Informelles Lernen

The foundations laid during initial vocational training are no longer sufficient to meet the demands of an entire professional life. Lifelong learning has become more necessary than ever today. Continuing education and training must offer flexible pathways for all employees to update their knowledge and skills. Informal learning has become an important aspect of lifelong learning in recent years. Competencies are seemingly acquired incidentally through daily work, leisure activities, or family life. Although these insights about learning outside of institutions are not new, and other countries already have procedures for recognizing and documenting informal learning, Germany is still at the beginning of this discussion. Until now, only competencies in the area of formal and company education have been certified in Germany. Nevertheless, some projects have taken it upon themselves to develop concepts for evaluating the skills and abilities acquired in these life contexts.

This work provides a general overview of the topic of informal learning. The first part explains the societal development that has led to an increasing awareness of informal learning. Subsequently, several selected approaches to defining informal learning are compared in detail.

The second part of the work discusses the various possibilities for validating informal learning. Models from the United Kingdom, France, Norway, and Switzerland are presented. Finally, some risks of informal learning, or the documentation of informal learning across all areas of life, are explained.