ABSTRACT

Recognition of prior learning (RPL) is often said to facilitate lifelong learning and occurs when already-acquired learning outcomes are officially valued. The education system is a central arena of RPL, allowing facilitated access to or shortening of study programmes. This study explores RPL practices in Switzerland. We ask the following research question: How do professional education institutions regulate, practice, and justify RPL? We start from the premise that RPL practices in higher education institutions are shaped by national RPL policies, professional bodies, and the nature of the respective labour markets. However, within these framework conditions, higher education institutions also create their own organisational policies, thereby promoting or hindering RPL. In addition, the study programme’s knowledge domain and the responsible persons’ pedagogic agency, shaped by their pedagogic concepts and individual attitudes, are also guiding factors. To answer our research question, we conducted qualitative comparative case studies and compared the RPL practices of professional education institutions that offer study programmes for hospitality management and social education. Our results show that organisations offering the same professional study programmes regulate, practice, and justify RPL differently, indicating the importance of organisational gatekeepers’ pedagogic agency.

摘要

人们常说，对先前学习的认可 (RPL) 可以促进终身学习，并且当已经获得的学习成果得到官方重视时就会发生。教育系统是 RPL 的中心舞台，可以方便地访问或缩短学习计划。本研究探讨了瑞士的 RPL 实践。我们提出以下研究问题：专业教育机构如何规范、实践和证明 RPL？我们的前提是，高等教育机构的 RPL 实践是由国家 RPL 政策、专业机构和各自劳动力市场的性质决定的。然而，在这些框架条件下，高等教育机构也制定了自己的组织政策，从而促进或阻碍了 RPL。此外，研究计划的知识领域和负责人的教学机构，由他们的教学理念和个人态度塑造，也是指导因素。为了回答我们的研究问题，我们进行了定性比较案例研究，并比较了提供酒店管理和社会教育学习课程的专业教育机构的 RPL 实践。我们的结果表明，提供相同专业学习计划的组织以不同方式规范、实践和证明 RPL，表明组织看门人的教学机构的重要性。我们进行了定性比较案例研究，并比较了提供酒店管理和社会教育学习课程的专业教育机构的 RPL 实践。我们的结果表明，提供相同专业学习计划的组织以不同方式规范、实践和证明 RPL，表明组织看门人的教学机构的重要性。我们进行了定性比较案例研究，并比较了提供酒店管理和社会教育学习课程的专业教育机构的 RPL 实践。我们的结果表明，提供相同专业学习计划的组织以不同方式规范、实践和证明 RPL，表明组织看门人的教学机构的重要性。