Researching the Recognition of Prior Learning

What is new in the recognition of prior learning (RPL) research? How does research in different countries compare? What is next for RPL? A rapidly developing approach across the world, RPL is an educational response to the need to widen participation in education and training for economic advancement and social inclusion. The social meanings of RPL have different configurations depending on historical, cultural, economic and political forces in different places. One constant is the reliance on the widely pervasive educational philosophies of experiential learning: constructivism and progressivism. Researching the Recognition of Prior Learning is an authoritative and up-to-date overview of international research practice in RPL aimed at researchers, postgraduate students and practitioners interested in all adult education disciplines worldwide. It provides a unique and comprehensive account of current work in England, Scotland, Canada, South Africa, the United States and other EU and OECD countries and proposes other areas of innovative research into the theory and practice of RPL to be undertaken over the next decade. The volume consolidates and analyses international approaches that differ based on country or region, allowing the identification of research gaps, possibilities and emerging questions, and providing the steps into future research which can utilise currently unused concepts, methods and theoretical frames. Related title: Judy Harris and Per Andersson (2006) Retheorising the Recognition of Prior Learning.