ABSTRACT
The tension for individuals is easily stated but will always remain sensitive and problematic. It is quite simply that the whole premise of APEL is that people have inside them undisclosed knowledge and skill which if disclosed and publicly available for scrutiny might well merit some form of certification. Then there is the tension between cognitive and affective learning. Experiential learning asserts the significance of human qualities. Systematic reflection on experience which is the basis of any assessment of experiential learning almost always reveals a range of personal qualities as well as a range of knowledge and skills which fit into the assumptions of formal education. In higher education in the USA there are variations on this theme of learning and assessment by competences. At the College of Public and Community Service in the University of Massachusetts at Boston, an entire four-year degree programme is constructed on competences.
