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Adult Learners’ Informal Learning Experiences in Formal Education Setting

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Abstract

Schools typically ignore an enormous part of students’ learning, i.e. informal learning. Such informal processes include intentional, incidental, and tacit learning and tend to be unnoticed because of their taken-for-granted nature. By conducting in-depth interviews with 15 students, two teachers, and two program coordinators of an adult education program, this study examines informal learning outcomes, processes, and personal informal learning experiences within formal education. The study aimed to reveal the interaction between formal and informal learning as well as the respondents’ experiences in this matter. Respondents report a diverse array of informal learning results. Respondents describe informal learning to occur through self-directed learning projects, daily conversations and experiences, and the program’s informal and hidden curriculum. According to respondents, informal learning has the potential to enrich and complement formal learning. Moreover, the findings point to potential personal, educational, and societal benefits of revealing informal learning within formal education. Implications for practice and future research are discussed.

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Acknowledgments

The authors are especially grateful to the Research Foundation Flanders for their financial support enabling the research presented in the present paper.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Educational Sciences, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Pleinlaan 2, 1050, Brussels, Belgium

    Jeltsen Peeters, Free De Backer, Ankelien Kindekens, Katrien Struyven, Chang Zhu & Koen Lombaerts

  2. Research Foundation Flanders, Brussels, Belgium

    Jeltsen Peeters

  3. Department of Sociology, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK

    Tine Buffel

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  1. Jeltsen Peeters
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  2. Free De Backer
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  3. Tine Buffel
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  4. Ankelien Kindekens
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  6. Chang Zhu
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  7. Koen Lombaerts
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Correspondence to Jeltsen Peeters.

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Peeters, J., De Backer, F., Buffel, T. et al. Adult Learners’ Informal Learning Experiences in Formal Education Setting. J Adult Dev 21, 181–192 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10804-014-9190-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10804-014-9190-1

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