RPL Project Network Meeting, 3rd/4th May 2023
Project Network Meeting hosted by UCD
Our Project Leads representing all 14 higher education institutions joined us for a two-day event that was very generously hosted by University College Dublin.
We had a very productive couple of days with the opening remarks delivered by Prof. Jason Last, Dean of Students and Chair of UCD's RPL Implementation Committee.
On day one the Project Management Office (Grace, Clare and Martin) provided updates and an overview of ongoing work that included:
- RPL sustainability at an institutional level
- HCI Audit of RPL Project
- HCI Programmatic Review
- Technical Definition Pilot Implementation
- Staff Development
- Communications
We had a series of 'practice shares' from some of our Project Leads highlighting the work being done in their respective institutions:
- Dublin City University
- Dundalk Institute of Technology
- Institute of Art, Design & Technology
- Munster Technological University
- South East Technological University
- Technological University Dublin
- University of Limerick
Aishling O'Toole of SETU Waterford talking about RPL at the Literary Development Centre
Deirdre Goggin, Project Lead at MTU Cork, delivers a presentation on how the institution is creating a single RPL policy
Karina Curley outlining three key factors required for progressing the implementation of RPL
Rebecca Roper, RPL Project Lead at IADT, explains alongside her colleague, Louisa Keogh, how they are progressing the implementation of RPL within their institution
Suzanne Golden, RPL Project Lead at the University of Galway, reveals that she's collaborating with the Centre for Adult Learning and Professional Development to schedule meetings with companies to promote RPL
Margaret Finch, Project Lead at MTU Kerry, talks about collaborating with the Culinary Arts Department and the hospitality sector to formalise recognition and valuing of commis and senior chefs learning in the workplace
On day two we were joined by Siobhan Murray, RPL Coordinator for the Donegal Education and Training Board.
Siobhan briefly shared her own experience of RPL before revealing how the ETB supports & assesses learners for level 5 and 6 programmes and provides a pathway into higher education. It was an excellent talk that generated a lot of engagement. Siobhan also made available hard copies of their RPL Toolkit, which is a valuable document to have. A digital copy can be downloaded from here: RPL Toolkit.
Siobhan's talk was followed by Dr Clare Walsh's analysis of the RPL for Enterprise 'Think In' discussion document. There were a number of interesting conclusions distilled from the event survey.
Using the RPL to shorten and simplify learning pathways is another way to make adult education and training more accessible to a wider range of individuals and to encourage greater participation in adult learning (OECD, 2021).
Dr Philip Scanlon, RPL Project Lead at Dundalk Institute of Technology, shared businessman Mark McGowan's RPL journey through his institution. Mark is studying Tourism & Hospitality. You can hear about his experience in the below video.
RPL for Enterprise Booklet
We produced an RPL for Enterprise booklet for an event we hosted in March 2023 that brought senior figures from third-level institutions, enterprise, policymakers and practitioners together to discuss the advantages and opportunities that RPL can deliver.
