Wholistic Learning Assessments

Learning leaves evidence in many places. A project, a conversation, a job, a volunteer role or a question pursued over time can reveal knowledge that a list of courses only partly describes.

At Agate, we take a strength-based view of the whole learner. A wholistic learning assessment brings evidence together to explore what a person understands, how they use it, and what would help them move towards their goals. Prior Learning Assessment and Recognition, or PLAR, can be part of that picture.

It is a considered review of learning across a person’s experiences. We look at the learner, the work they have done, and the circumstances in which they learn.

The review can bring academic knowledge into conversation with practical skills, creativity, communication, problem-solving and increasing independence. It also makes room for the learner’s own account: what matters to them, what they find challenging, and where they want to go next.

The purpose guides the assessment. Planning a family’s next term calls for different evidence from preparing a portfolio for a particular course, training program or admission process.

• Recognising progress: make learning visible when it has happened through projects, personal interests or everyday responsibilities.
• Planning next steps: identify strengths, questions to explore, skills to practise and resources that would help.
• Navigating a transition: bring existing schoolwork and learning outside school into a clearer picture.
• Explaining learning to others: organise examples for a conversation with a mentor, educator, employer or admissions adviser.
• Preparing for PLAR: collect and explain relevant prior learning against the criteria of a particular recognition process.

A useful assessment gives a family something they can act on: clearer goals, better questions, and evidence to guide decisions.

A learner helping to organise a garden might measure beds, compare costs, investigate soil, coordinate volunteers and explain planting choices.

A portfolio could bring together their plan, budget, photographs, notes and a short reflection. A conversation could explore why they made particular decisions, what changed, and how they would approach a similar problem elsewhere.

That evidence can reveal mathematical reasoning, scientific inquiry, communication and practical judgement across one connected undertaking. Our Deconstructing Subjects page explores this approach in more detail.

There is overlap. High school assessment can include projects, performances, practical work, conversations and reflection, as well as tests and exams. Ontario’s assessment guidance describes this range of evidence.

The main differences are how learning is organised, what the assessment is for, and how its results are recorded. Individual schools, courses and assessment processes vary.

Both approaches need clear purposes, appropriate criteria and dependable evidence. A broader view of the learner still needs to identify gaps, give specific feedback and help the learner take responsibility for what comes next.

Prior Learning Assessment and Recognition looks at knowledge and skills already gained through formal and informal learning. Its emphasis is on what a person can demonstrate, including learning acquired outside a conventional classroom.

A wholistic review can help identify that learning, organise evidence and recognise areas that need more work. A formal PLAR process assesses the evidence against the requirements of the organisation providing recognition.

For Ontario secondary school credits, PLAR operates within specific provincial requirements and is carried out under the direction of a school principal who grants the credits. The processes differ for adolescent and mature students. See Ontario’s PLAR guidance for those distinctions.

For a course, diploma, apprenticeship or post-secondary application, begin with the receiving organisation’s requirements. We can discuss your learner’s goals and how assessment may help them prepare. Credit, placement and admission decisions remain with the organisation responsible for them.

1. Name the purpose. Are you planning learning, reviewing progress, or preparing for a specific recognition process?
2. Choose relevant examples. Gather a manageable selection of work and experiences that speak to that purpose.
3. Include the learner’s explanation. What did they do, what did they learn, and what can they now apply?
4. Review strengths and gaps. Consider the evidence against the agreed goals or criteria.
5. Plan the next step. Identify further learning, support, documentation or formal assessment that may be needed.

Reflection can be as simple as asking what happened, what was learned, and what comes next. The University of Edinburgh’s Reflection Toolkit offers further prompts and examples.

Talk with us about your learner’s goals, including wholistic assessment and PLAR. Bring the questions you have and a few examples of learning you would like help making visible.

• Deconstructing Subjects — Agate’s approach to connected learning.
• University of Edinburgh: Reflection Toolkit — ways to think about experience and identify learning.

Photographs are from Agate’s existing image library.