Recognition of prior learning within elderly care work

The aim of this chapter is to discuss in what ways recognition of prior learning and prior experiences exists as part of the process of in-service training, and whether new learning is an aspect of this process. To understand these concerns, 26 semi-structured interviews (Kvale, 1996) were undertaken with a total of 30 care workers, assistant nurses (some of them acting as supervisors of participating care workers), local managers, and teachers. The aim of the interviews was to see how the informants perceived their participation and work within the in-service training programme. Altogether, 14 participants, six local managers, five supervisors, and five teachers were interviewed. All the interviewees were female. Some of them were interviewed twice (two managers, two supervisors, and three participants), at the beginning of the process and four months after the process had ended. Twenty interviews were individual, and six were group interviews, with two to five care workers in each interview. The selection of interviewees was based on the nursing homes participating in the project in one specific municipality , which was chosen because it had made rapid progress with the project. We covered the entire project in this specific municipality so that we could develop a broad and deep understanding of the project. The analysis of interviews has been conducted using a qualitative interpretative approach focusing on discerning categories related to how the in-service training in the project was perceived by the interviewees regarding the role of experience, learning, and recognition. Firstly, we discuss the way the process of in-service training was organised and how prior learning was assessed. Secondly, we try to discern what role is ascribed to prior learning in the process of training/learning. Thirdly, we problematise the relation between experience, learning, and recognition