Recognition of prior learning (RPL) has emerged in recent decades as an important policy area and policy concept. This volume provides a range of empirically and theoretically based contributions from different parts of the world where RPL, or an equivalent, is mobilised as part of educational practices for adults. It compiles different kinds of contributions to create a broader dialogue among scholars and practitioners, not only on the specific topic of RPL, but also on more general issues faced in educational research. This book was originally published as a special issue of the International Journal of Lifelong Education.

1. Introduction: Introducing research on recognition of prior learning 2. Developing professional learning and identity through the recognition of experiential learning at doctoral level 3. The Portuguese case of RPL new practices and new adult educators: some tensions and ambivalences in the framework of new public policies 4. Recognition of prior learning: exploring the 'knowledge question' 5. The politics of recognition: critical discourse analysis of recent PLAR policies for immigrant professionals in Canada 6. Love, rights and solidarity in the recognition of prior learning (RPL) 7. Converting RPL into academic capital: lessons from Australian universities 8. Portfolios and meaning-making in the assessment of prior learning 9. Agreement in assessment of prior learning related to higher education: an examination of interrater and intrarater reliability 10. Translating validation of prior learning in practice