2007 RPL Colloquium - an overview
A colloquium is a guided conversation that explores and unravels a particular area of interest. An ICVET Colloquium is a professional conversation with facilitators and scribes furiously scribbling down the thoughts, theories and impressions of the gathered TAFE community. Once captured on paper, hours are spent by the ICVET team combing through the commentary, collating, analysing, interpreting.
For 2007, Recognition was the quarry of our event. Over the course of a day, facilitators probed
The key drivers are:
- Employers want skill sets that can accommodate change. There are skill shortages and the economy needs fast track skilling solutions.
- COAG 2006 requires that “All RTOs in receipt of public funds provide …. a ‘quick and simple process’ to recognise skills. Funding has been allocated to support the uptake of RPL
- NSW State Plan targets and NSW Government election commitment to expand opportunities for RPL
- TAFE NSW has a key role in the economy of NSW. Effort is needed to shift from training provision to workforce development.
As the 100 person discussions evolved, beliefs, stories, controversies, themes and questions began to emerge:
Quality & Quick
- Do quality and quick go together?
- Does evidence and quick go together?
- Do ‘auditor fear and quick’ go together?
- With RPL evidence is it a case of ‘near enough is good enough’?
- Does the new 2007 AQT Framework really streamline the regulatory burden?
- Are the evidence requirements less prescriptive?
Holistic or Atomistic
- Do Training Packages take ‘a sliced-bread approach’ to competency?
- How do we get the balance right between holistic and atomistic assessment?
- How do I deal with inconclusive evidence?
- Do ‘inconclusive evidence instruments’ worry teachers?
- Does RPL assessment tend to ‘sweep under the carpet’ a whole class of mental and emotional events that make up a competency?
- What exactly is required?
- Can we see some examples of ‘quick-holistic evidence records’?
Is RPL adequately compensated
- funding is allocated at “bulk billing rate”, for students but RPL requires individualised service which is time consuming
- students who lack the skills to prepare an adequate portfolio can rely heavily on the ‘assessor’ to assist them and this time is not compensated for
Reporting RPL
- How accurate are the reported statistics for RPL enrolments?
- Is RPL activity being reported as other activity, such as related duties or teaching?
Facilitators urged their conferee’s to the next big question:
All teachers need to understand:
- The benefits of RPL;
- A ‘Pedagogy of Recognition’ that underpins our action;
- Where the auditors are at;
- The relationship between evidence and what it implies;
- A drilling down process that can deal with evidence problems;
- Holistic assessment supported by challenge testing;
The system needs features that are helpful, including
- recognition for their efforts
- Clear rules of engagement
- User friendly systematic briefing process
- Streamlined process that requires minimal adjustment
- A recordkeeping system that is simplified and minimalist
- User friendly system support and resources
- Statistics that reflect what is really happening in the field.
How do we get there? How do we make it happen?
Time & Money
- adequate time and investment
- view RPL as an opportunity
- removal of artificial systems barriers.
Professional Development / Tools
We need:
- Trust in the individual teacher’s professional judgement
- Holistic assessment supplemented with atomistic assessment where necessary
- RPL by occupation.
- To better understand exactly what the auditors want
Learning and Dissemination
- Mentors, Champions, Sharing Communities, Workshops and Conferences.
RPL Tools
- Supporting ‘assessment tools’ that assist our conclusions and the audit process
- Supporting vocabulary that describes some of the hidden processes
- Appropriate process descriptors and ‘How To’ examples
- Templates and framework that can be developed
- A library of tried & tested tools
- User-friendly website.
The comments arising from the Colloquium are reflected in research undertaken by the National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER) in 2003.
This suggests RPL can be improved by:
- recognising that it can occur both upfront at enrolment and also within the teaching program
- improving reporting of RPL, including those who applied and were not granted it
- removing funding disincentives
- improving support services for both students and assessors
- promoting professional development for RPL
- changing the AQTF standards to reflect that RPL is a pathway involving an early assessment process, rather than something which is separate from teaching and assessment.
Finally
RPL is at times not easily translated into a ‘quick and simple’ assessment process
One solution does not fit all