South Wales 31
- Patterns of individual participation in adult learning 43
- Families and the formation of learner identities 65
- Lifelong learning trajectories and the two dimensions of change over time 87
- The role of informal learning 105
- The learning society and the economic imperative 121
- The impact of policies to widen participation 135
- The prospects for a learning society 145
- References 157
- The research sites 179
- Index 185
