A form of informal education that advocates for learner-chosen activities as the means toward education instead of a teacher-created curriculum. Unschooling operates under the belief that if a child chooses what they want to learn, that education will be more meaningful and impactful.

Unschooling

Education without the guidance of a teacher or a formal institution. Autodidacts choose their subject of study, their studying materials, and the time necessary to complete their studies.

Autodidactism/Self-Teaching

Any education or learning that is unplanned or unintended. It may occur through engaging in a task or activity or as a byproduct of planned education.

Incidental Education

Education that occurs under the guidance and influence of an expert in a particular field.

Mentorship

- Unschooling
- Autodidactism/Self-Teaching
- Incidental Education
- Mentorship

Grinnell College

Any form of education that does not have a set educational objective or structure but instead focuses on solving specific problems or learning specific skills. In informal education, the teacher and student can be the same person.

Informal Education

Wikipedia

Attributes that exist within the learner or teacher in informal education that facilitates or hinders the educational process.

Nomological Component of Informal Education

Attributes that exist within informal education independent of individual attributes of the learner or teacher that must be there for the educational process to occur.

Contextual Component of Informal Education

Examples of Informal Education

A set of beliefs that dictate a particular methodology in informal education that then reinforces the original beliefs. As it is still unstructured, the orientation relates to how information is distributed instead of denoting a formal methodology.

Theoretical Orientation of Informal Education

Despite their differences, informal and formal education are not disparate concepts and do have overlap between them. Assuming that the overlap is a blend of the two concepts, then the conceptualization of non-formal education as a methodology that exists between formal and informal education is redundant.

Vague Boundary Between Informal and Formal Education

In most conceptualizations, both non-formal and informal education are defined as education that takes place outside of a formal setting. If the main factor that distinguishes the two from formal education is the oppositional educational setting or context, then the existence of both non-formal and informal education is redundant.

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