This paper will discuss recognition of prior learning (RPL) in the health sector from a Habermasian perspective. The empirical investigations take place in a semi-large Swedish city. The empirical work is based on an education program initiated by the municipality giving care workers the opportunity to become assistant nurses. The participants have been working for some up to twenty years as care workers within different fields of the health sector. Focus will be put on the beginning of the program, where the care workers’ prior learning will be recognized. The recognition of prior learning is conducted both on a theoretical and practical level in the project. The participants for instance engage in conversations with teachers, with the purpose of finding out in which courses their prior learning can be recognized. These conversations occur at many levels, starting with a face to face dialogue with the participants concerning all courses. The teachers then pick out courses in line with the prior knowledge of the individual participant. Further more in depth conversations focusing on specific courses take place. The participants also work in groups engaging in conversations and discussions on relevant themes and topics initiated by the teachers. The participant’s prior knowledge is also recognized in practice by supervisors, assessing their practical skills in several areas. Observations, interviews and mutual analyze seminars following a Habermasian inspired interactive research approach is used. An interactive approach highlight joint learning processes taking place between researcher and participants, giving the participants an opportunity to contribute to the theoretical outcome. This will be accomplished primarily in mutual analyze seminars taking place in the end of the research process. The research can also be seen as a having a developmental focus, with the hope of improving the RPL-system where it´s needed. The purpose with the research is to use Habermas theory of communicative action, especially the concepts of system and life world, and analyze the RPL-system. From this point of view the following questions are high lightened: Is the system excluding certain individuals or groups? Are there any colonizing aspects maintained by the educational and RPL systems? Is the life world of the participants being included in the RPL-system? What are and what characterizes the learning processes taking place in the project? So far observations have been carried out during January and February of 2008. The research will further advance during the spring and summer of 2008 with observations, interviews and mutual analyze seminars.

Interactive research inspired by Habermas theory of communicative action. Observations, interviews and mutual analyze seminars.

The result so far shows that the assessment of prior learning can be seen as a having a colonizing effect. It appears as a mystery for many participants, in how their prior knowledge is to be assessed, making them cue-seekers looking for “true” answers, hidden in the curriculum. On the other side an apparent result is that the RPL-model gives opportunity for the participants to engage in communicative group acts having a life world integrating effect. In these groups the participants can share their experiences and reach consensus, creating self confidence and security. In these groups they also learn together how to put their prior knowledge into words and from this being able to express it. Another finding is the conversations for RPL taking place in the project between representatives for the RPL system and participant. The conversations are a way to get a picture of which courses they will be able to recognize prior knowledge. These conversations can be seen as taking departure in the life world, giving the participant an opportunity to reflect upon their experiences from working life in a communicative manner.