Are You Learning Right Now? Formal vs. Informal Learning in Adulthood

Sometimes we know we are learning. We are sitting in a classroom, or a seminar. We are listening and taking notes. Its the classic picture of what learning looks like. Or, maybe, we are watching a tutorial video on You Tube, reading a self help book, googling the answer to our kids' homework.

Learning comes in many shapes and sizes: Formal Learning follows a set path and series of objectives and activities leading to those objectives. Informal Learning is usually self driven or even experiential, it happens naturally in the course of daily life. It may occur spontaneously or be driven by a direction you which to explore: The watercolour set you started to experiment with, the link you clicked on at the bottom of an interesting news article, the conversation with a friend that changed your thinking a little. As adults, informal learning is probably something we engage in more often than formal learning - even if we don't have the certificates to show for it.

In this week's blog, I want to share my formal and informal learning experiences in the one field: Learning German.

I have lived in Germany now for over 6 years, and didn’t speak a word of German when I arrived. I consider myself to have been strongly motivated by the challenge of the huge change in my day to day life when I first arrived, and I relate strongly to the principles of motivation in Ron and Susan Remke’s article, “30 things we know for sure about adult learning.”

From Formal to Informal

I first set out on a formal learning course, working with a tutor twice a week working through a beginners’ course workbook. This very quickly began to change, however, as I wanted and needed my learning to be more immediately applicable to the day to day challenges I was facing. I needed to know how to register my child at a paediatrician and discuss basic childhood health symptoms, I did not need to describe in detail the contents of my pencil case!

There's nothing quite like a sudden flat tyre to force you to learn some new vocabulary in a foreign land!

Thus my experience of working with a private tutor became less formal. Whilst we covered grammatical concepts in a prescribed order, she became responsive to my vocabulary needs. Providing me with input that I could immediately practise and apply in my week ahead.

After the first year, I stopped taking lessons. I had gained enough to “get by” in most of my day to day situations. But, every time I had a new activity – getting a new hairstyle or getting a flat tyre – I had to challenge myself to look up, memorise and apply a new vocabulary. Along the way, I picked up many colloquialisms and turns of phrase that I heard others regularly use. This was the most informal stage of my learning.

More Life Changes? Back to the Classroom!

Workbooks at the ready? Let's go!

Recently, I have taken my learning to the other extreme of formality. Motivated again by the stresses and challenges of many simultaneous life changes – job loss, buying a house, political and residency uncertainty about UK leaving the EU – I have taken up an intensive classroom based German course. This course is much more formal: It follows a framework which leads to an external European Language equivalency examination. However, it is still set up to acknowledge the self-directed and varied nature of its adult participants. Everyone on the course has a free choice to be there, and is there because they want to learn. Homework, whilst useful, is largely optional. Units deal with relevant topics which allow learners to link to and share their diverse experiences and ideas. Eg. Work experiences, integration and multiculturalism, dealing with conflicts.

Outside of language learning, in many areas that I have taken an interest in as an adult, a certain mixture of formal and informal learning has been useful. A period of formal instruction often kick starts learning or boosts it later on, once I have got to the limits of what I can pick up incidentally and informally.

So what are your experiences?

Have you found the same blended formal-informal approach long term in your own learning? Do you agree with Remke's article and my post - that adult learning is primarily motivated by the need to adapt to life change events? It's great to reflect on your own learning - and to give yourself credit for the all that quiet, uncredited but no less important, informal learning that you achieve each day.

You can learn more about Formal vs. Informal Learning Here, with an informative infographic from www.growtheengineering.co.uk. Enjoy!