Materials – Rural Youth Europe

Rural Youth Europe learning platform

What is non-formal education?

Where the traditional education is divided into the intentional and imposed learning, in other words formal learning, and the incidental and unstructured learning, or in-formal learning, non-formal education and learning is based in the planned but more freely executed learning. This means methods are intentional, but the learning goals are established together with the learners themselves.

Non-formal methods cover all methods used in a self-directed, outside imposed educational structure, but still aim based learning methods. Basically, reading a book can be both a formal and a non-formal method, depending on if the learner decided to read it based on their aim and learning preference (non-formal) or if it was decided by another instructor that they should read it (formal). If methods are the how, the themes are the what. This meaning; we can learn about Peacebuilding (theme) by reading, playing a game, or even just talking with a peer learner.