This article outlines three theoretical perspectives that have emerged in the literature on RPL and that are useful in understanding the complexities around prior learning, the human capital perspective, the liberal humanist perspective and the social constructivist perspective. Although each approach has its own blind spots and its own critics, it is argued that conversations between and within these perspectives are valuable for educators who in the final analysis are the ones who have to design and implement RPL practices that are educationally defensible and socially just.