Non formal learning
Girl Guiding and Girl Scouting is a non-formal education Movement. WAGGGS previously defined non-formal education as “a planned programme of personal and social education designed to improve a range of competencies, outside formal educational structures.”
Whilst this speaks to much of the Girl Guide and Girl Scout experience especially for young people, there is increasing recognition that more focus is needed on the learner’s intrinsic motivation, ownership of what and how they learn, to make sure it is relevant to their lives and needs. The term “education” still places a stronger emphasis on the role of the educator and education system, while “learning” focuses on the learner’s role in the process. Learning in Girl Guiding and Girl Scouting is strongly supported by relationships, both between young people and adults, and within both youth and adult peer groups. These relationships support learners to take responsibility for how and what they learn.
To understand non-formal learning, it can be helpful to imagine different dimensions of learning situations on a continuum, or a line, from formality to informality.
At different stages and in different spheres of the lifelong and lifewide learning journey, learning experiences will take place at different points on this continuum. The learner will connect these experiences and draw meaning from them – and reflective practice can greatly help with this.