RPL Colloquium 2007
Conversations were re-ignited on Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) during Sydney’s wettest day, June 7th. Despite the weather, 100 delegates attended TAFE’s RPL Colloquium. The theme was ‘more possibilities, better results’ and the day was organised in conjunction with the COAG funded TAFE NSW RPL project. The event provided an opportunity for practitioners, experts and leaders to engage in strategic conversation around RPL and facilitate the sharing of knowledge to strengthen current practice and create new initiatives.
Head teachers and teachers from all Institutes came to the event. A ‘buddy’ system was encouraged, with experienced teachers attending with a ‘newbie’. Staff from Curriculum Centres and state-wide units also attended the event. The day’s program included opening guest speakers Pam Christie, Director – Sydney Institute and Chair RPL Steering Committee, Pauline Hart, Associate Director – MECAT Curriculum Centre, with closing remarks from Melanie O’Connor, NSW TAFE Commission Board member and Kim Fillingham, General Manager, TAFE Business.
To fuel the conversations on the day there was a pre-Colloquium think piece on RPL entitled From Policy to Practice, spark topic presentations by RPL experts and the generation of six highly topical RPL questions identified by practitioners. Participants formed 6 groups for the strategic conversations, addressing questions such as:
How can we reconcile the tension between quality assessment and the economic imperative?
How can we facilitate new training/business opportunities by seeing RPL as a diagnostic too as opposed to just a ‘must do’ policy?
How can we reconcile a teacher’s role as an educator as opposed to that of an RPL assessor – how do you take the learning out of assessment?
In addressing these questions, delegates were asked to consider ‘where do we want to be’? and ‘how can we make it happen’?
On the day people were highly participative and showed enthusiasm and motivation to move RPL forward. This was evidenced through feedback which indicated that most found the day “thought provoking”, “interesting”, “gave new insights” and “got new ideas”.
The Colloquium was a key event in a series of strategies and activities to promote RPL across TAFE NSW. Online forums have been planned to follow the Colloquium to continue solving problems and bringing to fruition opportunities raised by delegates at the Colloquium. Some Institutes were planning to hold follow up mini-colloquiums within their own Institutes.
Click here for information on the RPL Online Forums.