Do the things we learn on the street come about in the same way as those we learn in the classroom? In this lesson, we examine the types of education, namely informal and formal education, the division of formal education into formal schooling and non-formal education, the definition and criteria of learning, incidental and guided learning, the difference between teaching and instruction, and the four basic elements of instruction.

What will you learn in this episode?

• Explain the basic difference between informal and formal education
• Distinguish the similarities and differences between formal schooling and non-formal education
• Explain the definition of learning and the three criteria that indicate learning has occurred
• Distinguish incidental learning from guided learning with examples
• Explain the concepts of teaching, instruction and studying and the four basic elements of instruction
• List the key points to consider during instruction

Summary of this episode

Types of education: spontaneous or planned?

Education is a process that takes place at different times, in different settings and in different forms. Some of the activities in this process occur spontaneously and randomly, while others are organized purposefully and according to a plan. Based on this criterion, educational processes are classified as informal and formal education.

Informal education

Informal education is a process that occurs spontaneously in the course of life. In the situations people encounter and when they interact with other members of society, they often learn something without being aware of it. For this reason, informal education continues from birth to death in every area of life: in the family, on the street, at school, at work and through the mass media. In short, informal education consists of educational activities that take place at any moment, anywhere and without being tied to a plan.

In informal education, learning mostly takes place through observation and imitation. A young person growing up in a rural area learns how to sow a field or care for animals by watching the elders. An apprentice learns a craft by watching and imitating the master. However, because this process is unplanned, unsupervised and without a set purpose, individuals may acquire undesired behaviors alongside desired ones. As societies grew and became more complex, informal education proved insufficient, a need for planned education emerged, and schools were established to meet this need. Schools are institutions that seek to prevent undesired behaviors that may be acquired informally.

Formal education

Formal education is education carried out in schools or institutions by implementing a plan or program. It is purposeful and is conducted in a planned way through instruction, within the framework of a program prepared in advance. The process is planned, implemented and evaluated by the teacher, so that the individual's behavior is shaped in line with predetermined aims.

Formal education does not take place only at school. Courses and programs organized to prepare individuals for a profession or to help them advance in it are also formal education. These out-of-school programs are needs-oriented, short-term and limited to specific topics, and participants are not grouped by age.

Formal schooling and non-formal education

Formal education is divided into two according to whether it takes place in or out of school. Formal schooling is education provided regularly within a school to individuals of a certain age group and the same level, through programs designed for specific aims. Preschool, primary, secondary and higher education are the levels of formal schooling. Formal schooling is sequential and continuous: each level lays the foundation for the next, and a student who does not successfully complete one level cannot move on to the next. Those who complete a level receive a diploma or an academic degree.

Non-formal education, on the other hand, is education provided in line with their interests and needs to people who have never entered formal schooling, who are at some level of it or who have left it. Courses offered at public education centers and in-service training programs organized in institutions and workplaces are examples of non-formal education.

What formal schooling and non-formal education have in common is that both are planned and program-based. Formal and informal education are not separated by sharp lines either. For example, while receiving formal education at school, a student also learns informally from interacting with friends or observing the teacher's behavior.

What is learning?

The most important characteristic that distinguishes humans from other living beings is the ability to learn. Humans are born with very few behaviors, such as sucking and crying, and learn most of their behaviors later. Most educators define learning as “a relatively permanent change in behavior resulting from experience.” Through learning, people acquire knowledge, skills, attitudes and values.

Three criteria are used to determine whether learning has occurred. First, there must be an observable change in behavior. This change can take three forms: the individual begins to show a behavior never shown before (a student who could not read learns to read), improves an existing behavior (reads more fluently and accurately), or corrects a behavior learned incorrectly (begins to spell correctly a word previously misspelled). Second, the change must be relatively permanent; a student who has learned to share is expected to continue doing so outside school and throughout life. Third, the change must result from experience; learning arises from the experiences the individual has in interacting with the environment. Because each individual's experiences are different, learning is an individual process.

Not every change in behavior is learning. Behaviors such as breathing and blinking are innate. Changes such as gains in height and weight or beginning to walk are related to growth and maturation. Temporary changes caused by fatigue, habituation, medication or similar substances are not considered learning either.

Incidental and guided learning

Learning generally takes place in two ways. Incidental learning is a change in behavior resulting from an action the individual performs on their own. Most of our everyday behaviors are learned this way. It may be intentional or unintentional, but the experiences that produce learning are created by the person. Learning that a pepper is hot by tasting it, that a stove is hot by touching it, or imitating adults' behavior in play are examples. Incidental learning occurs through the senses, trial and error, or observation and modeling.

In guided learning, by contrast, there is another person or medium that facilitates learning. Guided learning results from teaching activities. Learning that takes place in the classroom and learning through mass media such as books, newspapers and television are examples of this type.

Teaching, instruction and studying

In its broadest sense, teaching consists of activities that bring about learning. More comprehensively, teaching is the process of facilitating learning, guiding it and helping learners in their learning. Teaching does not happen only at school; parents, friends and the mass media also teach. Through these channels, individuals may acquire incorrect behaviors as well as correct ones. Teaching and learning are closely related: teaching is generally expected to result in learning, yet learning can occur without teaching, and not every teaching activity results in learning.

Teaching-learning activities carried out in a planned, controlled and organized manner in educational institutions are called instruction. In a broader definition, instruction is the part of an individual's lifelong education that is conducted at school in a planned and program-based way. When the same process is expressed from the learner's perspective, it is called studying. Because all activities in instruction are planned in advance, instruction is a professional task.

Although education and instruction are often used interchangeably, instruction is a subset of the broader concept of education. Education is comprehensive, continuous and multidimensional in terms of time and place; not all the experiences within it may be educational. Instruction, on the other hand, is planned and program-based, and all the learning experiences within it are meant to be educational. Both are influenced by the social, cultural, political and economic conditions of the society in which they take place.

Four basic elements of instruction

Instructional activities have four basic elements:

1. Aims (objectives): The behaviors expected to be observed in the individual at the end of instruction. They guide the selection of content, the preparation of learning environments and assessment.
2. Content: The knowledge, skills and attitudes to be developed in the student. It is selected in line with both the aims and the student's level of readiness, that is, how prepared the student is for new learning.
3. Teaching-learning process (learning situations): The arrangement of external conditions that provide the experiences students need to achieve the aims. Appropriate strategies, methods, techniques and materials are used for this purpose.
4. Assessment: Determining the extent to which students have achieved the objectives.

Points to consider in instruction

For instruction to be effective, the following points are kept in mind: Learners differ in comprehension; some learn faster, others more slowly. A stimulated, that is, motivated individual learns more easily; however, intense stimuli such as excessive fear and anxiety disrupt emotional balance and hinder learning. Learning supported by reward is generally more effective than learning controlled by punishment, and an individual's intrinsic desire is stronger than external stimulation. Success is central to instruction; rather than expecting the same achievement from everyone, each individual should be offered learning experiences in which they can succeed. Aims should be set realistically according to the individual's capacity. Past experiences can either facilitate or hinder learning. Individuals learn more easily when they participate actively in the process. They learn topics that are meaningful to them more easily. Nothing replaces repeated practice in mastering skills. When individuals discover the relationships among what they have learned and apply them to new situations, it becomes easier to transfer their learning to other topics. Spaced reminders are useful for topics that should be remembered over a long period.

In short

Education is divided into informal and formal according to whether it occurs spontaneously or in a planned way; formal education in turn consists of formal schooling and non-formal education. Learning is a relatively permanent change in behavior resulting from experience. Instruction is the part of education conducted at school in a planned and program-based way, and it consists of the elements of aims, content, process and assessment.

Key concepts

• Informal education: Educational activities that take place at any moment, anywhere and without being tied to a plan.
• Formal education: Education carried out in schools or institutions by implementing a plan or program.
• Formal schooling: Education provided regularly and according to a program within a school to individuals of a certain age group and the same level.
• Non-formal education: Education provided according to their interests and needs to people who have never entered formal schooling, who are in it or who have left it.
• Learning: A relatively permanent change in behavior resulting from experience.
• Incidental learning: A change in behavior resulting from an action the individual performs on their own.
• Guided learning: Learning that results from teaching activities, in which another person or medium facilitates learning.
• Teaching: The process of facilitating and guiding learning.
• Instruction: The part of an individual's lifelong education conducted at school in a planned and program-based way.
• Studying: The name given to the process of instruction from the learner's perspective.
• Readiness: The student's level of preparedness for new learning in terms of knowledge, skills and development.

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Sources used:
Şenel, E. A. (2008). Eğitimin temel kavramları [Fundamental concepts of education]. In M. Gültekin (Ed.), Eğitim Bilimine Giriş [Introduction to Educational Science] (Unit 1). Eskişehir: Anadolu Üniversitesi Yayınları.

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