Prior Learning Narrative: Facilitating Reflection to Connect Experience to Learning

Autor/in	Muller, Terry
Titel	Prior Learning Narrative: Facilitating Reflection to Connect Experience to Learning
Quelle	In: Journal of Continuing Higher Education, 60 (2012) 3, S.181-185 (5 Seiten)Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	0737-7363
DOI	10.1080/07377363.2013.722418
Schlagwörter	College Credits; Credentials; Prior Learning; Adult Learning; Adult Students; Reflection; Adult Education; Personal Narratives; Writing Skills; Outcomes of Education; Higher Education + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? College; Colleges; Achievement; Performance; Anrechnung; Hochschule; Fachhochschule; Leistung; Studienbuch; Vorkenntnisse; Adulte education; Adult training; Erwachsenenbildung; Adult; Adults; Student; Students; Erwachsenenalter; Studentin; Schüler; Schülerin; Education; Adult basic education; Erlebniserzählung; Writing skill; Schreibfertigkeit; Lernleistung; Schulerfolg; Hochschulbildung; Hochschulsystem; Hochschulwesen
Abstract	Adult learners bring a wealth of experience and prior learning to college. Much of this prior learning may, in fact, qualify for college credits, so many adults assemble portfolios and write learning narratives to demonstrate their learning and apply for credits. Despite their many skills and rich knowledge, however, adults are often unsure about their ability to establish their prior learning credentials (Arnold, 2010; Lambe, 2011). While adult learners can usually recall what they did in professional contexts or in the community, for example, they have difficulty culling significant elements from experience that relate to learning--identifying learning and making sense of it. Reflecting on past experience, the "return to experience, attending to feelings, and reevaluation of experience" (Boud, 2001, p. 14) is a way to discover what matters most to them and draw conclusions about meaning and learning. Having to reflect on their experiences often baffles adult learners because this expectation contradicts their view of formal learning, which assumes that "real" learning means acquiring disciplinary facts and concepts: "declarative knowledge" (Kurfiss, 1988, p. iv). For this reason, they may struggle recognizing the value of their prior knowledge. Such barrier to reflection can, however, be overcome by using the learning narrative as a vehicle to take a critical look at the past, by discovering failures as events that resulted in learning, and by confirming what they know. The author concludes that encouragement, scaffolding activities, and questions facilitate the reflections that explore the implications of what they have learned and lead to connections to other areas of knowledge at work or home, in the community, or in the classroom. (ERIC).
Anmerkungen	Routledge. Available from: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. 325 Chestnut Street Suite 800, Philadelphia, PA 19106. Tel: 800-354-1420; Fax: 215-625-2940; Web site: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals
Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2017/4/10