RPL and workforce capability development

Sydney institute team EXEMPLAR | Janet Hewson, TAFE NSW ICVET

A TAFE NSW Sydney Institute project, which won a Gold TAFE NSW Quality Award in 2005, has been expanded, Institute-wide, as an existing worker traineeship for non-teaching staff. The benefits and the process undertaken are seen from the perspective of a manager, staff member and participants.

Organisations globally are increasingly looking to workforce development to ensure they are able to meet the demands of rapidly changing business needs. TAFE Institutes are not immune from the pressures of doing business in a changing world. Developing the capability of staff, through recognising and building on their existing skills and expertise, organizations can meet their economic and social responsibilities Involving staff in the process of deteriminng their skllls and development priorities is an important part of this process:

Involving staff in their work design has been shown to increase job satisfaction, increase motivation and reduce stress (Parker & Wall, 1998).

With considerable planning and stakeholder input, the original award-winning project has been expanded and is now being implemented as an Institute staff learning strategy, utilising Existing Worker Traineeships. The program is available to non-teaching staff. It involves a process of recognising and building on existing skills, with the aim of providing these staff with a formal qualification.

A Manager’s Perspective

Ros Carter, one of the TAFE NSW Sydney Institute Managers involved in the project, reflects

“when all this started, it was about looking at a way to recognise staff skills and develop a package that included workplace learning and formal learning that would eventually be recognised as a formal qualification”.

The beginning – getting staff involved
Initially, expressions of interest were sought from staff. Staff wishing to participate came from a range of positions and had varying levels of ability. Whilst the existing worker traineeships were accessible and ideal for some staff, others with prior qualifications would not qualify for the traineeships. These individuals were also able to be catered for through an in-house Study Assistance Scheme.

Benefits

Ros observed
“colleagues have helped each other by sharing knowledge and also assisting each other when they were out of the office to attend classes or workshops - they started to realise they could help each other out and work together – with sharing of skills – there was a lot of co-operation”.

Application of learning to work
The program has reaped many benefits both for individuals and the organisation. As a result of their participation in the existing worker traineeships, staff are not only able to be recognised for existing skills and knowledge both through formal and informal learning, on and off the job, but are also able to apply this learning to work whilst participating in workplace training and assessment.

Ros adds that
“just coming in to do one unit of a course is opening pathways and opening doors to things staff wouldn’t normally do and is leading to some staff going through to do more courses than would originally have been anticipated”. You don’t have to go up, you can go sideways and learn more specialised skills in the same field specialising in one area”

Team building
Getting staff involved in their development has also had unforseen benefits. Initially there was some concern about colleagues fearing failure if engaged in the learning and assessment together. In fact, the process has had a positive effect.

Self assessment and development
Through exposing staff to assessment of their skills and the identification of future skills development pathways, staff are better able to articulate their own interest in aspects of the job role and analyse areas that need development or attention in pursuing their individual development.

This seems to align well with the concept of capability development and the “three way fit” as identified by Lorsch (1997) which suggests that “individuals must have interests, skills and needs that are consistent with the work required”

Supervisors’ skill development
Benefits to other staff were also noted, such as the development of supervisor’s skills in managing the learning of others. This has encouraged supervisors to recognise their role in developing staff and in determining the sufficiency of their level of skill.

Workforce planning
The process of assessing and recognising existing skills provides acknowledgement at both an an organisational and individual level. It supports the identification of pathways to enable staff to broaden their skills. This is particularly important in succession planning and in providing career progression and having staff suitably skilled to meet workforce planning demands.

A teacher’s perspective

Kathy Hardman, a teacher of Frontline Management, worked with staff on the existing Worker Traineeship program. Here she talks about her work and philosophy of RPL/RCC.

“One of the first things I raise with my students is, ‘TAFE is not about sitting in class and spending time listening.’ If a student already knows some of their course material, they may apply for RPL, and RCC. "

“My aim in reaching judgements about RPL, is to both identify learning that has already occurred and to identify gaps that require further training."

Kathy uses a variety of techniques to professionally judge the candidates evidence. These include assessor interviewing techniques combined with assessments options such as:

‘challenge tests’,
reference checks,
sighting documents that are relevant to the criteria,
prior qualifications and course content both at work and at other learning opportunities
strategic questions

Kathy’s suggestions for questions¹ to gather evidence include:

Tell me about an aspect of your job that you feel you do well?
How was this skill developed? Give an example
How do you know you are performing to your company’s requirements?
What training have you had at work in the past 6 months?
How was your learning measured?
Did it bring about a change in your job responsibilities and/or job title?
Describe any personal or work projects you have initiated/or have been a team member
What are your current work concerns/goals for the next year/future?
What prior qualifications do you have that could be linked to this unit/s?
What work experience/duty statement/performance reviews/citations/ awards and resume are available as evidence?
How does this course fit into your work skills development/career goals?
Have you been involved with any community projects?
Tell me about something you have achieved that you are proud of. (e.g. travel, support to family business, change of jobs, home move etc.)

Kathy comments “often a student needs help recognising their own abilities and background achievements and these open inquiries can assist in identifying them”.

The answers to these questions must be linked to the relevant units of competency outlined in the course and support other forms of evidence supplied for RPL.

The Process

Evidence requirements
In the first face-to-face session, staff were enrolled and given an overview of the course as per standard procedure. A grid of the course units was provided, with a thorough explanation of the vocabulary used and standards applying to the units. This grid served as the structure for organising and recording the student’s RPL documents. RPL/RCC was introduced, with particular focus on the types of evidence required for the student’s application.

“The objective in this first session is to introduce the group to my teaching style and to provide an opportunity for them to build a team. It also provides an opportunity to explore the student’s work/life experiences and their learning needs. This exploration helped students understand how their experience, skills and knowledge holistically relate to their evidence in the RPL process. An overview of the course is also provided, explaining the evolution of management and its current trends. Tips for updating the students’ resume were also covered and these could also be used to form a part of evidence requirements when linked to the course units”.

Examples of evidence
Kathy uses everyday examples to demonstrate the types of evidence that may be provided

“I use an example from the banking system’s identity checks that illustrates the strength of particular pieces of evidence. For example a passport carries the most points, whereas a library card attracts very few points. So in the case of RPL evidence, a passport equivalence might be a job description and performance review signed by the employer. In contrast, a weak form of evidence would be a self statement of duties performed on the job. This self statement would need to be supported with a copy of a document from the workplace containing the student’s name to strengthen the evidence.”

Professional Judgement
Kathy feels her ability to apply ‘professional judgement’ comes from a range of sources and cites her academic background, extensive workplace and teaching experience across the course content and not least, her training in the Certificate IV in Assessment and Workplace Training. She also emphasises the need for the evidence to be sufficient in quantity for recognition but importantly of sufficient quality for the assessors to determine competence. Any student who receives RPL understands that they have sufficient knowledge/skills/attitudes in the area to be exempt. This means that the student is competent in all aspects of the unit’s performance criteria”.

“this requires that I, as the teacher, must know the scope and range of each unit well enough to use ‘professional judgement’ to make recommendations and evaluate the evidence provided whilst following the principles of assessment, validity, reliability, fairness, flexibility”

Individualising
The second face to face session involved making individual appointments with each student so they could discuss their evidence as it applied to the grid. The recognition process could take the form of a portfolio, a trial exam, a demonstration, sample of reports or other work projects, as well as a collection of academic and in house training qualifications.

To assist further understanding of the process and reinforce the purpose of RPL a series of worksheets, case studies and additional information was provided:

What evidence is required?
Who can supply the evidence?
When RPL is due for review
When they could expect a response.
How the RPL is evaluated.
The appeal process in case of queries.
Confidentiality issues and security of their documents.

At the end of the second session all students left with a copy of their grid and an agreed timeline. This timeline could be adjusted in the event further evidence was required. A schedule of teaching units was distributed so students who don't have sufficient RPL could identify specific weeks for gap training. Of course, students were welcome to attend and contribute to the group even if they were exempt.

Validation refers to a process where assessors compare and evaluate against the relevant competency standard/s to ensure, validity, reliability, fairness, flexibility and effectiveness of their assessment methods, assessment tools, assessment procedures, and assessment decisions.

Validating evidence
Kathy believes that validating the assessments and RPL documents with other teachers who teach the units is essential to the consistency and fairness of any learning and assessment program.

“I was able to apply the principles of assessment by working with other teachers of the same course in deciding the relevance and quality of the evidence provided by the student to the units in which they were applying for recognition. I check references for validity and authenticity, and balance the needs of learners in the decision in order to be fair to all.”

The validation team included teachers of the Certificate IV in Frontline Management, a TAFE OTEN member, a teacher from a different campus, and an external RTO whose scope included the Certificate IV in Frontline Management.

The validation process reviewed the assessments, the range and scope of the RPL/RCC documents, and verified the professional judgement of each teacher. Also discussed were techniques for modifying the process in the next semester to provide continuous process improvement. Another aspect of the validation process peculiar to this project, was to ensure equity to avoid the question of conflict of interest, as some of the students (staff) were previously known to the teacher.

The validation process occurred at the outset of the program through an exchange of emails reviewing teaching assessments and timetabling and concluded with a face to face meeting when final projects were assessed.

Staff participants’ perspectives

Kathy interviewed three staff members who are participating in the Existing Worker Traineeships about their experience in the program.

Administration support
An Administration Support staff member who had been with TAFE for 6 years and who worked in Customer Service:

at first was overwhelmed by the number of units and was unfamiliar with the terminology of the Training Package.
felt nervous about collecting evidence.
liked the idea of not duplicating learning where already competent.
wanted to obtain training for specific work needs.
appreciated the quick turn around time of the assessment of evidence- as a result; her program was streamlined to account for her exemptions.

” I was pleased to have individual attention from the teacher and was able to discuss my concerns about learning. I didn’t think I could take notes, do the readings and complete the assessments. The teacher really supported me in my confidence and gave clear guides to the work with an opportunity to check my assessments before the due date. I was eager to do the readings after the class.”

Gardening
Two gardeners participated who had both worked for over 6 years at TAFE:

didn’t think they would receive any recognition but were pleased to be evaluated and came up with several areas of exemptions.
liked the support from their Manager for collecting and providing evidence.
found the easy access to the teacher particularly valuable since they had several questions when assembling their portfolio.
gained credit for prior work projects and reports that had been done in the last year.

At first, the RPL process seemed a big job, but after the first session, we had a clear understanding of the types of evidence needed. This meant that we found more than enough material. Our dilemma was to keep the evidence only to a few key items.”

Hospitality services
A Hospitality Services staff member who had been working with TAFE for 20 years as a storeman:

this staff member had not studied for years, since High School, and was nervous about returning to study. The RPL process gave him a good grounding on the expectations for the work load and content of the program and gave him confidence to continue.
work that had been achieved on the job such as safe work practices and membership of the OH&S committee, gave him credit towards recognition.
felt good about identifying his contribution to his department and was able to apply the ‘on the job’ learning he had previously completed. This in house training was an aspect of learning that had not gained any formal qualifications so he was pleased to bring his old achievements and new learning together for a VET qualification.

He said that “he felt better prepared for applications of higher duties since he had a recent qualification and a better knowledge of his job requirements.”

ICVET Promoting Emerging Practice, TAFE NSW International Centre for VET Teaching and Learning

RPL and workforce capability development