Applying for RPL (MA Education)

1. Introduction
This document takes you through the process of applying for
Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) via Prior Experiential Learning.
When you have read this document you should be clear about the
process and what you need to do to submit an application for RPL
with regards the MA Education.
2. How does RPL by Prior Experiential Learning work?
As introduced in the short video, RPL by prior experiential learning
can be used to recognise previous learning you have undertaken
through, for example, your role in implementing work-based
initiatives in your professional context.
In order to be successful in your application for RPL via this process,
you need to provide evidence of the learning that resulted from this
work-based initiative. This learning is then considered against the
learning outcomes of one of the modules on Stage 1 of our MA
Education. The learning outcomes that your submission will be
assessed against come from an MA Education module KV741,
Critical Perspectives in Education. So your submission will need to
show that you are able to:
1. Demonstrate a critical understanding of social and political
issues in education;
2. Evaluate the impact of social and political issues on learning
and teaching;
3. Critically discuss the relationship between significant policy
changes and professional values and practice;
4. Recognise complex and/or contradictory fields within
contemporary literature on (selected) professional issues or
problems;
5. Critically analyse the role of education research in informing
professional practice.
3. Getting started
Think of a work-based initiative you have led or played a significant
part in implementing and evaluating. Here are a few examples:

An initiative in your department to improve the quality of

feedback given to students in support of their learning
A development to improve pastoral support of students
An initiative to introduce a new approach to teaching and
learning (e.g. teaching and learning for mastery)

4. Gathering and presenting the evidence

To gather and present the evidence, we would like you to use a
professional blog, and have designed some tasks to support you in
this RPL proces. Please read the tasks carefully as it will be vital in
ensuring that the evidence you gather and present, helps to
demonstrate how your learning from this matches the learning
outcomes identified in section 2 above. Complete the following
tasks:
A. Set up a blog using a free platform such as Edublogs or
WordPress. Make your blog private (ie password protected)
but make sure you make a note of your password as you will
need to share it with the MA Education Course Leader when
they assess your submission. There are many online tutorials
available explaining how to set up a WordPress blog to help
with this process.
B. Write a blog post (1000 words) that introduces the initiative
you led or were involved in implementing. This should include
a rationale for why the new initiative was introduced.

What national policies was it designed in response to?

What problem or issue was it designed to address?
Any references should be included at the end of the blog
post

C. Write a blog post that briefly explores some of the theory and
research evidence that the initiative was based on - Review
the evidence base (1000 words). You could use the Google
Scholar search engine to find relevant research articles. You
could also use tools such as the Education Endowment Fund
Teaching and Learning Toolkit to find references to further
research evidence. Any references should be included at the
end of the blog post.
D. Write a blog post to evaluate the initiative (1500 words). You
should also include a reflection on your own learning from
carrying out this initiative. For example:
a. How has your own professional practice developed?
b. What were some of the issues in using research and
theory to inform practice?
c. In hindsight what woud you do differently if
implementing this initiative again?

5. Submitting
When you have completed the tasks in Section 4 above, you are
ready to submit your application for RPL via experiential learning.
Download the form available on the RPL website. The completed for
should be sent to the MA Education Course Leader, Irena Andrews
I.L.Andrews@brighton.ac.uk