Informal adult learning
Support from BIS Ministers
John Hayes, Minister of State for Further Education, Skills and Lifelong Learning, speaking at the 2010 NIACE policy conference
"And adult education – make no mistake – brings hope and the promise of a better society founded on social mobility, social justice and social cohesion."
"It both enriches the lives of individuals and the communities of which they are a part. Adult learning is not a luxury, it is an essential component of our education system. If we want to build a bigger society as the Prime Minister has missioned us to, then we must recognise the value of community learning to civil society."
Read the full speech
What is informal adult learning?
Informal adult learning is learning for its own sake rather than the pursuit of a qualification. The term covers a variety of activities, from foreign language classes, local history clubs and reading groups to online research projects, amateur dramatic societies, writing a Wikipedia entry or taking part in a volunteer project to record the living history of a community.
Although informal learning can support the development of work-related skills, much of it is part-time, non-vocational learning. People participate for enjoyment, driven by their desire for personal fulfilment or intellectual, creative and physical stimulation.
So, informal adult learning is about:
- learning to know – becoming inspired, discovering and exploring, developing a passion for learning, acquiring knowledge and understanding of ourselves, our immediate world and beyond
- learning to do – gaining skills, boosting confidence and self-esteem, competence and practical abilities
- learning to live together – learning tolerance, mutual understanding and interdependence, sharing the experience of learning with family and friends
- learning to be – developing ourselves, our mental and physical capacity, wellbeing and autonomy, and our ability to take control of our lives and influence the world around us
What are the benefits of informal adult learning?
This kind of learning makes a significant contribution to the health and well-being of individuals, families and communities by:
- building communities of active, confident, enthusiastic, critical, creative people, who can often inspire others to learn
- promoting civic participation and engagement
- contributing to mental and physical wellbeing
- building vital bridges into formal training and sustainable employment
- enabling individuals and groups to develop environmental awareness and prepare for, and respond to, change
- encouraging and supporting activities organised by people for themselves
- promoting access to information and signposting sources of advice and guidance
- supporting social contact and independent living for older people and people with learning difficulties or disabilities
- developing stronger more resilient families and stimulating inter-generational learning.
Who’s involved?
All sorts of individuals and organisations are actively involved in helping to make informal learning happen. Some people are paid but many others are volunteers. Some organisations are funded by the tax payer and many are not. Lots of local voluntary organisations and community networks deliver and support the informal learning found in libraries, museums, community centres, unionlearn centres, universities, extended schools, children’s centres, colleges and workplaces.
Many people learn in clubs and groups organised by their own members. We call this self-organised learning and we’ve created a dedicated website with lots of guidance, advice and resources to help people set up a group and keep it going.
www.selforganisedlearning.com
Public funding for informal learning
BIS supports informal adult learning in England through the £210 million Adult Safeguarded Learning budget. The budget is divided into four programme strands:
- Personal and Community Development Learning
- Family Literacy, Language and Numeracy
- Wider Family Learning
- Neighbourhood Learning in Deprived Areas.
BIS also supports ten Specialist Designated Institutions – colleges with a particularly long and rich tradition of providing a wide range of often unaccredited educational opportunities for disadvantaged adults in order to transform individual lives and benefit the communities from which they come.
Other government departments and local government also support this kind of activity, though it may not always be described as ‘learning’. They support museums, libraries, archives, sports activities, arts, culture, healthy living and volunteering, much of which involves grassroots learning activity. Local services, including activity to support citizenship, build stronger families, improve mental and physical wellbeing and raise environmental awareness all contribute to a rich and diverse tapestry of informal learning.
