Accreditation or<i>validation</i>of prior experiential learning: knowledge and<i>savoirs</i>in France—a different perspective?1

Abstract

This article stems from the study of the process and application of Accreditation of Prior Experiential Learning (APEL) in the French higher education system, in France referred to as VAP (Validation des Acquis Professionnels). The paper seeks to review not only the context in which the concepts underpinning VAP in France have developed, but also the nature of these concepts and their implementation in practice. In particular, we consider the specific meaning of concepts used within France where terms with close meanings reflect subtle but essential cultural differences of approaches within this arena, when compared to similar concepts and approaches in the Anglo‐Saxon world. The practice of APEL in France raises questions about the nature, acquisition, recognition or even reconciliation of various forms of knowledge, as well as their utilization in respect of employability. While in Anglo‐Saxon countries, and in the United Kingdom in particular, the practice of APEL seems to uncover resistance in universities along a ‘vocational’ or ‘professional’ versus ‘academic’ divide (Merrifield et al., 2000 Meyer N (1987) ‘Avant‐propos’ Expériences nord‐américaines en reconnaissance des acquis Québec–États‐unis, in: N. Meyer (Ed.) Pratiques de formation numéro spécial, Avril 1987, (Paris, Formation Permanente, Université de Paris VIII) [Google Scholar]), la formation continue in the French higher education system seems to offer, through its VAP practices and underpinning principles, a third way, giving parity of esteem to professional and vocational knowledge.