ABSTRACT
This chapter aims to answer the question of whether the recognition of prior learning (RPL) process match the experience of 'older' adult learners, the over-50 returning adult learners (OFRAL). It is presented with an arguments coming from the empirical studies on OFRAL who underwent the recognition of prior learning process at the Universite libre de Bruxelles (Belgium). The chapter reviews the main conclusions of the seminal works of Knowles and Kolb concerning the importance of experience in adult education and learning. It describes the context and the methodology of the studies and discusses the motivations of the OFRAL. The chapter analyses the tools used to 'formalise' the experiences of the adult learners in the RPL process and pinpoint a few preconceptions that undermine their efficiency in the case of this group. And finally it investigates the interaction between the university and the OFRAL, claiming that some of the generally admitted fundamentals of adult learning do not apply to this group.
