| Summary: | Validation, or recognition of prior learning, involves an idea of ‘making learning visible’ – of valuing knowledge irrespective of how, when and where it is learnt. This chapter presents a phenomenographic analysis of how a group of caretakers from a Swedish property management company experience participation in a validation initiative focusing on their vocational competence.
The findings show how validation is experienced in various ways by the caretakers – as an opportunity for personal development, as a matter of assessment and control, or as ‘only scratching the surface’. The process is also experienced in different ways in terms of learning – with a focus on prior learning or new learning, or even no learning. Other benefits of validation are described in terms of exchange value or personal development. Through a contextual analysis, the findings are integrated in a model where the relationship between the individual and the validation process is described as a developmental, a credit-exchange or a critical relation.
The conclusions put focus on the relevance of validation for groups like caretakers. This is a group where the vocational learning to a high extent is informal, which means a potential for recognition of their prior learning in terms of formal credentials.
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