Formal vs Non-Formal Education
infed.org • infed.org :
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• events and courses What is non-formal education? infed.org: Association, democracy and civil society, Education, Group work, Ideas, Index, Informal and non-formal education, Informal Jewish education, Learning, organizational learning, Social action, social change and social reform, Social pedagogy, Teaching and pedagogy, Youth work What is non-formal education? Within policy debates a common differentiation has been made between different forms of provision. Informal, non-formal, and formal programmes have been viewed as very different. Here we explore this categorization and some of the forms of work that exist under the non-formal label in southern countries.
Contents: introduction • the idea of non-formal education • the use of the term • formal and non-formal programmes • top down – bottom up • pointers to evaluating non-formal education • conclusion • further reading and references • how to cite this piece
Non-formal education became part of the international discourse on education policy in the late 1960s and early 1970s. It can be seen as related to the concepts of recurrent and lifelong learning. Tight (1996: 68) suggests that whereas the latter concepts have to do with the extension of education and learning throughout life, non-formal education is about ‘acknowledging the importance of education, learning and training which takes place outside recognized educational institutions’. Fordham (1993) suggests that in the 1970s, four characteristics came be associated with non-formal education:
• Relevance to the needs of disadvantaged groups.
• Concern with specific categories of person.
• A focus on clearly defined purposes.
• Flexibility in organization and methods.
In many northern countries the notion of non-formal education is not common in internal policy debates – preferred alternatives being community education and community learning, informal education and social pedagogy.
• encyclopaedia
• archives
• events and courses What is non-formal education? infed.org: Association, democracy and civil society, Education, Group work, Ideas, Index, Informal and non-formal education, Informal Jewish education, Learning, organizational learning, Social action, social change and social reform, Social pedagogy, Teaching and pedagogy, Youth work What is non-formal education? Within policy debates a common differentiation has been made between different forms of provision. Informal, non-formal, and formal programmes have been viewed as very different. Here we explore this categorization and some of the forms of work that exist under the non-formal label in southern countries.
Contents: introduction • the idea of non-formal education • the use of the term • formal and non-formal programmes • top down – bottom up • pointers to evaluating non-formal education • conclusion • further reading and references • how to cite this piece
Non-formal education became part of the international discourse on education policy in the late 1960s and early 1970s. It can be seen as related to the concepts of recurrent and lifelong learning. Tight (1996: 68) suggests that whereas the latter concepts have to do with the extension of education and learning throughout life, non-formal education is about ‘acknowledging the importance of education, learning and training which takes place outside recognized educational institutions’. Fordham (1993) suggests that in the 1970s, four characteristics came be associated with non-formal education:
• Relevance to the needs of disadvantaged groups.
• Concern with specific categories of person.
• A focus on clearly defined purposes.
• Flexibility in organization and methods.
In many northern countries the notion of non-formal education is not common in internal policy debates – preferred alternatives being community education and community learning, informal education and social pedagogy.
References: Coombs, P. (1968) The World Educational Crisis, New York, Oxford University Press. Coombs, P. (1985) The World Crisis in Education, New York: Oxford University Press. Coombs, P. with Ahmed, M. (1974) Attacking Rural Poverty, Baltimore: The John Hopkins University Press. Fordham, P. E. (1993) ‘Informal, non-formal and formal education programmes’ in YMCA George Williams College ICE301 Lifelong Learning Unit 2, London: YMCA George Williams College. Graham-Brown, S. (1991) Education in the Developing World, Harlow: Longman. McGivney, V. and Murray, F. (1991) Adult Education in Development. Methods and approaches from changing societies, Leicester: NIACE. Rubenson, K.(1982) Interaction Between Formal and Non-Formal Education Paris, Paper for Conference of the International Council for Adult Education. Tight, M. (1996) Key Concepts in Adult Education and Training, London: Routledge. UNESCO (1972) Learning to Be (prepared by Faure, E. et al), Paris: UNESCO. How to cite this piece: Smith, M. K. (2001). ‘What is non-formal education?’, the encyclopaedia of informal education. [http://infed.org/mobi/what-is-non-formal-education/ . Retrieved: insert date].