Review: The Prior Learning Portfolio Components and Their Roles

Quick Review: The Prior Learning Portfolio Components and Their Roles

Each section of your Prior Learning Portfolio has a particular role, like the different positions that make up a professional organization or a sports team all have different responsibilities but work together for a common goal.  Here’s a quick breakdown:

The PLA Resume gives a clear and precise overview of your skills and expertise. You might think of its role as giving the 10,000-foot view, or a picture of the whole forest.

The Educational Narrative illuminates your experience by telling stories of your learning, using specific examples. It lets you show your expertise and familiarity with the subject matter of the course you’re challenging by how well you interact with the topics and terminology. Its role is an on-the-ground perspective, or giving a picture of the individual trees within the forest.

The Supporting Documentation is a way to validate the expertise you claim with your PLA Resume and Supporting Documentation. They are validating evidence or proof from external sources such as professional certifications, continuing education credits, workplace documents, and many more, that give a recommendation and approval of your expertise. Like a lawyer might show Exhibit A and B to a jury during a trial, these documents are evidence and proof of your learning, and they bolster your case for prior learning in the subject matter of your course.