Diversity in Higher Education: Experiences in the Incorporation of Prior Learning

Abstract

This paper reports upon attitudes, initiatives and hurdles in the incorporation of prior learning in the discipline of planning within one higher education institution in Wales in the UK. Incorporation of prior learning in higher education (HE) is placed as a normative value within the context of increasing diversity in HE promoted through widening access policies, the internationalisation of education and the drive towards interdisciplinarity. It documents challenges that staff face at the delivery end of teaching, the ways in which they attempt to negotiate the difficulties they face, and the institutional resources that come/do not come into play to aid this process. By focusing on the delivery end, this systematic documentation brings together otherwise disparate knowledge, allowing for a fuller appreciation of HE provision in contemporary UK. These descriptions it is argued, can also help generalise and normalise ways in which diversity might be addressed through learning, teaching and assessment in higher education.