RPL and Older Adults: A case study analysis

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RPL and Older Adults A case study analysis

• Graham Smith Alice Morton
• Centre for Lifelong Learning
• University of Strathclyde

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Centre for Lifelong Learning

• Located in the City Centre of
• Glasgow, the Senior Studies
• Institute, University of Strathclyde
• was formalised in 1991 as a
• European centre of excellence for
• lifelong learning for people over 50.
• Today, located within the Centre for
• Lifelong Learning, the Institute has
• 4 Key areas
• Learning in Later Life
• Useful Learning
• Widening Access
• Employability

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50 Employability

• Extensive experience and understanding of the
  diverse range of issues facing adults in later
  life.
• Widely respected across Scotland, the UK, Europe
  and North America in relation to lifelong
  learning.
• Sound knowledge of age management and the
  associated business impact of an ageing
  workforce.

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Transitions in later life

• A range of factors influence capacity for working
  in later life
• Capacity to deal with change and uncertainty
  varies significantly from person to person

Phillipson, 2002
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Encouraging lifelong learning

• One of the greatest predictors of participation
  in learning at a later stage in life is the
  amount of initial education.
• Older adults less likely to participate in
  lifelong learning activity, particularly those
  with poor educational backgrounds.
• Even less likely to work towards formal
  qualifications.

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Realising Your Potential project

• Key objectives of the project are to
• assist older workers aged 50 to
• Re-engage with learning
• Update their existing skills and develop new
  skills
• Assess current work ability and explore work
  potential
• Enhance their future employability
• Consider working longer and/or postpone retirement

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Double Loop learning model
Stage 5 Progress onto new learning opportunities
Based on Argyris Schön, 1978
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Emerging issues

• Appropriate advice and guidance provision for
  older adults
• Influencing Scottish Government policy on
  Information, Advice and Guidance (IAG), taking
  into account the differing needs of older adults
• Increasing number of older adults encouraged to
  consider early retirement/redundancy
• Individual capacity for dealing with change
  (transitions) beyond the age of 50 challenging
• Potential value of recognition of prior learning

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Initial findings

• N91
• 57 have no formal qualifications
• 95 of public sector group left school and
  entered employment without any formal
  qualifications
• 61 extremely likely or likely to be working
  beyond SRA with a further 31 unsure
• Advice and guidance 84 unaware of Skills
  Development Scotland 63 unlikely to access
  their services with 26 unsure
• Only 39 have experienced on-line learning, with
  majority commenting that this is not their
  preferred way of learning
• Areas of interest include career change or new
  job, learning and skills development, business
  start-up and volunteering

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SCQF Partnership RPL Network Event 18th November
2010
Centre for Lifelong Learning

• Recognition of Prior Learning
• and
• Realising Your Potential

www.strath.ac.uk/cll
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50 Employability Realising Your Potential

• An extrapolation of similarities between
• Realising Your Potential and Recognition of
  Prior Learning
• Skills - centre stage for older workers -
  analysing and profiling tools
• Demystifying the SCQF framework for older
• learners

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Similar Characteristics

• Characteristics
• Learners potential
• Interested in re-entering
• learning
• Contribute towards a programme of learning
• People who have been out of education
• Adults returning to education
• Wanting to re-train or change careers
• Volunteering, community activities/projects
  
  
  
  

• Characteristics
• Learning potential of 50
• Interested in learning and
• personal development
• May envisage barriers to
• learning
• Working life may have been
• for the most part in the same
• job
• Interested in education to
• plan employability/retirement
• Employment awareness
• Planning for change/ career
• Open to volunteering and
• local opportunities

Learning Employment Qualifications Career Pathways
Recognition of Prior Learning
Realising Your Potential
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Skills Analysis and Profiling

• Experience and Processing
• Family life (home-
• making,caring, domestic
• organisation)
• Work (paid or unpaid)
• Community, voluntary or
• leisure activities
• Key experiences and
• events in life
• Confidence building
• Goals and what is
• needed to achieve them
• Lifelong learning
• Reflective log / evidence

• Experience and Processing
• Learning (adult
• learner/learning contexts)
• Skills profiling
• Reflection
• Work
• Family
• Community, voluntary,
• hobbies and interests
• (unstructured learning)
• Key experiences and events
• in life (unstructured learning)
• Confidence building
• Future planning
• Reflective log / evidence

Reflection Confidence Goals Skills Profiling
Realising Your Potential
Recognition of Prior Learning
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Recognition of Prior Learning Toolkit
RPL toolkit is a resource which can be adapted to
support the personal development of older
learners when analysing and profiling their skills
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Where to Start? an objective experience

• Step 1- Analyse a job experience
• Reflect on a well known job
• Identify skills in use or essential to job
• Record these at random
• Categorise under headings
• Step 2 - Reflect
• Additional skills
• Transferrable skills
• Step 3 - Profile
• Organise a personal skills profile for a barperson

Skills ?

Skills ?
Skills ?
Skills ?
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Where to Start? a subjective experience

• Personal experience ( job or life)
• Describe the experience what happened?
• Knowledge gained what do you know now?
• Skills- what skills have been developed?
• Reflections- what skills are in deficit?
• Application think of a new job/form of
  engagement in which you could apply these skills

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Skills centre stage

• A personal skills profile
• Transferrable skills awareness
• New learning/career pathways
• Signature strengths
• A sparkling CV
• A volunteering CV

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SCQF Framework

• Older learners
• Indicated no knowledge of the framework
• Pilot - found it useful
• Greater understanding of qualifications and
  progression routes

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Observations

• What are the benefits to the older learner?
• What difficulties/challenges were experienced?
• What successes have there been?

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Thank You

• Contact details
• Graham Smith graham.smith_at_strath.ac.uk

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Thank You

• Contact details
• Graham Smith graham.smith_at_strath.ac.uk
• Alice Morton alice.morton_at_strath.ac.uk
• Website www.strath.ac.uk/cll