Deirdre Goggin

Deirdre Goggin is the Project Lead for the National RPL Project and works in RPL/ WBL at MTU Cork.

Deirdre is based within the MTU Extended Campus and has worked in RPL and Work Based Learning(RPL) since 2003.  In that time, she has been actively engaged in many aspects of RPL which have been instrumental in informing practice and policy in CIT and more recently MTU. She has also contributed to policy and practice at national, European and international levels.

Locally, she has been active in staff training and development on systems and supports for RPL including a 10 credit level 9 module as part of the MA in Teaching and Learning, workshops for staff on supporting and assessing prior learning and more recently the developer and facilitator of the NFETLHE Digital Badge Introduction to RPL in Higher Education. She has also been active in professional development in further education and higher education nationally and internationally on policy, procedures and practice.

As part of her role within MTU, in 2012 Deirdre pioneered the ‘Learning Clinic’ concept with industry to enhance awareness and opportunities for those within the workplace seeking to upskill, reskill or up-qualify. She has engaged with colleagues within the university on the development of customised solutions to workplace needs incorporating RPL and WBL. Nationally, Deirdre has engaged with many bodies seeking to develop RPL systems and supports for their members in response to changing regulatory and job requirements.

In addition to her work in MTU, Deirdre was a founder of the Irish RPL practitioner network in 2014 and has represented Ireland, QQI and the HEA in RPL networks and initiatives.

To enhance practice and processes related to RPL nationally and internationally, Deirdre has been actively engaged in the scholarship of education development, RPL and WBL since 2003. She has been invited to give keynote addresses at national, European and international conferences and symposia on her research and work in RPL and WBL.  She has contributed to many publications including authoring, with MTU colleagues, the NFETLHE report on RPL in 2015 and the RPL in Further Education and Training in 2017. She has contributed to the Cedefop/ EU Commission Ireland country inventories since 2014, reflecting on the developments within CIT/MTU. She has been actively engaged in numerous Erasmus + projects including VISKA, RPL in Practice and eVA-VOL.