Examples of informal and incidental learning, including an extended discussion of informal learning in flight instruction, are used to illustrate the model of informal and incidental learning in practice, as well as the nonlinear nature of this learning.

Leaders and employees of today's organizations typically assume increasing responsibility for their own and their organization's learning. Much of that learning is informal or incidental. This article reviews theory and research to update that model and identify future research challenges. Through this review, groundwork will be laid for…

Studies of informal and incidental learning demonstrate that it takes place wherever people have a need, motivation, or opportunity for learning. Context is central to the process. Despite its unstructured nature, adult educators can assist learners by identifying conditions that hinder or enhance it and by fostering critical reflection. (Contains…

Informal and incidental learning are based on learning from experience, embedded in organizational context, focused on action, governed by nonroutine conditions, concerned with tacit dimensions, delimited by the nature of the task, and enhanced by proactivity, critical reflection, and creativity. (SK)