Caretakers’ experiences of RPL

Abstract

Recognition of prior learning (RPL) involves an idea of ‘making learning visible’—of valuing knowledge irrespective of how, when and where it is learnt. This is a phenomenographic analysis of how a group of caretakers from a Swedish property management company experience participation in an RPL initiative focusing on their vocational competence. The results show how RPL is experienced in various ways by the caretakers—as an opportunity for personal development, as a matter of assessment and control, or as ‘only scratching the surface’. The process is also experienced in different ways in terms of learning—with a focus on prior learning or new learning, or even no learning. Other benefits of RPL are described in terms of exchange value or personal development. The results are integrated in a model where the relationship between the individual and the RPL process is a developmental, a credit‐exchange or a critical relation.