The role of the Learning from Experience Trust

When we think about the things we learn which really matter to us, the things in which we have particular confidence in our own expertise, or which are most relevant to our work, we find we learn them through a range of experiences and circumstances. However, the formal systems which award qualifications and accreditation often ignore such learning, focussing on that which takes place in the classroom. The role of the Learning from Experience Trust is to develop ways of ensuring that such important learning can be recognised; by ourselves, by those that employ us and by those that award qualifications. The central principle defining the Trust´s work is that: all learning, however acquired is deserving of recognition provided that: it can be clearly identified and described; it can be evidenced and assessed; and it is at an appropriate level and relevant to the learner´s objectives. The relevance of this to engineering is briefly outlined