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updated: April 19, 2020

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What is informal education? This piece explores its nature, practice and purpose. [Updated April 2026]

Creators not Consumers. Rediscovering social education. Written by Mark Smith, Creators not Consumers first appeared in 1980. We reproduce the complete text from the 1982 edition. It is now available in various formats.
[March 2026]

Josephine Klein, group work, youth work and exploring English cultures. Don Macdonald reflects on the extraordinary contribution she made. [First published February 2026].

A brief history of Burray and South Ronaldsay (1477 to 1799). Explore the first 300 years of Scotland's control of the Orkney Islands (where infed.org is based). [Published February 2026].

Maude Stanley, girls’ clubs and district visiting. One of the central pioneers of girls’ work and neighbourhood work in general. [Updated January 2026].

Walking informal education – exploring developments in central London. [Updated January 2026].





infed.org

infed.org (the encyclopaedia of pedagogy and informal education) is not-for-profit and cookie-free. It began in 1996 and is currently visited around two million times a year.
We explore informal education and pedagogy in the context of schooling, work with children and young people, community learning and development, and lifelong learning.
Most pages are copyrighted. The copyright notice below relates to material in this and the adjacent footer sections. It also applies to each link below.

For more details, go to: about us • privacy • write for us • design • copyright • disclaimer

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infed.org is edited by Mark K Smith with help from Tony Jeffs. It has been based in South Ronaldsay (Orkney) since 2019.

Photograph: the south of the island - Rob Farrow | Wikimedia ccbyaas2.

featured this month

Henrietta Barnett, social reform and community building. Henrietta Barnett (1851-1936) is known for the creation of Hampstead Garden Suburb, but she, with Samuel Barnett, was an important social reformer. One notable innovation was the university settlement, but they were also active in other arenas.

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