That is what non-formal education is all about. Are you really not smart enough for academia, or is that very specific method of teaching just not the way you learn most effectively? Maybe there is a different method tailored to you as a person taking your needs into account that will finally help you understand. Non-formal education is about making knowledge accessible to all and helping people to understand because they want to understand. Everyone deserves the chance to learn and discover and to understand about any subject. Your past circumstances in life, your past choices, your place of birth, or your previous interests should no more define what you are able to learn that whether you are allowed to enjoy your favourite song. The thing is though all knowledge is for everyone just like all art is for everyone. Many people feel like academia is not for them or that they are not smart enough for a certain subject. There are exams to get into universities, there are restrictions placed on who can go and certain knowledge is seen as accessible by the best or brightest and that having done badly at school means these doors are closed forever. Often formal education is very selective. It is for the desire to learn and grow and develop skills that will benefit your life.ДЄn important part of non-formal education is that it is inclusive and open to everyone. Participants choose to be involved in the activity and choose to engage because they want to, not because they need to complete a course or get a certificate. It is centred around the learner not curriculum, and the methods and outcomes can be tailored to the individual allowing them to learn and grow at the pace and with the techniques needed for them specifically.

This means that it is about encouraging those involved to take part and to learn and engage through their own motivation with their own desire for learning. Non-formal education is participatory and voluntary. In the next Together Thursdays blog I will go into this in more detail but for now I just want to talk more about what it is! We believe strongly in the methods and benefits of non-formal education, and it is the preferred method of teaching of many youth organisations and institutions. It can be drama or music or sports, camping or workshops or dance and certainly if you have attended any Rural Youth Europe events you have experienced some non-formal education first-hand. Non-formal education will be the kind of activities you have done at youth clubs and community centres. So, what is non-formal education? Non-formal education is planned and structured unlike informal education but lacks the rigorous programmed content and strict assessment of formal education. This is not a planned structured activity but just something you do anyway in the course of your day. Informal education is the way in which you learn by doing through interest or activity through the course of your everyday life. This might be dedication to a hobby, reading books that interest you, watching the news or just talking to people you know. Non-formal education is also not to be confused with informal education as this is where you learn yourself through living your life. If you have ever been to school, attended university, completed an apprenticeship or achieved your food hygiene certificate you have been through formal education of one kind or another. This is usually assessed with some kind of exam or grading process and is the way in which most forms of official recognition and certification occur. This is likely to be fixed in terms of what is delivered and is mostly the same content delivered in the same way regardless of individual participation or needs.

This is anything where there is a structured programme or curriculum with an assessed outcome. This week I want to talk about non-formal education, what it is, why it is important, why it is useful and what support it receives from the EU.Д«efore we answer what is non-formal education it might be first easier to answer what is formal education.

Major advantages non formal education