Designed for conference participants who wish to learn the basic principles and practices of prior learning assessment and recognition (PLAR) and portfolio development, this workshop covered:

• the philosophical framework of PLAR
• key terms and concepts
• assessment tools and models
• approaches and applications for portfolio development and portfolio assessment
• principles of best practice and an introduction to emerging benchmarks for PLAR practitioners
• snapshot of current PLAR initiatives
• learner & practitioner resources

This workshop was participatory in nature. Participants were encouraged to share their experiences and perspectives on PLAR and portfolio development and to ask questions.

Small group work provided an opportunity for participants to review sample portfolios and to explore their own experiential learning as a vehicle to gaining deeper appreciation for experiential learning and its worth to individuals and society.

This pre-conference workshop was a conversation about the concept and fundamentals of a competency-based, self-assessment portfolio or skills record which could be used by experienced workers, newcomers and employers.

The session would interest experienced job-seekers needing to identify and prove their skills and abilities, employers looking for effective ways of hiring staff, practitioners who advise clients, prospective immigrants wanting ways of proving their competencies against Canadian standards and other stakeholders interested in skills recognition and assessment. The goals of the session are to share some promising practices that already exist in Canada, to hear what others are doing, to build some consensus around the essential ingredients for an online competency-based portfolio, to identify issues and challenges and to make recommendations for the future. Examples of both generic and specific competency-based projects and programs will be presented by speakers from the private sector, government and NGOs in areas such as health, the trades and labour adjustment. Particular issues to be explored include:

• combining self-assessment strategies with other PLARtools such as demonstration or simulations, to verify learning claims
• career management implications for a competency-based portfolio/record of achievement, in terms of lifelong learning
• language proficiency considerations
• using industry-based standards to guide a self-assessment process
• opportunities for career change – the challenge of transferability of skills and competencies from one unrelated field to another
• connections with the E-portfolio movement
• the importance of facilitation and mentoring in an online environment

The morning session began with presentations of ‘sample’ competency-based projects after which participants were asked to share their projects and experience. The afternoon was used to share ideas on the essential components of an online competency-based portfolio model, along with issues and recommendations.

Resource materials and an ‘outcomes’ report will result from this session. A number of presenters from across Canada will be involved.

In January 2009, an exciting Pan Canadian project was announced bringing together an impressive group of partners from industry and education for the purpose of building Prior Learning Assessment and Recognition (PLAR) capacity to meet the needs of Canada’s slowing economy.

The partners include:

• Collège Communautaire du Nouveau Brunswick - Bathurst (CCNB-Bathurst)
• Saskatchewan Institute of Applied Science and Technology (SIAST)
• Aurora College
• Federated School of Mines (FSM)
• Xstrata Zinc Canada, Brunswick Mine Labour Force Adjustment Needs Assessment Sub-Committee
• ACCC – Mining Affinity Group (MAG)- Curriculum Working Group (CWG)
• Mining Industry Human Resource Council (MIHR)

The Brunswick Mine is the world’s largest underground zinc mine and has been in operation for more than 40 years. Operated by Xstrata Canada Corporation, Xstrata Zinc Division, Brunswick Mine is only expected to continue operation into 2011 due to a depletion of natural resources. Brunswick Mine presently employs nearly 1000 employees; many will be displaced upon mine closure.

Join us for an interactive pre-conference session and review this ground breaking project from needs assessment to the application of a PLARprocess used to validate and certify the skills of many of these displaced workers. Apanel of presenters, representing many of the partners, will set the stage for discussion from all angles of the project.

Over half of workers under age fifty-five intend to work until at least age sixty-five. Dwindling or no savings and pensions, an age expectancy of eighty and beyond, and the intent of more and more mature workers to remain in the workforce means changes in the way we think about the Canadian and American work force.

New assessment and recognition strategies are required to meet the employment skills and learning needs of an emerging age demographic of Canadian workers who until now were told “freedom fifty-five” is almost guaranteed.

The knowledge economy is changing the demands of business regarding competencies and skills of the workforce. Businesses demand a flexible workforce that is ‘specific as well as generalist’. This workshop will describe an approach to designing, establishing and delivering a context-relevant learning program for professional sportsmen and women based on a South African case study. It outlines skills needed in professional cricket, which are transferable to the world of work after players’ professional cricket careers have ended. This model, using PLAR as a point of departure, creates opportunities for lifelong and life wide learning, to ensure learner progression and labour mobility.

Margaret Cameron will provide a brief overview of the European Guidelines for Validating Non-formal and Informal Learning (2009). These voluntary guidelines are the result of more than two years of intensive exchange from more than 20 European countries, and are intended as a practical tool for use on a voluntary basis. Margaret will note how Scotland’s Guidelines for RPL relate to the European Guidelines.

Dr Christine Wihak will present the new Prior Learning International Research Centre (PLIRC) at Thompson Rivers University. The vision for the Centre is to stimulate innovative and provocative research concerning prior learning and the theory, policy and practice of its assessment and/or recognition and/or validation. PLIRC will provide an international forum for networking amongst scholars of PLAR and will actively promote dissemination of research findings to practitioners and policy makers alike.

Gail Hall will lead a discussion on the International Prior Learning Assessment Network (IPLAN) initiated by CAPLA, including its connections with RPL/PLAR networks and individuals in other countries. Activities proposed for the network will be presented, and will lead into discussion on how to maximize connections between RPL practitioners through IPLAN and the research activities of PLIRC.

Everyone knows that Canadian employers are facing unprecedented, long-term challenges in finding and retaining skilled workers. However, there are ways to address these challenges that serve the interests of both employers and employees. This session will address two of the Fall Focus Workshop’s priority areas by presenting how employers in New Zealand are cooperating with government to implement comprehensive skills recognition for their workers. The session presenter, who has recently returned from a work tour of New Zealand, will facilitate a discussion on specific actions we can take and other lessons to be learned from the New Zealand system of assessing current competencies.

The Canadian Society for Medical Laboratory Science (CSMLS) offers a unique coordinated national Prior Learning Assessment program for internationally trained medical laboratory technologists. The PLA, combined with success on the national certification examination is used by all provincial regulators (with the exception of Quebec) for licensure in the profession. The CSMLS uses a true PLA process, combining verification of credential, with relevant work history and professional development to allow clients to be compared to the entry to practice standard in Canada. Our process also includes verification of language proficiency, as determined through evidence-based research.

The presentation dealt with the specific recognition for prior learning options offered to hundreds of greater Montreal francophone, anglophone and allophone educators who need to meet the new Department Responsible for Families and Seniors requirements. Together, the Department for Families and Seniors, Marie-Victorin College, Vanier College, Jobs Québec, the Department of Education, Recreation and Sport and the Association of Quebec Private Daycares have developed a common strategy for maintaining these individuals’ employment and supporting them during their recognition for prior learning process by taking into account their rather weak level of education and the difficulty, for many, to express themselves in writing in the language of instruction. The workshop gave an overview of the various options offered, the type of tools used, as well as the methods of collaboration adopted by all the organizations involved.

Companies have been streamlining staff in light of hard economic times. However, these companies are not willing to sacrifice quality and thus require existing staff to maintain that level of expertise. Displaced workers find it just as difficult to highlight critical skills. Along with the resume, how can a worker show mastery of other skills, identified as critical, that often come from learning in the real world? The problem is demonstrating these skills from both the employer and worker perspective. Portfolios can provide that insight. This workshop discusses options in portfolio development to demonstrate critical and often undetected skills.

It is time to break down the barriers that prevent employees in transition from achieving meaningful employment that utilizes their prior learning. Job seekers need:

• Strategies to match their prior learning to HRSDC Essential Skills, National Occupation Classifications, and Employment 2000+ Skills
• Understanding of the Canadian labour market information and how it affects their job searches.
• Strategies to customize their prior learning skills to job descriptions

PLAR is a dynamic way to respond to unemployed and underemployed workers with diverse learning needs. This workshop will use interactive employment advising strategies in PLAR to assist workers.

This presentation introduced a first attempt at developing a language portfolio for internationally trained engineers in Alberta at the Edmonton Mennonite Centre (EMCN). The EMCN worked with the Centre for Canadian Language Benchmarks (CCLB) to produce a template and process for internationally-trained engineers to define their language learning experience and abilities in terms of Canadian Language Benchmarks, adapting methodology used in some parts of Europe. The work initially also involved a preliminary investigation into aligning the Canadian Language Benchmarks with the Common European Framework for languages. EMCN will also discuss the process of development of a portfolio-based curriculum and assessments as well as how the portfolio will be field tested with internationally-trained engineers in Alberta.

The Make It Work resource for individuals in search of jobs will soon be available. This program offers an online computer scored system where each individual proceeds through a self-guided process of self-awareness. Users are then introduced to a vicarious learning experience where they become familiar with essential skills, job search techniques and resources using the best Canadian job web sites.
Essential Skills
Job bank
Job Seekers then create their individual action plan, incorporating their personal assets and qualifications. They will then identify their support system and the supportive role that each can play. The Make It Work resource also incorporates a guided process to numerous online national job banks and job-finding assistance. Opportunities will be given at the workshop to pilot this tool.

There is a remarkable increase in the number of mature learners with a wealth of experience applying for access to UNISA through the RPL alternative admission program. UNISA is the largest distance learning institution in Africa, and is committed to access and redress. Few universities have a student profile as dynamic and diverse as UNISA. Non-traditional learners hoping to get access into higher education experience a variety of barriers, one being the compiling of a portfolio according to rigorous academic guidelines. As an RPL facilitator tasked with facilitating portfolio workshops, the challenge was to ensure a meaningful learning experience. A unique characteristic of these workshops is that the attendees are extremely diverse in terms of race, age, background and career, with only one thing in common, namely that they want to gain access to university. One of the advantages of the portfolio workshop is that it helps a student bridge the gap between being an adult with experience and a mature learner prepared for the demands of post-secondary education by transforming the prospective student or candidate.

The use of the portfolio has evolved from being the artists’ way of demonstrating their work, to nowadays being used by college and university students to demonstrate their knowledge, skills and abilities in preparation for the workforce. While the traditional portfolio exhibits chronological artifacts such as the resume, skills inventory, work samples and career goals, the professional skills record displays more specific and detailed evidence of one’s specialized skills.

Our presentation focuses on recognition of skills to improve access to work. We will explore the experience of internationally educated professionals, and discuss how building a professional skills record may potentially increase their job search success.

This session introduced the new International Research Centre for Prior Learning Assessment housed at Thompson Rivers University. The purpose of the Centre is to provide a forum for networking and promoting effective research, scholarship and policies concerning PLAR. An inaugural Steering Committee meeting took place in July, 2009. Noted academic researchers from Australia, Scotland, South Africa, England, Canada, the United States and the European Union met to share research activities in their respective countries and develop an international PLAR research agenda. Information will be presented on future plans for extending membership in the centre and proposed joint research activities.

The Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework (SCQF), established in 2001, is Scotland’s lifelong learning framework. It is an integrated framework that includes all Scotland’s mainstream qualifications, including those offered in higher education, college, school and vocational education.

From the outset, SCQF Guidelines were developed for the recognition of prior learning (RPL) however take up by institutions and learners appeared to be patchy.

Through the Skills Strategy (2007) the SCQF Partnership was challenged by Scottish Government to encourage the use of RPL and the Partnership commissioned a report to ascertain the level of activity and existing practice in Scotland (2008). This workshop will:

• Explain how RPL fits with the SCQF and the skills strategy for Scotland;
• Highlight the findings and recommendations from the 2008 report;
• Discuss how the SCQF Partnership is addressing the recommendations in the report;
• Outline how the social services sector and community learning and development in Scotland are using RPL for those employed in their sectors.

The Government of Alberta recognizes the importance of the contribution that current and future immigrants can make to Alberta’s economy and communities, and is committed to facilitating the full utilization of their education, skills and experience. On November 7, 2008, the province officially announced A Foreign Qualification Recognition (FQR) Plan for Alberta – a strategic initiative intended to promote systemic changes through ongoing collaboration between government, professional regulatory organizations, employers, post-secondary institutions and community groups. In this presentation Alberta’s FQR Plan will be discussed in further detail, including: its context, rationale, focus and desired outcomes; a comparison of Alberta’s approach with those of other jurisdictions; and, a full implementation update.

For more than 60 years, prior learning assessment has broadened postsecondary pathways, with notable examples such as academic credit for military training and experience for U.S. veterans after World War II. Since then, assessment options have expanded to include testing out, portfolio development, industry certifications, performance, and professional conversations. In the current distressed economy with older adults experiencing record unemployment rates, how are colleges and universities using PLA to boost and accelerate their credential attainment and job placement? What innovations would make PLA more responsive to the need for rapid transitions? Join a discussion on trends, opportunities, and challenges.

In October 2008, Alberta Advanced Education and Technology released its PLAR Action Plan. This presentation is a summary of the work that has been completed during the past year to implement the plan. The results of an informal environmental scan will provide you with a glimpse of the state of PLAR in Alberta’s publicly funded post-secondary institutions. Using this as a starting point, you will hear how the province is moving forward to establish a foundation upon which institutions will be able to increase activities in and capacity for assessment and recognition of prior learning.

Fair registration in the regulated professions is valuable whether we are in good times or bad. Applicants deserve fair treatment from regulators and from agencies that assess qualifications; it’s a matter of equity. During a downturn, fair registration and licensing are especially important for the economy, since highly qualified people can contribute to their full potential. In this workshop, the Commissioner will explore the effects of the recession and of full labour mobility on registration in Ontario’s regulated professions.

This workshop will take your mind on a trip (acid free) into a highly dimensional fractal space where all assessment tools reside. You will see how the new British Columbia Construction Association assessment tool was extracted from this place. You will see how BCCA uses this free assessment tool and learn how to use it. Most importantly you will be able to return this fractal space and find your favorite assessments tools and gain new insights into their use. Fasten a seat belt around your mind for this one hour adventure!

What approach do you take when assessing learners for program placement or career pathing? Recognizing Prior Learning in learners goes beyond discussing prior learning assessments. Let’s explore the fundamentals involved in creating a culture of practice that supports and integrates the principles and practices of recognizing prior learning in a learner centred environment.

The closing plenary focussed on the newly-formed Strategic Advisory Panel on the Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL), an entity created by CAPLA’s Board of Directors for the purpose of working collaboratively on a broad range of pan-Canadian issues. The Panel consists of representatives appointed primarily by deputy ministers or assistant deputy ministers from every province and territory. Along with these 13 members, there is representation from the federal government, NGOs and key national organizations with an interest in RPL such as the Association of Canadian Community Colleges, the Canadian Council on Learning and the Alliance of Credential Evaluation Services of Canada. Panel members including Philip Belanger (NB), Ted Amendt and Natalie Shorten (SK) and Kathleen Morrow (AB) who will share their hopes for the Panel and highlights of the work undertaken to date