People, validation and power: RPL in Ireland take it home!
The RPL Practitioner Network, Ireland, co-convened by Siobhan Magee (Further Education Support Service & Cavan and Monaghan Education and Training Board) and Karina Curley (Dublin City University), and with the support of the Network Steering Group and QQI, met in Athlone on 6 November to take our learning forward from the 5th VPL Biennale, People, validation and power: RPL in Ireland.
Dr Jim Murray updated from the breadth of QQI’s engagement nationally and internationally, with a focus on the individual at the centre of our work as a community of practice. Jim encouraged engagement with the range of current policy consultations and drew attention to the forthcoming green papers on ‘Access, transfer and progression’, and ongoing work on work integrated learning and assessment, with international learning, including of refugees and migrants exemplified through the EQPR and other initiatives. Our overarching work in scoping national approaches to RPL centres around deepening a culture of recognition, with an ambition to publish our discussion documents by mid-2025.
Siobhan Murray spotlighted key learning from the Biennale - the focus on individuals, the desire to be recognised for what I know, the reality of our need for recognition in support of access to fair and decent work; the reminder of how making skills visible through quality assured assessment acknowledges how a person can effectively contribute within an inclusive society that makes recognition available to everyone.
Lightning talks
We were treated to lightning talks to both bring us back and take us forward.
Dr Phil O’Leary invited us to keep the commitment to each other, nurturing the spaces between us in order to develop well. Phil outlined some findings from her PhD. Research about the underpinning values of RPL practice, while nuanced across roles, being aligned: honesty, fairness, openness, trust, cultural acceptance. Dr Cathal de Paor reminded us of the contribution of RPL as an educative process in itself, lifting us across territories through its intensity. Patsy Hogan spoke on the embedding of RPL within apprenticeship programmes, and of the implications and impacts for programme design, identifying important learning essential to progress in embedding RPL. Bridie Killoran highlighted the person-centred nature of the CareerPath.ie tool and the contribution that it makes with RPL and Micro-credentials.
Thematic workshops
Thematic workshops followed, continuing the sub-themes, the individual, skills, inclusion, mobility, facilitated by members of the Steering Group. Finally, a panel comprising Grace Edge, Colleen Dube, Jim Murray, Fergus Craddock and Michelle Nugent was facilitated by Martina Needham. Success enablers identified in conversation included the commitment of leaders, the frank acknowledgement of issues and challenges, the importance of embedding the recognition of learning as routine practice- designing in from the outset, dedicating some resources, some funding, and continuing to build our data collection capacity. For example- did you know that the NALA online programme which routinely embeds RPL assessment opportunities means that 96% of people achieving awards do so with combinations of certification achieved through RPL? The contribution and diverse purposes of RPL nuanced discussion, including as a force for inclusion and for skills development in particular populations and sectors, and for reflective learning in all pathways.
The RPL Practitioner Network has published slides from the event on the website and continues to support practice on their LinkedIn community page.
