Nonformal learning approaches and the professional development of teachers in higher education

Abstract

Recent development in workplace environments has shown that there is a shift in focus from the traditional formal learning modes to other forms of learning such as career mentoring and job shadowing (Bilderback, 2023). Likewise, employers are expected to support the professional development of staff (Antonopoulou et al., 2021) to cope with the complex digital work environment through diverse ways of learning especially in higher education institutions (HEIs) (Pischetola, 2022). Again, HEIs serve as important spaces for the production, dissemination, and transfer of productive knowledge, innovation, and technology in economies through formal, nonformal, and informal learning modes. Nonformal learning explains planned learning activities that are sponsored by institutions but are not related to the formal curricula or educational projects (Caldana et al., 2023). The difference between formal and nonformal learning is that while nonformal learning emphasizes sponsored programs that do not lead to formal qualifications, formal learning involves learning that takes place in an organized and structured setting which leads to the award of a qualification by way of a certificate (Caldana et al., 2023).