The great value of informal education

Many people feel inferior for not having completed their academic training; There are many parents who go into a state of alarm when their children tell them that their plans do not include going to university. However, and although of course knowledge opens doors for us, there is no single way to acquire it.. In fact, informal education can be as valuable or more valuable than formal education.

Although this trend has begun to change and qualities, learning and experiences beyond degrees are now valued, Traditionally, formal education has been considered the only way to achieve success.. Thus, we can spend years learning a theory that we do not know how to put into practice, or at least we do not know how to do it skillfully enough for someone to want to hire us for it.

If you want to know more about it and open yourself to these different possibilities, we invite you to continue reading.

What is informal education?

To understand the context, let’s start by delineating the different types of education. And the learning process is continuous and takes place in different areas and in various ways.

Formal education: includes official, regulated training, which follows a hierarchy and is taught in institutions designed for this purpose. It is, for example, compulsory basic education or university studies.Informal education: refers to training that is not part of official studies, but is also carried out intentionally and with a specific objective. It can be carried out in specialized institutions or outside them, but it is still quite structured. For example, road safety education provided by driving schools or safety courses would fall into this category. mindfulnesscooking or painting.Informal education: encompasses all non-intentional learning processes, which occur spontaneously, without having been planned or structured and are the result of practical experience. They can take place in any environment and context and usually promote the acquisition of skills or attitudes. It occurs, for example, when babies learn to speak by listening to their parents or when we learn a curious fact by reading a book or an article on the Internet.

A book on a topic that interests us can be a good informal education tool.

The value of informal education

Although the three learning paths are very valid and necessary, generally we only focus on enhancing the first one. Even, we consider as a waste of time those activities that could provide us with an informal education (for example, traveling, reading, playing video games, or spending time with friends).

Despite this, this type of education is extremely useful and valuable for several reasons:

It is spontaneous and natural

Informal learning occurs spontaneously, within the person’s natural and daily context. They do not require planning or intention and, therefore, They do not involve effort nor do they generate exhaustion.

In the case of children, it is the basis of all their early learning and, in adults, it helps us polish and perfect personal tools.

Enhance autonomy

This type of education usually involves one’s own work, research, analysis, and the ability to search for information or process it personally. So, we are active agents of our learning experience and we get involved in it, we act motivated by our interests, by the topics that we are passionate about and about which we want to know more. We can choose.

On the contrary, in formal education we tend to be mere passive recipients of knowledge that, on many occasions, does not arouse much enthusiasm in us.

It is practical and experiential

It’s without doubt that Practice is the best way to achieve meaningful learning and consolidate knowledge. Therefore, what we learn informally can have much more impact (and in a much simpler way).

We all forget dates or concepts learned in school, but we more often maintain the skills we acquire when interacting with others or having to solve everyday problems.

It is accessible and affordable

Technology puts a large amount of information on heterogeneous topics at our disposal. In a simple way, we can consult, resolve doubts and delve deeper about everything that arouses our curiosity. But we can also use books, attend free conferences or learn by interacting with people around us.

Thus, we do not need to have a specific time to learn, spend certain money or be physically present in a certain place. Learning can be done in such different ways and in such a flexible way that we can consider it open to almost everyone.

Technologies are a flexible access route to different types of knowledge.

It is the education that prepares us for life

If formal training prepares us for a job, informal education prepares us for life. Through it we learn about issues as important as socialization, emotional intelligence, decision making or problem solving. Optimism or pessimism, victimhood or resilience, perseverance or resignation… We acquire all these attitudes without realizing it, without intention and on a daily basis.

Therefore, we should never underestimate those learnings that teach us to be human. What a trip, a reading you like, or a personal relationship brings is not learned in school. And, perhaps, it is those learnings that we sometimes don’t even realize that end up being most useful to us. Thus, let us always remember the value of informal education.

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