Informal learning occurs through everyday activities outside of formal education and training and does not lead to qualifications. It is continuous, unstructured, spontaneous, intrinsic, voluntary, learner-led, and not evaluated. Informal learning benefits disengaged learners, older workers who can utilize life experience, workers and businesses who can focus on organizational needs, and migrants who can build language and community skills. It occurs through reading, technology use, media consumption, volunteering, learning from others, on-the-job training, and trial and error. Communities of practice are groups that share purpose and knowledge through mutual engagement and negotiated agreements.

1. Informal Learning
The powerful way we learn and
share information together

2. Definition
• Learning resulting from daily work-related, family or
leisure activities (Halliday-Wynes 2006)
• Outside the formal education system or structured
training and does not lead to a qualification. (Richardson
2004)
• Continuous and ongoing (Halliday-Wynes 2006)
• Is
everywhere, supportive, unstructured, spontaneous,
intrinsic, voluntary , learner–led, not evaluated and is
non-sequential. (Misko 2008)

3. Who benefits?
• Disengaged learners who were challenged by formal
education as it can lead them back to education and
training. (Halliday-Wynes 2006)
• Older workers and learners, as it utilises their life
experience. (ABS 2007)
• Workers and business as it focuses on the needs of the
organisation and employment opportunities. (Halliday-Wynes
2006)
• Migrants and refugees assisting with language acquisition
and formation of community networks and support
groups. (Halliday-Wynes 2006)
Halliday-Wynes, S., & Beddie, F. (2009). Informal learning: At a glance. Canberra: National Centre for Vocational Education
Research (NCVER).

4. Cultural benefits
• A confidence boost to persons thinking about formal
learning pathways
• Significant assistance to employers regarding the
potential contribution of employees to business
• Support for young, mature-aged and migrant people
seeking to improve their employment prospects
• Enables the integration of highly skilled workers and
provides pathways for up skilling
Misko, J., (2008) Combining formal, non-formal and informal learning for workforce skill development, National Centre for
Vocational Education Research, Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations. Canberra. Accessed 28/8/2011.

5. What are they?
“Communities of practice are self-organised and are
selected groups of people who share a common
sense of purpose and a desire to learn and know
what one another knows” (Taylor 2006)
• Mutual engagement • Negotiated agreement
• Allows self-autonomy • Shared resources
• Bound into social entity • Group ownership
• Participate in a joint activity • Participate in a joint activity
“Held together by commitment and identity”.
Taylor, M. C. (2006). Informal adult learning and everyday literacy practices. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 49(6), 500-
509.

6. Involves
• Reading • Volunteering
• Using computers and • Learning from, family,
the internet friends and co-workers
• Watching TV • On the job training
• Listening to the radio • Engaging in mentoring
• Learning through trial
• Visiting libraries
and error
• Attending lectures • Making things

7. How does it occur?
• Project based learning (Taylor 2006)
• Specific purpose that is identified
• Undertaken by an individual (Taylor 2006)
• No assistance from an educator (Taylor 2006)
• Focused and intentional
• Learner is aware when learning is occurring (Taylor 2006)
• Strategies used to memorise the learning
• Repeat use to confirm the learning

8. When does it occur?
• Experience based learning
• No intention to learn
• After the experience the person becomes aware that
learning has occurred
• Unintentional but conscious
• Aware after the experience through reflection
• Strategies maybe used to memorise the learning
• Learning maybe repeated use to confirm the learning

9. What is it?
“Tacit learning refers to the internalization of values,
attitudes, behaviours, or skills that occur during
everyday life”
How does it occur?
• Unintentional learning, gained through
• Unconscious, as not aware that learning occurred
• Realization after reflection

10. Conditions that enhance
An awareness of the learning involves:
• Critical reflection to expose tacit knowledge and
beliefs
• Proactive engagement by the learner to actively
identify opportunities or issues and to learn new
skills to implement solutions
• Creativity to explore a wider range of options

11. Social and cultural learning
Informal learning is by nature social:
• Interaction to identify and seek a resolution
• Sharing the exploration, the learning and the
solution
• Community engagement is a common feature to
build and share information, experience and
reflection

12. References
ABS (Australian Bureau of Statistics) (2008), Australian Social Trends, Canberra: Catalogue 4102.0.
Eshach, H., (2007) Bridging In-school and Out-of-school Learning: Formal, Non-Formal, and
Informal Education, Journal of Science Education and Technology, Vol. 16, No. 2, April 2007
Halliday-Wynes, S., & Beddie, F. (2009). Informal learning: At a glance. Canberra: National Centre
for Vocational Education Research (NCVER).
Misko, J., (2008) Combining formal, non-formal and informal learning for workforce skill
development, National Centre for Vocational Education Research, Department of
Education, Employment and Workplace Relations. Canberra. Accessed 28/8/2011.
Richardson, S., (2004) Employers’ contribution to training, Canberra: National Centre for
Vocational Education Research (NCVER).
Taylor, M. C. (2006). Informal adult learning and everyday literacy practices. Journal of Adolescent
& Adult Literacy, 49(6), 500-509.