1. Karina Ryan MIC, 4th HELLIN Conference, 8th December 2017
Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) in Teacher Education: Adult and Further Education Sector (AFET)
Karina Ryan MIC, 4th HELLIN Conference, 8th December 2017

2. Teaching Council and RPL in FET
Teaching Council qualification requirements to register as a teacher in FET after 1 April 2013:
A primary degree or equivalent (not less than level 8 on the NFQ)
AND a teacher education qualification approved by the Council
OR An ordinary degree or equivalent (not less than level 7 on the NFQ)
PLUS i) an appropriate additional qualification, or ii) certified accreditation of prior learning based on a minimum of three years’ experience in a workplace or instructional setting which is relevant to the candidate’s qualifications,
AND iii) a teacher education qualification approved by the Council.
Teaching Council and RPL in FET

3. Teacher Educator’s Perspective
Candidates applying for admission to Level 9 Post Graduate Diploma in AFET
Reluctant to engage with the RPL process.
View it as a very daunting process (some have considered it for many years).
Those that engage successfully with the process generally have support (usually family).
When they negotiate the RPL hurdle, participants availing of the RPL route perform really well on the graduate diploma.

4. What about the ‘learning practitioners’ who have limited access to teacher education through RPL?
Legacy issue: tutors and trainers who have vocational expertise & years of experience but whose only access to teacher education is a 4 year concurrent teaching degree.
Department of Education and Skills (2014) FET Strategy: stated goal of improving the quality of teaching/training in the sector.
SOLAS: CPD strategy identifying the existing qualification profile of learning practitioners and their CPD needs (see diagram on next slide).
Northern Ireland Model: compulsory pedagogical upskilling for practitioners at higher education level funded by the colleges of FE.

5. SOLAS (2016) FET Professional Development Strategy 2017-2019

6. Sources:
European Commission; CEDEFOP; ICF International. (2014) European inventory on validation of non-formal and informal learning 2014: country report Ireland.
Department of Education and Skills. (2014). Further Education and Training Strategy Dublin. Department of Education and Skills. [Online] Available at:
National Forum for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education (2015). A current overview of recognition of prior learning (RPL) in Irish higher Education. Focused research report No 2.
SOLAS (2016) FET Professional Development Strategy
Teaching Council (2011) Further Education: General and Programme Requirements for the Accreditation of Teacher Education Qualifications In accordance with Section 38 of the Teaching Council Act, 2001 and Regulation Five of the Teaching Council (Registration) Regulations 2009 March 2011