1. FORMAL, NON FORMAL AND INFORMAL LEARNING
…. some definitions:

2. FORMAL LEARNING:
Formal education is consistently referred to the education system that runs from primary to tertiary institutions.
The main actors are schools and the range of institutes of higher education.

3. The formal education
is commonly based on a “vertical” relationship between the pupil / student and the teacher: where the holder of the knowledge is the teacher and the receiver is the student. The teacher mostly delivers knowledge to the student in the form of courses and curricula. At the end of the learning pathway a written document or generally recognized diploma recognize the knowledge acquired by the learner

4. INFORMAL LEARNING
is the learning process that happens spontaneously in everyday life;
it happens outside the formal education system;
… it can be defined “as the learning that goes on in daily life”;
it is a non-organized and incidental learning that goes on in daily life;
it can be also considered the capability to interact with the other people in our societies (in this sense it describes socialization);
some uses it in relation to the ‘learning projects’ that we take up ourselves in our free time, be it hobbies or new skills;
informal education can be seen as a process where learning takes place as activities which help people to learn;

5. NON-FORMAL LEARNING
Non-Formal Learning is the learning taking place outside schools, universities and evaluative system.
Non-formal learning can be summarized as “learning by doing”. Here you can have the interaction between the learners and the concrete situations they are experiencing. There are no teachers or lecturers providing the knowledge ex-cathedra, but the learners and facilitators construct the knowledge and skills together, in a horizontal relationship.

6. Non-Formal education:
is usually defined the contrary of formal education, it’s aim is to provide alternative means of education, beyond the range and capabilities of schools;
it’s emphasized a participative approach to learning;
the current approach of the European institutions and the European Youth Forum is to set up quality standards and means of certification for non-formal education at European level;

7. … just to clarify: INFORMAL EDUCATION: NON-FORMAL EDUCATION:
“learning by doing” in a spontaneous and not structured way
the learning is not “chosen and planned”
NON-FORMAL EDUCATION:
“learning by doing” in a structured way
motivation and awareness in the learning process