Micro-credentials and RPL for epistemological access in a postgraduate diploma: a social justice-informed design

This theoretical paper uses the concept of ‘powerful knowledge’ to argue for a critical approach to micro-credentials and recognition of prior learning (RPL) short courses. This approach holds that inward-facing micro-credentials and RPL courses that apply a ‘specialised pedagogy’ (Cooper, L., and A. Ralphs. 2016a. RPL as specialised pedagogy: Towards a conceptual framework. In RPL as Specialised Pedagogy, Crossing the Lines, eds. Linda Cooper, and Alan Ralphs. Cape Town: HSRC Press; Cooper, L., and A. Ralphs. 2016b. Configurations of more optimally inclusive RPL policy and practice. In RPL as Specialised Pedagogy, Crossing the Lines, eds. Linda Cooper, and Alan Ralphs. Cape Town: HSRC Press.) can enhance epistemological access to university programmes. This paper makes a theoretical contribution to current conversations around micro-credentials and RPL, offering a theoretical approach to programme design that foregrounds the intentional integration of experiential and academic knowledge, with the Postgraduate diploma in Blended and Online Learning Design (PGBOLD) at the University of Cape Town (UCT), providing an illustrative case. We imagine a future for micro-credentials – framed by social justice concerns – that centres accessible and equitable higher education pathways via students’ engagement with powerful knowledge, rather than the acquisition of discrete, generic, and fleeting labour market skills.