RPL practice and student disposition : insights from the lifeworld

This paper draws on research into student experiences of recognition of prior learning RPL in the context of work-based learning (WBL) in a community services sector setting. WBL in this context is heavily reliant on recognition of prior learning (RPL). Looking at the student disposition towards RPL and access to higher education, the paper argues that developmental forms of RPL are more useful than credentialist forms, in that they sustain important, lifeworld-derived expertise. Using a critical theory-based framework, it is suggested that a form of RPL that undermines existing, potentially oppressive relations of knowledge production has benefits for non-traditional students' access to higher education. Drawing on the practice experiences from this research and contemporary commentary on RPL, specific suggestions are made as to how such a form of RPL might be accomplished. These include continued facilitation of access, vigilance against complicity in coercive practices and developing criticality. The paper concludes by drawing attention to the importance of ontological and epistemological clarity in developing RPL.