What is it about?

How is learning constructed in a non-formal learning process? What forms of interaction are developed? What are the determinants of the effectiveness demonstrated by apprentices? This article answers these questions by analysing data from a survey that evaluates the elements of the training context and the level of skills acquired by apprentices. It shows that there is great flexibility in the organisation and techniques of learning, as well as permanent interdependence between apprentices, which facilitates the co-construction of skills

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Why is it important?

Most works in the field of non-formal education are generally oriented towards socio-economic and politico-humanist analyses of the externalities of organized learning, in particular the supervision of rural populations, with a view to their self-management and the fight against poverty. They pay little or no attention to the didactic perspectives that question learning interactions and elucidate the training strategies implemented to this end. To fill this gap, this paper seeks to analyze the non-formal learning environment to identify and discuss the determinants of its effectiveness; in other words, the factors that explain the short-term acquisition of required job skills. In this framework, learning is seen as a socialization process, where the learner's mastery of knowledge and skills and full participation in the required activities introduces him or her into a socioprofessional environment or community, whose values and practices he or she internalizes. It is through this process, as Lave and Wenger (1991) assert, that new learners become part of the community of practice.

Perspectives

There is a need to transfer strategies from non-formal education, including the active role of the trainees, the trainer's guided approach, teamwork, the use of the local language, and the practical nature of learning, to strengthen traditional vocational training.

Professor Dieudonné Musa Alokpo
Universite de Kinshasa

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This page is a summary of: Apprentissages non formels et développement des compétences professionnelles dans les centres de métiers à Kinshasa, Afrika Focus, June 2021, Brill,
DOI: 10.1163/2031356x-34010001.
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