Prior Learning (PLAR)

Introduction

Adults will seek to join the educational system when they want or need to know more about a subject or program. They may also want or need formal recognition from society for what they already now or intend to learn. As adults try to join a system, they will face a series of hurdles. The educational institution will usually demand a level of academic achievement which they may not have. In addition, the institution may demand specific courses which may have little to do with what the adult wants to know. Uncompromising time frames for start and completion are normal in typical education. Teaching schedules are also usually rigid and may not suit the situation of working adults. There is the necessity to travel to specific locations and there will be heavy demands on the adults? time. The time demands may have undesirable effects on the family and working life of the would-be learner.

"Prior learning assessment (PLA) is a process that involves the identification, documentation, assessment and recognition of learning acquired through formal and informal study. This may include work and life experience, training, independent study, volunteering, travel, hobbies and family experiences. The recognition of prior learning can be used toward the requirements of an academic or training program, occupational/ professional certification or for employment/labour market entry purposes."

As we grow to adulthood, we learn in a variety of ways and sometimes at equally astounding speeds. The first few years of life we learn language, social and physical skills at a rate we will never again equal. We learn from the formal education system which we must, by law, attend. However, we also learn from books, television, movies and all the other media. We learn from our peers and we learn from groups who are not our peers. We learn from our work and we learn from our play. Probable counselling experience can come from volunteer work. There will be experience as a leader and experience as a follower. Learning and experiences are often the result of lectures or seminars or the occasional course in a craft or skill.

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"The point is, adult education should take all relevant experiences into account. Prior Learning Assessment is the name given to the process which does exactly that."
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In 1995-96 the Canadian Labour Force Development Board (CLFDB) a national advisory body comprised of the labour market partners, through a Canada-wide consultation process, developed national standards for PLAR. These standards not only complement the CAEL standards, they take them a step further in identifying important issues of social justice and the need for education and training reform and labour force development using the PLAR process as a focal point for such change. The "R" was put in place to ensure the recognition of prior learning. In March 1990, First Nations Technical Institute (FNTI) sponsored and organized its first PLA Conference. The conference has become an annual event and has provided a focal point for the entire province. FNTI has attempted to provide a variety of themes and set goals to identify the basic principles and practices of PLA, to identify the ways in which PLA is currently being used with adult learners and to facilitate the development of a network of those interested in learning more about the practical application of PLA.

Prior Learning Assesment and Recognition Sevices

Prior Learning Assessment and Recognition (PLAR) is a systematic process that involves the identification, documentation, assessment and recognition of competencies (skills and knowledge) developed through many means of formal and informal study e.g. work experience, training, independent study, volunteer activities, travelling and hobbies. The goal of PLAR is to obtain formal recognition of what a person knows and can do. A prior learning assessment system evaluates learning and relates it to the outcomes of formal programs and courses or to an occupational standard for granting formal credit toward an academic or training program, occupational or job certification or entry into the labour market.
FNTI has been committed to the use of prior learning since 1986. FNTI has continued to use and refine PLAR not only for formal credit and recognition in its programs of study but also as a useful and important tool to help many of our learners re-discover their culture and their place in that culture. The expanded use of PLAR at FNTI has seen it become a more wholistic, culturally appropriate learning tool.

FNTI's culturally-based approach to PLAR has continued to attract attention nationally and internationally. In addition to work in several provinces we have also embarked upon PLAR projects in South Africa and South America. A recent project in Chile was sponsored by the Indigenous Peoples Partnership Program (IPPP) of the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA). Phase I was completed with Tain Adkimn, our Indigenous partner, early in 2006. Phase II began early in 2007 and in addition to Tain Adkimn we have a new Indigenous partner, The School for Governance in Ecuador.

In March, 2007 we began a three year PLAR/Portfolio Development project in Nunavut that involves training and the development of PLAR resource materials. Working collaboratively with adult educators from Nunavut Arctic College, we have consulted widely with key community stakeholders to design culturally appropriate materials for use by adult educators. They in turn assist residents from across Nunavut in developing portfolios for a variety of purposes. This project is funded by The Pan Canadian Innovation Strategy of the Federal Government.

In 2008 we signed protocol agreements with Programa Origenes, a department of the Chilean Government and the School for Governance in Ecuador. These agreements are intended to explore areas of mutual interest focusing on PLA, culture and education. The Indigenous Peoples Partnership Program of CIDA has approved funding for Phase III of our work in Chile which involves developing a template for the possible creation of Indigenous Institutes of Higher Education based on FNTI's model.

In May 2009 FNTI will be hosting its 20th Annual PLA Conference. This is the longest standing conference of its kind in Canada bringing together delegates from North America and around the world.
The main method of PLAR used at FNTI is the development of a personal portfolio. The portfolio contains written autobiographical material and involves matching one's learning from a variety of formal and informal sources to the outcomes/competencies of various programs offered by FNTI. Persons interested in preparing portfolios will be provided with assistance to do so.

CONTACT
If you are interested in exploring FNTI's unique approach to PLAR, please contact either Paul Zakos or Lynn Wilson.
Paul Zakos, Manager Ext. 129 or Lynn Wilson, Assistant Ext. 134
Phone: 613-396-2122 or 800-267-0637
Email: paulz@fnti.net or lynnw@fnti.net

OPENING ADDRESS AT FNTI'S 17TH ANNUAL PLA CONFERENCE - MAY 30 - JUNE 2, 2006

Skennenkowa sewakwekon. Watkwanonwerton. Kanonhsyonni yonkyats. Wakenyahten niwakiteroten nok Kenhteke tkiteron.

Greetings everyone and welcome. I hope and trust that you are all here in peace. My name is Janice Hill. I am of the Turtle Clan of the Mohawk Nation and my home is here in Tyendinaga. On behalf of FNTI I would like to extend a heartfelt acknowledgement and give thanks that we have been allowed to gather here together and that we have made it here safely and in good health.

I am also honoured to have recently accepted the challenge of the new position of Academic Dean at First Nations Technical Institute, a position I won based on my vision for FNTI, a vision I have agreed to share with you here this evening.
I believe that the future of FNTI is in becoming recognized as the pre-eminent Aboriginal post-secondary institution in eastern Ontario, for now, later, the world -- in offering a broad range of post-secondary programs, and adult education, and training programs - primarily for Aboriginal participants; in maintaining our nomadic delivery style with a governance structure reflective of our guiding philosophy and cultural standards; and also maintaining our exceptional student support systems. I believe that it is important to maintain our strengths and that these ARE our cultural focus, our nomadic delivery format and our exceptional student support; and to build on them.

Our most successful programs, if success is measured in longevity and enrolment, are the Human Services, Aviation, and Public Administration programs. These programs are obviously meeting the needs of individuals, and communities. Enrolment targets continue to be met and delivery is ongoing. Development within these departments are natural with the additions of Health Sciences and Environment - all built on a foundation of cultural standards.

Our cultural standards will be built on our cultural foundational values - values that are similar for many Indigenous peoples around the world, and the Indigenous peoples we partner with. It will be important that our Cultural standards honour all of our partners and are reflective of their foundational values as well.

The Prior Learning Assessment and Recognition program has taken us abroad and continues to make FNTI known globally. I know that this program will continue to open doors for further opportunity should we wish to pursue them. PLAR is being integrated more formally throughout the Institution and is recognized and more validated internally as well as externally. We have come to learn over the years that PLAR can do so much more than assist learners in achieving advanced standing in their academic learning. It is clear in the work with our own learners here and those in South Africa and Chile that PLAR and the Portfolio development process are transformative. As Aboriginal people we know that it is our responsibility to know who we are, where we come from and where we are going. The Portfolio development process has come to be the tool to bring this knowledge home for many of us as Indigenous learners. Our portfolios are becoming the receptacles of our Indigenous Knowledge and our ancestral memories.

It is wonderful to see such a presence of Indigenous people here at the conference and to know that all of the participants here have their own stories to share. It is through sharing our stories that we all learn and grow. And this is what FNTI is all about -Sharing and Learning.

FUTURE DIRECTION FOR FNTI

The future of FNTI is to ensure that we are providing innovative, creative and unique programming; programming that is meeting the needs of First Nations communities and people on several levels; programming that is responsive to Aboriginal learners needs, culturally relevant and academically rigorous. Our vision is to assist in capacity building within our communities and for our people. We have a responsibility to build capacity for Indigenous peoples for Seven Generations. That is our teaching - to ensure that all decisions we make and the work that we do is beneficial for those children coming, seven generations in the future - our grandchildren's grandchildren's grandchildren. Our responsibility is to ensure that the world is left better for them, than it is for us - to be sure that they are not losing anything as a result of the decisions we are making today. It is not about us, or about today. It is about them, Seven Generations in the future.

To that end, one of the programs that is most near and dear to my heart is our Adult Mohawk Language Immersion program. In our community at Tyendinaga, less than 1% of our population can speak our language - less than 1% of our people are fluent in the Mohawk Language. It is as Diane stated earlier - we MUST reclaim our languages, our ancestral languages. Our languages carry our cultural and ancestral knowledge and memories. Our languages carry the knowledge of who we are. We cannot go anywhere else in the world and learn our languages. We MUST revitalize and preserve them here. We are entering the third year of offering adult Mohawk Immersion. This year is the first of a two year, eight credit, diploma program in Mohawk Language and we are the first in Ontario and perhaps Canada to offer such a program. We are generating speakers. This program is working. And in this way we are building capacity in Tyendinaga.

I believe the way to do this, to build capacity in our communities, is to start from where we are; to look at the issue within First Nations communities and the issues of importance to Aboriginal people. I also believe that learning is not limited to academics but needs to expand to include all facets of our development as human beings. I would like to suggest that learning and programming needs to cover physical, emotional, mental and spiritual aspects of our lives as Indigenous peoples and that all programming is built on a foundation of our Indigenous cultural standards. It is imperative that our cultures provide the foundation for the programs we deliver in order for them to be relevant and capacity building for our communities. At FNTI we are currently working on the development of programming for a First Nations Law Clerk program which will provide grassroots level technical people, trained to do research and by-law development and to work in lands and estates and such; we are developing a Public Relations/Communications Officer program so that we are the ones sending out the information about our own reality; we are developing an Environmental Technician program to deal with all of the environmental issues bombarding the health of our communities and our peoples. We are taking our cues from the First Nations and Indigenous peoples that we partner with to develop programs that are going to meet our needs as we move into the future.

I would like to suggest that one way to ensure this is to embark on a quest for accreditation through the World Indigenous Nations Higher Education Consortium (WINHEC). Through the exercise of pursuing and fulfilling the requirements for accreditation FNTI will revisit our own guiding philosophy, cultural standards, vision and mission and ensure that they are enmeshed not only within all of our programs, but also throughout the Institute ? in the ways that staff interact, in the governance of the Institution, and within all of our relationships ? with partners, learners, Directors, Senior Administrators and each other.

The possibilities are endless; the key will be to decide a course and work together to achieve it.

Nyawen/Thank you for your time and patience.

Enjoy the conference.

Janice C. Hill
Academic Dean, FNTI
31/05/06