This paper uses Vygotsky's cultural-historical development theory to examine the theoretical lineages that influenced Marsick and Watkins' (1990) model of informal and incidental learning. After discussing the context of each influence, the paper applies cultural-historical development theory to the many updates that Marsick, Watkins, and…

This article contextualizes and reviews the third global report on adult learning and education (ALE) released by UNESCO in 2016. The authors suggest that it is a visionary document, which is articulated through the bringing together of data from a range of areas that are usually kept apart. They recognize the report as a bold attempt to project…

Since informal learning occurs outside of formal learning environments, describing informal learning and how it takes place can be a challenge for researchers. Past studies have typically oriented to informal learning as an individual, reflective process that can best be understood through the learners' retrospective accounts about their…

The authors examine the modernist underpinnings of traditional adult learning and development theories and evaluate elements of those theories through more contemporary lenses. Drawing on recent literature focused on "public pedagogy," the authors argue that much learning takes place outside of formal educational institutions. They look beyond…

The informal learning that older (age 50+) men experience in Australia has been the subject of a suite of recent, intensive, mixed methods research projects in community-based voluntary organizations. The purpose of the research was to examine where men are learning in these contexts beyond work and formal education rather than to assume and…

The purpose of this qualitative study was to determine how docents developed expertise within the context of their work with history museums. Twelve expert docents from four history-themed museums were interviewed to discover how expertise is developed by volunteers working in nonformal settings. Interpretation of the data revealed two primary…

This article outlines, critiques, and revises Griff Foley's analytical framework for the study of informal learning in social action. This reformulation is prompted by the author's own research on young women's experiences and learning in social struggle, and by the need to take into account the interdependence of systems of domination underlying…