Managing Informal Adult Learning Processes and Education

Dear Colleagues,

In adulthood, entering the classroom for educational purposes is rare. Adults get formed predominantly through informal or embedded learning processes that take place outside the classroom, while working and in any action during everyday life.
Research and experimentations have been developed in a wide variety of contexts and with a wide range of people. This Call for Papers intends to collect the best research, experiences, reflections—regardless of their specific focus—that may help to understand how to analyze, design, and manage adult learning processes that take place informally everywhere.

We provide below some examples related to some of the possible fields of application.
Within organizations, the development of a type of production of goods and services based on the ability of workers to constantly produce knowledge (related to product, processes, organization, and market), makes workplaces as places where—even if in a different way—everybody takes part or is subjected to learning processes (that can be positive and/or negative). Organizations arrange devices, methods, and tools to foster well-being and professional growth of people mainly through the management of informal learning processes. Adult education professionals have progressively developed experiments that have evolved knowledge about how to manage learning processes while working through informal devices related to the induction of newcomers, team management, and innovation transfer, the selection of the organizational models that are the most suitable to the people management strategy, the recruitment, job rotation for training purposes, etc.

How can the related learning processes be managed in an educational and intentional way?
Due to the contemporary emergencies and the need to cope with them (from migratory phenomena, to crime, health, environment, sports, etc.), the traditional classroom design and management models, even the most refined and sophisticated ones, have shown to be less effective than informal education: from language teaching in authentic contexts, to cultural and ethical training for refugees, and from cultural dialogue to the management of daily life in prisons in an educational perspective. Research and experimentation have accompanied an extraordinary evolution of objectives, contents and methods of informal adult education.

The spread of new technologies and social media has increased the opportunity for people to express themselves, but also to be exposed to new educational powers. In formal systems, scholars try to promote the integration of new devices in the classroom to expand the learning environment.

College institutions are adapting many social media platforms into their educational systems to improve communication with students. However, young people and adults use social media mainly in an apparently autonomous way, in virtual environments and through peer relationships. The increase in the choices of learning media means that they need to keep choosing and directing their learning by themselves. The spread of social media has shifted attention from the integration of media into the classroom activities to the ability of people to control, to be aware of the educational processes generated by the consumption of social media and new communication technologies. What are the methods of informal education through which young people and adults can become self-directed learners while they are involved in the use of social media?

All papers to be submitted should have as a common research questions the following:

• How can young and adults be able to control and direct their own learning processes consciously and as to have them coherently focused towards their own development goals and aspirations?
• How can we have informal learning processes under the control of young and adult “learners” in order to manage them intentionally and consciously?
• What are the most effective methods that support these learning processes?

Informal adult education is a "practice" managed directly by young people and adults but also by the most diverse actors and specialists (team leaders, HR managers, providers of technologies, coaches of all kinds, police officers, magistrates, teachers, volunteers, etc.) within the most diverse sectors (finance, manufacturing, health, sport, religion, public safety and security, etc.). In this context, which role can adult learning professionals play?

Prof. Dr. Paolo Federighi
Guest Editor

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• Informal adult learning
• Methodology of informal adult education
• Self-directed learning
• Life wide education