Professionalisation of Supervisors and RPL

Abstract

The recognition of prior learning (RPL) has been introduced to higher education throughout the world. Learning that has taken place during work activities and leisure time has been far more challenging to recognise than learning in educational programmes. To enhance the effectiveness of the recognition of prior learning in higher education institutions, there is a need now for more thorough support and guidance to facilitate this process. This chapter explores how students with prior learning should be supervised to optimise the recognition of their learning secured outside of educational programmes and how their supervisors are able to provide this support. This chapter also attempts to analyse the process of tailoring prior learning processes for higher education programmes by introducing the concepts of professional identity and agency. The negotiations between the institutional demands and individual learning histories in the supervisors’ work are seen as based on reflective processes, comprising a transformation of the professional identity and the exercise of their agency. The analysis is based on the data collected from participants of a professional development programme for the recognition of prior learning in Finnish higher education.