Prior Learning Assessment: Bringing Adults Into the Academy
Prior learning assessment is based or formulated on the concepts that
learning and/or understanding can be from anywhere in or outside a
school.
You can learn from all full or part time jobs you have had, all
independent reading and studying you have done, all training programs or
in service courses you have completed, all volunteer work you have
done, your cultural and artistic pursuits, your hobbies and recreational
pastimes, all community or religious activities you are involved in,
all military service you have completed, any travel study you have
completed, your organizational memberships or practically anything and
everything that you have experienced.
Warning! It is NOT the experiences in and of themselves that you can
get credit for. It IS the learning and successful usage of that learning
that will allow you to get college credit towards a degree. There are
some colleges that will allow you unlimited amounts of pla credit,
including getting the whole enchilada (Associates, Bachelor or Masters
Degree).
Most colleges will allow half of the credits through PLA. There are
no colleges that will not allow some life experience credits. Part of
the life experience portfolio, actually one of the most important parts,
is the documentation or evidence for your claims. There are two kinds
of documentation: primary and secondary.
Primary documentation or evidence is generally considered actual
items you have produced. These can range from: samples of your work,
video clips and streaming video, audio recordings, books and articles
you published, paintings or photos you’ve made or taken, things you have
invented, structures you have built or carved, articles in magazines or
publications you wrote, curriculum you have created, artifacts you have
dug up or discovered or any similar item.
Secondary documentation is generally in the form of letters or
documents from reliable sources that can substantiate or attest your
work. Lists would be too numerous to mention, however, some of these
are:
- Documentation of job skills
- Letters of verification from employers or others who have first hand knowledge of your abilities
- Descriptions and requirements for licenses and/or certificates
- Scanned documents and certificates and awards
- Certificates of attendance and notes taken in training courses,
- Transcripts
- Proof of membership in professional or trade organizations
…and any other material agreed upon with the PLA mentor that offers proof of your college level learning.
The best approach to obtaining letters from supervisors or employers
documenting your understanding/s can be found in templates on various
PLA websites. However, a basic general idea would be to first inform
him/her of the specific intent of the letter saying that you’re asking
the college for credit in a specific course or courses related to your
work under your supervisor.
You would appreciate it if your supervisor/employer was able to
document what understandings you had upon being hired, what you learned
on the job and how you are using these understandings to improve the
company. What must not be included is a character reference since the
college did not ask for one. What also must not be included are
attendance and loyalty factors. It must be as job-and-skill specific as
possible. Secondary documentation or evidence should not be from any
friend or relative due to the fact that they are biased (pro-you).
Documentation must be unbiased, fair and to the point. Other than the
exceptions mentioned above, documentation can literally come from
anywhere.
Oh by the way… documentation can only be for college level
understanding/s. Getting high school personnel to write a letter on how
smart you were or that you were a member of the student government or
the high school debating society or an editor for the high school
newspaper just won’t cut it.
