THE RPL CONUNDRUM Free download from www.hsrcpress.ac.za Free download from www.hsrcpress.ac.za TEACHER EDUCATION IN SOUTH AFRICA SERIES THE RPL CONUNDRUM RECOGNITION OF PRIOR LEARNING IN A TEACHER UPGRADING PROGRAMME MIGNONNE BREIER Free download from www.hsrcpress.ac.za Published by HSRC Press Private Bag X9182, Cape Town, 8000, South Africa www.hsrcpress.ac.za First published 2008 ISBN 978-0-7969-2220-5 © 2008 Human Sciences Research Council Copyedited by Jacquie Withers Typeset by Jenny Wheeldon Cover by Fuel Design Print management by comPress Distributed in Africa by Blue Weaver Tel: +27 (0) 21 701 4477; Fax: +27 (0) 21 701 7302 www.oneworldbooks.com Distributed in Europe and the United Kingdom by Eurospan Distribution Services (EDS) Tel: +44 (0) 20 7240 0856; Fax: +44 (0) 20 7379 0609 www.eurospanbookstore.com Distributed in North America by Independent Publishers Group (IPG) Call toll-free: (800) 888 4741; Fax: +1 (312) 337 5985 www.ipgbook.com Free download from www.hsrcpress.ac.za Tables and figures vii Preface ix Acknowledgements x Notes on terminology xi Executive summary xiii Acronyms and abbreviations xiv Rationale for the study 1 Research design 2 Limitations of the study 7 Structure of the monograph 8 Numbers of under-qualified teachers 9 The qualification 10 RPL in the NPDE 10 Research on RPL in the NPDE 13 Papers on the NPDE 17 Conclusion 17 Reflection in teacher education 18 Reflection in RPL 26 ‘Experience’ and RPL in higher education in South Africa 33 Reflection in RPL in teacher upgrading: the conundrum 36 Conclusion 37 RPL at UNISA 38 RPL in the NPDE at UNISA 41 Conclusion 45 The importance of reflection 46 The most common problem: reflection 47 The case of Ms T and Ms P 48 Reflection on the teachers’ reflections 53 The results 54 The experiences of an NPDE student 55 Some observations on Ms T’s experiences 59 Free download from www.hsrcpress.ac.za o The official recruitment of prior learning 61 Trends in the articulation of teaching/learning experiences 66 Academics’ opinions about RPL in the NPDE 68 The prior learning of Ms B 69 The prior learning of Ms J and Ms U 73 The portfolio process in general 77 Conclusion 78 The official recruitment of prior learning 80 Reflections of three NMMU NPDE graduates 82 The prior learning of Ms N 83 The prior learning of Mr M 86 The prior learning of Mr R 89 RPL experiences of other teachers at the same school 90 The NPDE support network 92 Conclusion 93 The love and endurance of Ms T 96 The innovativeness and compassion of Ms N 97 The independence and responsibility of Mr M 98 The ingenuity and endurance of Mr R 99 A teacher-educator’s view 100 What are we talking about here? 100 Horizontal and vertical discourse 101 A three-part distinction? 102 Practical wisdom 103 The conundrum 109 The compromise 109 Practical wisdom 110 Recommendations 111 Free download from www.hsrcpress.ac.za vii Tables Table 1.1: Numbers of NPDE students in 2004, as quoted in the MCTE and ETDP SETA reports 3 Table 3.1: Models of continuing professional teacher development 21 Table 3.2: Perspectives on experiential learning, RPL and associated modes of pedagogy 34 Figures Figure 3.1: Kolb’s learning cycle 30 Figure 9.1: Two categorisations of knowledge: Bernstein vs Aristotle 105 Free download from www.hsrcpress.ac.za Free download from www.hsrcpress.ac.za ix The Teacher Education in South Africa series is produced as part of the Teacher Education Programme (TEP), funded by the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands from 2005 to 2008. The programme took place at a critical juncture in the development of teacher education in post-apartheid South Africa. Since 2004, sustained attention has been given to the improvement of teacher education consequent on the revision of the curriculum and the restructuring of higher education. In October 2004, the Council on Higher Education initiated a review of teacher education programmes. On 26 April 2007, a National Policy Framework for Teacher Education and Development was gazetted. This provided the basis for a new system of teacher education and development for a new generation of South African teachers. The TEP emerged within this overall context of enhanced attention being given to the improvement of teacher education. Its overall goal was ‘to contribute to the knowledge and information base for policy formulation and implementation regarding the organisation and practice of teacher education, with a particular emphasis on initial teacher education (both pre-service and upgrading), as well as the professional development of school leaders and managers’ (CEA, CEPD, EFT, HSRC and SAIDE 2005). The work was organised under four major themes: teacher supply and demand; institutional culture and governance; the development of education management; and literacy and teacher development. The programme was designed by a consortium of agencies with considerable expertise and experience in the field: the Centre for Education Policy Development (CEPD); the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC); the South African Institute for Distance Education (SAIDE); the Centre for Evaluation and Assessment (CEA) at the University of Pretoria; and the Education Foundation Trust (EFT). 1 The TEP was developed in consultation with stakeholders such as the national Department of Education, the Ministerial Working Group on Teacher Education, the Deans’ Forum and the Council on Higher Education/HEQC, amongst others. Briefing and consultation continued through the process of research, for the consortium as a whole and in relation to specific projects. Michael Cosser, HSRC Organisational Manager, Teacher Education Programme 1 The EFT has been disbanded, and uncompleted projects have been taken over by the consortium. Free download from www.hsrcpress.ac.za x This study was written up by Mignonne Breier, drawing on the qualitative research and case study reports of Alan Ralphs and Michael Gardiner, as well as her own research. The researchers would like to thank all the individuals who agreed to be interviewed and, in some cases, also observed for the purposes of this research. In the interests of anonymity, we cannot name them here. We are also grateful to Tessa Welch and Prof. Johan Muller for their comprehensive and insightful reviews of an earlier draft of this monograph. Finally, we thank the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands for their financial support. Free download from www.hsrcpress.ac.za [...]... against the exit level outcomes of the qualification on a case-by-case basis (DoE 2000: 8) RPL is not spelled out further in the rules for the qualification and it has been left to the various stakeholders to reach consensus Attempts to clarify RPL in the NPDE The history of the development of the NPDE shows that there were concerted efforts to protect the integrity of the RPL process while nonetheless... interview with the first teacher was conducted with the help of the school principal, who translated The interview with the other two teachers was in English Gardiner conducted a further interview with the external examiner of the programme, who had also co-designed the RPL exercises The NMMU research The NMMU research took Alan Ralphs to three institutions: the university itself in Port Elizabeth, a technical... University of the Western Cape 380 students (including 100 RPL) admitted in 2002, and 180 (including 70 RPL) admitted in 2003 247 students in the 2002/03 cohort and 140 in the 2004/05 cohort 150 150 students in the Western Cape and 50 in the Northern Cape in the 2002/03 cohort Notes: (1) Many of the above institutions are the result of mergers The table only names constituent institutions if the NPDE programme... that the selection of the modules for RPL be on the basis of the rigour and reliability with which the competences can be assessed, but also on a judgement of the kinds of competence that teachers applying for the qualification may already have’ (Anonymous 2000: 2) Finally, it suggests that the RPL assessment be conducted over a six-month period prior to the commencement of the programme in earnest The. .. revolutionise the lives of learners It is this process that appears to have a therapeutic effect on the learners It would appear as though it is not the monetary gain that the learner appreciates most about the qualification It is the restoration of their dignity and the newly discovered self-confidence, in the discovery (through the portfolio development process) that they know much more than what they thought... several others while the teachers waited for the co-ordinator to mark their work On subsequent days interviews were conducted with the co-ordinator of the NPDE RPL, with a tutor and with the head of the Office for Experiential Learning at UNISA Free download from www.hsrcpress.ac.za In October 2005, Breier visited UNISA again and collected the RPL portfolios of Ms T and Ms P, as well as several others... Learning (RPL) , which is now being implemented on an unprecedented scale This study explores the implications of RPL in a programme that seeks both to acknowledge prior learning and to change it, a conundrum for which there is no obvious answer The research has relevance not only for the future development of the NPDE but also for the implementation of RPL in general and for theoretical debates about the. .. document mentions further that the programmes should be materials-based and delivered in flexible ways, as the teachers could not be released from their duties to enrol in the qualification With regard to RPL, the document draws a distinction between two forms of RPL for NPDE programmes: RPL involving exemption from credits on the basis of qualifications already achieved; and RPL involving ‘achievement... of RPL assessment’ She notes that the 2004 CEPD evaluation states that classroom observations should take place at the start of the programme to establish a baseline of classroom competence Thereafter, at least one other classroom observation should be scheduled at the end of the RPL process, combined with an interview/oral examination of the portfolio (Welch 2004: 8) Furthermore, she notes that the. .. and in the academy, and how these relate to one another And questions are being asked, the document says, about the academic and social purposes of learning, and how these shape the content and pedagogies of RPL- enhanced curricula As Evans (2000) argues, ‘there are other ways of thinking about experiential learning’: In every country, experience shows that some people find personally transforming the . of the programme is the Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) but in the NPDE context it presents a baffling conundrum. RPL is all about recognising, in the. for the future development of the NPDE but also for the implementation of RPL in general and for theoretical debates about the nature of knowledge. The