Opening Universities for Lifelong Learning and the Challenge of Diversity Management: Support of Non-traditional Students in Germany, Finland and Denmark

Research output: Contributions to collected editions/worksContributions to collected editions/anthologiesResearch

Authors

This chapter aims to answer the question of whether the recognition of prior learning (RPL) process match the experience of 'older' adult learners, the over-50 returning adult learners (OFRAL). It is presented with an arguments coming from the empirical studies on OFRAL who underwent the recognition of prior learning process at the Universite libre de Bruxelles (Belgium). The chapter reviews the main conclusions of the seminal works of Knowles and Kolb concerning the importance of experience in adult education and learning. It describes the context and the methodology of the studies and discusses the motivations of the OFRAL. The chapter analyses the tools used to 'formalise' the experiences of the adult learners in the RPL process and pinpoint a few preconceptions that undermine their efficiency in the case of this group. And finally it investigates the interaction between the university and the OFRAL, claiming that some of the generally admitted fundamentals of adult learning do not apply to this group
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationUniversities and Engagement : international perspectives on higher education and lifelong learning
EditorsJohn Field, Bernhard Schmidt-Hertha, Andrea Waxenegger
Number of pages12
Place of PublicationAbingdong (Oxfordshire)
PublisherRoutledge Taylor & Francis Group
Publication date2016
Pages90-101
ISBN (Print)978-1-138-82444-7, 978-1-138-82443-0
ISBN (Electronic)9781315740669
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2016