The experiential knowledge in validation context: place and modes of existence.

From the perspective of candidates for the validation of prior learning (VAE), formalizing their practice in written texts in order to convey, through oral and written expression, the knowledge acquired at work and throughout their professional life requires learning to narrate, describe, and conceptualize. Similarly, from the perspective of jury members, assessing and validating experiential knowledge to grant certification requires stabilizing definitions, criteria, and a logic that enables the deliberation processes of the jury to be based on a structured framework. More than twenty years after the implementation of prior learning validation systems in France and Europe, these definitions and methods have yet to be fully developed. The reflection carried out in this text examines the various dimensions of the issue related to the formalization and assessment of experiential knowledge, based on questions that intersect epistemological, theoretical, and methodological dimensions.