Recognition of Prior Learning

Per Andersson is Professor of Education in Linköping University, Sweden. His main research interests are recognition of prior learning, and the professional development of adult and vocational teachers. He is co-editor (with Judy Harris) of the book Re-theorising the Recognition of Prior Learning (2006).Andreas Fejes is Professor and Chair of Adult Education Research as well as Pro-Dean for Research and Doctoral Studies at the Faculty of Educational Sciences, Linköping University, Sweden. He has published extensively on issues pertaining to adult education, and is one of the founding editors of the European Journal for Research on the Education and Learning of Adults.Fredrik Sandberg is Senior Lecturer at Linköping University, Sweden. His main research interests are in adult learning and recognition of prior learning. He has published several papers on recognition of prior learning in journals such as British Educational Research Journal and Adult Education Quarterly.

• 1. Introduction: Introducing research on recognition of prior learning 2. Developing professional learning and identity through the recognition of experiential learning at doctoral level 3. The Portuguese case of RPL new practices and new adult educators: some tensions and ambivalences in the framework of new public policies 4. Recognition of prior learning: exploring the ‘knowledge question’ 5. The politics of recognition: critical discourse analysis of recent PLAR policies for immigrant professionals in Canada 6. Love, rights and solidarity in the recognition of prior learning (RPL) 7. Converting RPL into academic capital: lessons from Australian universities 8. Portfolios and meaning-making in the assessment of prior learning 9. Agreement in assessment of prior learning related to higher education: an examination of interrater and intrarater reliability 10. Translating validation of prior learning in practice

"The book title is captivating and raises expectations of exhaustive discussion of Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL), a practice aimed at enhancing lifelong learning through recognition of credits or granting advanced standing, and accreditation/validation of knowledge and skills acquired through informal and non-formal settings for personal development, social justice and economic development...to a greater extent this has been achieved through case studies from Australia, Canada, Portugal, South Africa, Sweden and the UK".- Fred Gennings Wanyavinkhumbo Msiska, Centre for Open and Distance Learning, Mzuzu University, Private Bag 201, Luwinga, Mzuzu, Malawi, UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning