Detail

Summary

In this Connect + Learn session, Brock University shared lessons learned from its ONCAT-funded project, “Embracing a Two-eyed Seeing Approach to PLAR.” Through consultation and collaboration, Brock developed culturally relevant prior learning assessment and recognition (PLAR) practices that balance Indigenous and Western ways of knowing. The project created new educational pathways, tools, training resources and learner supports that help Indigenous learners gain admission and advanced standing for learning acquired through culture, community, work and life experiences.  

Key takeaways from the presentation  

• Governance approval is just the beginning: Brock secured Senate approval for PLAR before any portfolio design work could begin. 
• A competency framework built with academic units makes PLAR assessable: with over 10 departments participating, Brock identified 12 competencies in total, allowing departments to select four to six to define readiness for undergraduate learning. 
• Brock's Indigenous pathway, framed through Two-Eyed Seeing, recognizes community involvement, cultural teachings and life experience as evidence of prior learning.  
• A PLAR pathway without a support system fails: Brock built guidebooks, self-paced modules, portfolio tools, videos and structured dialogue so that learners and assessors can navigate the process.  

View the recording of this Connect + Learn. You can also view the presentation deck below.