Читать книгу Learning in Adulthood - Sharan B. Merriam - Страница 37

Informal learning is the third form of learning in Coombs's typology. Defined by him as “the spontaneous, unstructured learning that goes on daily in the home and neighborhood, behind the school and on the playing field, in the workplace, marketplace, library and museum, and through the various mass media” informal learning is by far the most prevalent form of adult learning (Coombs, 1985, p. 92), the “base of the iceberg” upon which formal and nonformal learning rests (Rogers, 2014). Rogers (2014) notes three forces in our lives that promote informal learning: (a) taking on new roles such as parent, student, retiree; (b) adapting to factors in the sociocultural context such as economic forces, advances in technology, etc.; and (c) individual interests that change over time. Illeris (2017) calls informal learning “everyday learning” because it “occurs informally and apparently by chance in everyday life as one moves around the spaces of one's life without consciously intending to learn anything, but often busily absorbed in getting everything to function, and more or less understanding it” (p. 203). It is, as Livingstone (2001) points out, learning that takes place without the externally imposed curriculum of either formal or nonformal educative programs. The complexity of this type of learning is underscored by Ross-Gordon, Rose, and Kasworm (2017):

These informal learning experiences have typically involved learner-created, situation-specific, frequently extemporaneous, and more often undocumented learning experiences. Adults in informal learning activities take responsibility for identifying a variety of learning goals and for actively choosing to learn new information and skill through their own means, style, and judgment. Through efforts to identify key resources from books, technology media, tutorials, neighbors, colleagues, or a local authority, each individual self-experiments with different forms of learning resources. Further, these learners utilize varied forms of assessment to meet their self-defined learning goals and expected outcomes (p. 34).

The very nature of informal learning is what makes it so difficult for adults to recognize. Embedded as informal learning is in our everyday activities, whether we are at work, at home, or in the community, and lacking institutional sponsorship, adults rarely label these activities as learning. However, studies of informal learning, especially those asking about adults' self-directed learning projects, reveal that upwards of 90% of adults are engaged in hundreds of hours of informal learning (see Chapter 6). It has also been estimated that the great majority (upwards of 70%) of learning in the workplace is informal (Kim, Collins Hagedorn, Williamson, & Chapman, 2004), although billions of dollars each year are spent by business and industry on formal training programs. Caruso (2017) suggests more should be done to capture and share this rich resource of informal learning in the workplace.

Informal learning, Schugurensky (2013) suggests, has its own internal forms that are important to distinguish in studying the phenomenon. He discusses three forms: self-directed learning, incidental learning, and socialization, or tacit learning. Informal learning is:

all that learning that is not acquired through the formal and non-formal educational systems. At first glance, it seems that there is little left. A deeper look will reveal that we learn many important and relevant things outside of organized educational programs. Informal learning could be self-directed (intentional and conscious), incidental (unintentional but conscious), or tacit (unintentional and unconscious) (p. 6).

These differ among themselves in terms of intentionality and awareness at the time of the learning experience. Self-directed learning, for example, is intentional and conscious; incidental learning, which Marsick and Watkins (1990/2016) describe as an accidental by-product of doing something else, is unintentional but “after the experience she or he becomes aware that some learning has taken place” (p. 4); and finally, socialization or tacit learning is neither intentional nor conscious (although we can become aware of this learning later through “retrospective recognition”) (p. 6). For an exploration of these forms of informal learning see Duguid, Mundel, and Schugurensky's (2013) case studies of informal learning of volunteers in diverse institutional and organizational settings.

Of the three forms of informal learning, self-directed learning is the most visible and the most studied (see Chapter 6). The following two scenarios illustrate the informal nature of self-directed learning:

 Scenario 1: David has a passion for model railroading. He spends hours in his basement planning his layout, tinkering with his equipment, and laying track. He subscribes to every railroad magazine published and talks shop with acquaintances who also have model trains. Every once in a while, he attends a model railroad show, but for the most part, this is a hobby he enjoys pursuing on his own. Over the years he has learned a great deal about model railroading and is proud of his layout, though as he says, “I'll never be totally satisfied. There are always new things coming out which I like to fiddle with.”

 Scenario 2: Trudy has just learned that she has breast cancer. Once over the initial shock, she decides to take an active role in planning her treatment. So that she can speak intelligently with the myriad medical personnel she knows she must face, she gathers as much information as she can about the disease from a number of sources, including the American Cancer Society, her local Reach for Recovery Program, the Internet, and an oncology nurse who is a friend of a friend. Moreover, she learns of a local support group for cancer patients and decides to join for both information and emotional solace, thereby choosing a nonformal learning opportunity as part of her own self-directed efforts. Her husband and best friend have joined her in her fight, and both are reaching out to a number of different sources for advice and counsel.

These scenarios, representing the independent pursuit of learning in natural settings, with or without the support of institutional resources, are very common in adult life. Yet even with the many verification studies that have been completed, self-directed learning in this form is not recognized by many adults, or even by some educators of adults, as “real learning.” There are a lot of Davids out there, learning all kinds of things on their own, from model railroading to making quilts and crafting clay pots. Some find friends or independent mentors to assist them in their learning, and some deliberately choose institutional resources that might be helpful to them as part of their self-directed activities. There are also numerous Trudys whose self-directed learning activities are responsive to an unanticipated problem or situation. These learners often combine resources in their natural environments with those supplied by institutions, from educational materials to people who can assist them with their learning. What becomes evident is that this type of informal learning does not necessarily mean learning alone, a major myth about self-directed learning. Rather, adults often engage with other people, and even groups, whether they are institutionally based or not, in their self-directed learning pursuits.

Schugurensky (2000) makes just this point in summarizing the three forms of informal learning—that is, informal learning can occur individually or in groups and “learners can use a variety of sources for their learning, including books, newspapers, TV, the Internet, museums, schools, universities, friends, relatives, their own experience, etc.” (para. 20). He also notes that informal learning can complement and reinforce or contradict learning acquired in formal and nonformal settings:

For instance, one can learn in school curriculum that the capitalist system is a great contribution to humanity, and learn through informal ways that such a system is detrimental to humanity. Likewise, one can be socialized by the surrounding community into a bigot, and learn virtues of tolerance in the public school. Moreover, one can go to a school and be aware that through the formal curriculum she or he is learning A (e.g. math), without being aware that through the hidden curriculum she or he is learning B (e.g. homophobia) (para. 23).

Schugurensky also notes that informal learning can be additive, in the sense of acquiring more knowledge or skills, and it can be transformative (see Chapter 7).

In summary, we have presented a framework that encompasses three types of settings or contexts in which learning in adulthood occurs. The first two settings, formal and nonformal, involve some form of organizational or community sponsorship. The third opportunity, informal learning, is more of a hybrid. Although the majority of learning opportunities in this last category are planned and initiated primarily by learners in natural settings (such as the home, on the job, or through recreational pursuits), the learning processes and methods used in self-directed and informal learning have been incorporated by some formal and nonformal settings in the way they carry through their instructional programs.