The RPL Practitioner Network event ‘The Boundary Shifters – Moving and Eliminating Boundaries’ took place on December 7th, 2022, and was hosted by SETU, Carlow, and supported by QQI. The event was facilitated by David Denieffe, SETU and Angela Higgins, KWETB, Co-Convenors of the RPL PN, 2020-2022.
We were delighted to welcome a diverse group of more than 80 RPL practitioners from varied sectors nationally to participate in this event. We were also joined on zoom by Aline Juerges, European Commission.
Short ‘flash talks’ by sectoral representatives addressed key questions around key enablers and perceived boundaries around RPL currently, and lead to very interesting round table discussions on the themes. Thank you to our flash speakers;
- Elaine Cohalan, NALA
- Grace Edge, RPL Ireland, HCI
- Suzanne Golden, University of Galway
- Patsy Hogan, LCETB
- Ciaran Lynch, Mike Lyons, CETB
- Siobhan Murray, DETB
- Phil O’ Leary, MTU
- Conor Thompson, Aontas
The invited panel focused on our ‘Big Question’ – ‘If we could shift the dial on one item or issue relating to RPL right now, what would that be’? It was agreed that the future is bright for RPL in Ireland right now. Thank you to our panellists;
- Fergus Craddock, ETBI
- Suzanne Golden, University of Galway
- Martina Needham, RPL Expert
- Andrina Wafer, QQI
The final session allowed us to present the revised Network Terms of Reference were then presented to the group and will be agreed, following minor amendments. Our re-launched website, rpl-ireland.ie , was also presented to the group and all participants were invited to log on and join our newly launched RPL Community of Practice.
The RPL Practitioner Network looks forward to many more events to celebrate RPL in the future.
