This informal CPD article ‘Modern Andragogy: Structuring Non-Formal and Informal CPD’ was provided by Prof. Dr. Ibrahim Al Souleiman of OUS Academy, a global education group with a commitment to diversity and global engagement. They deliver online education and operate across seven international locations.
A large share of what professionals learn never appears on a certificate. An engineer works out a fault with a colleague, a manager sits in on a peer's difficult conversation, a team runs an internal lunchtime seminar on a new regulation. This learning is real and often highly relevant, yet it usually goes unrecorded and unrecognised. Research on workplace learning has shown for some time that informal learning through work makes up a substantial part of professional development, even though organisations rarely capture it (5). The question for HR professionals and course creators is how to give this learning structure without turning it into a bureaucratic exercise. Adult learning theory and Latvia's approach to lifelong learning offer a workable model.
Andragogy as the Starting Point
Andragogy rests on a set of assumptions about adult learners: they need to know why they are learning something, they bring prior experience that is itself a resource, they are ready to learn when a task demands it, and they respond best to problem-centred learning that they have some control over (6). These assumptions describe informal workplace learning quite closely. Problem-solving on the job is already self-directed, experience-based and immediately relevant. What it usually lacks is reflection, evidence and a link to stated outcomes. The design task is therefore not to replace informal learning but to add those three elements.
What Latvia's Framework Shows
Latvia has built validation of learning gained outside formal education into its national system. Since 2011, a Cabinet of Ministers regulation has set out a procedure through which people can have professional competence acquired through work or non-formal study assessed and, where it meets the relevant occupational standard, recognised with a state-recognised qualification (2). Higher education institutions may also recognise prior learning and professional experience towards study programmes. These arrangements are linked to the Latvian Qualifications Framework, which is referenced to the European Qualifications Framework, so that outcomes are described in comparable terms of knowledge, skills and competence.
This follows the Council of the European Union's 2012 recommendation, which asked member states to set up arrangements for validating non-formal and informal learning through four stages: identification, documentation, assessment and certification (4). Cedefop's European guidelines develop these stages in more detail and stress that validation must be learner-centred, based on clear standards and backed by trustworthy assessment (3).
The Latvian model is useful to UK practitioners not because it can be copied directly, but because it shows the structural pieces needed. Learning is judged against a published standard, evidence is required, and assessment is carried out by someone other than the learner. Workplace CPD schemes can borrow these principles without seeking formal accreditation.
A balanced view should also note the limits. Across Europe, uptake of validation has often been lower than policy intended, and learners report that procedures can be time-consuming and hard to navigate (3). Any internal scheme that becomes too demanding will meet the same resistance.
The experiential learning cycle
Reflective Practice as the Conversion Mechanism
Reflection is what turns experience into learning. Academic study describes it as returning to an experience, attending to the feelings involved and re-evaluating it in order to draw out new understanding (1). The experiential learning cycle makes a similar point: concrete experience becomes learning only when followed by reflective observation, abstract conceptualisation and active experimentation (7). Without this step, a solved problem remains an event; with it, the problem becomes evidence of competence that can be described and assessed.
A Practical Framework for HR and Course Creators
- Define the outcomes first. Write a short set of competence statements for each role or programme, using the language of knowledge, skills and responsibility found in qualification frameworks. Informal learning can only be recognised if there is something clear to recognise it against.
- Identify the learning. Give employees a simple prompt to record significant work incidents: a problem they had not met before, a decision that required new knowledge, or a situation handled with a colleague's help. This reflects the identification stage of validation (4).
- Document through structured reflection. Use a brief template built on the experiential cycle: what happened, what I did and why, what I learned, and what I will do differently (7). Ask for supporting evidence where possible, such as a revised procedure, an email thread or a colleague's note.
- Structure peer-to-peer sharing. Internal seminars and peer exchanges become stronger CPD when each session has stated outcomes, a short record of attendance and contribution, and a follow-up reflection from participants on how they applied the content.
- Assess with a second pair of eyes. A line manager, mentor or peer reviewer should check reflections against the competence statements using a simple rubric. Assessment by someone other than the learner is what separates validated learning from self-report (3).
- Record and recognise. Log validated outcomes in the individual's CPD record with hours, evidence and the competence addressed. Recognition need not mean a certificate; it may inform appraisal, progression or access to further training.
- Keep it proportionate. Start with one team or one competence area, collect feedback and simplify the forms where people struggle. A light process that people use is worth more than a thorough one they avoid.
Conclusion
Informal and non-formal learning already make up much of professional growth in most organisations. Andragogy explains why this learning is effective, and Latvia's validation arrangements show how it can be made visible through standards, evidence and assessment. Reflective practice connects the two, giving employees a disciplined way to turn everyday problem-solving into outcomes that can be measured and recognised. For HR professionals and course creators, the aim is modest but valuable: to make sure that learning which already happens is noticed, examined and counted.
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References
1. Boud, D., Keogh, R., & Walker, D. (Eds.). (1985). Reflection: Turning experience into learning. Kogan Page.
2. Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Latvia. (2011). Kartiba, kada noverte arpus formalas izglitibas sistemas apguto profesionalo kompetenci [Procedure for assessing professional competence acquired outside the formal education system] (Regulation No. 146). https://likumi.lv
3. Cedefop. (2023). European guidelines for validating non-formal and informal learning (3rd ed.). Publications Office of the European Union.
4. Council of the European Union. (2012). Council recommendation of 20 December 2012 on the validation of non-formal and informal learning (2012/C 398/01). Official Journal of the European Union, C 398, 1-5.
5. Eraut, M. (2004). Informal learning in the workplace. Studies in Continuing Education, 26(2), 247-273. https://doi.org/10.1080/158037042000225245
6. Knowles, M. S., Holton, E. F., III, & Swanson, R. A. (2015). The adult learner: The definitive classic in adult education and human resource development (8th ed.). Routledge.
7. Kolb, D. A. (2015). Experiential learning: Experience as the source of learning and development (2nd ed.). Pearson Education.
