May 26-29, Belleville, Ontario, Canada

I express my gratitude to the Workers’ College and FNTI for affording me a great opportunity of attending the 20th PLA Conference and visiting a great country. I was quite humbled by the hospitality, generosity and friendliness of Paul Zakos and his team. Representing Workers’ College was quite an honour because, from the time I stepped into the foyer of Ramada Inn (the conference venue) until the time I left, people asked about a certain Kessie Moodley and sang the praises of the great work of the college. I was also slightly intimidated, knowing that I could not engage with them as Kessie would! However, it was great to know that Workers’ College is held in such high esteem internationally.

It was encouraging to participate in a conference where the majority of delegates were so committed, enthusiastic and sincere. Their genuine interest and hard work in changing the context and concept of education to ensure that “marginalised” learners’ access and feel comfortable and confident in a formal learning environment is quite inspiring. There could not be a better effort than such a gathering to effect this paradigm shift in education and transform society.

Of the three pre-conference sessions, I attended the one on ALFI. The ALFI evaluation tool was high on the agenda of the conference with about four sessions on ALFI. The pre-conference session was good for people wanting to use the tool as it gave delegates an introduction and background to ALFI and also included a hands-on session on the application of the principles. Being one of the few delegates at this session that had had some ALFI experience, I was able to participate quite fully in this session and assist the people in my group with the application of principles.

There was great emphasis on portfolio-assisted PLA. The Nunavut Arctic College presentation by Jennifer Archary and her team was excellent. This project definitely demonstrates how portfolio-assisted PLA benefits indigenous and marginalised people by raising their self-esteem, building their confidence and empowering them with skills to participate fully in society at large. The success of such projects, of course, requires great dedication, commitment and patience which this team definitely has. In informal discussions with colleagues at the conference, I learnt that the other sessions where projects using portfolio-assisted PLA were equally good.

I attended the presentation by our South African colleague, Professor Mabakang from the University of the Orange Free State. She presented her proposal for conducting research on the use of indigenous knowledge systems in mainstream curriculum. Although the presentation was quite complicated and confusing with too many ideas and issues, I think it is a good beginning of PLAR in this province. Diane Hill from FNTI is assisting her to get this project off the ground.
The Workers’ College presentation on the use of the ALFI tool was attended by about 15 delegates. The first part of the presentation was disappointing. The second part which dealt with the outcomes and recommendations of the application of ALFI was quite interactive with a great deal of interest shown by participants. The feedback indicated that the participants were impressed with the work of the College and that the evaluation was well done.

Considering the success of PLA projects and initiatives, the launch of The International Indigenous PLA/RPL Collective is well-timed .The sharing and consolidation of experiences, expertise and resources through such a partnership will be of great value. The post-conference meeting of partners, included the Chilean delegation, the Ecuador delegation, the Nunavut team, FNTI and the Workers’ College,.

Each partner had to report on their RPL initiatives. All the partners, except Workers’ College were making great progress with the RPL projects. Paul Zakos offered to motivate for funding to get this initiative off the ground. He also asked the partners to find funding for their individual projects. Jomo Khoza representing the Workers’ College agreed to be the Workers’ College representative for this initiative. There was a suggestion that all members of the Collective should get to know each other well and to know what projects are undertaken by members of the Collective in order to start sharing resources and expertise.

The greatest benefit for me was meeting a great diversity of people, engaging in informal chats and learning that although all operate in different contexts and environments that there is so much in common that we experience. The International healing event at the Reserve was most interesting and enjoyable, especially the food and the live band. The social evening at the Conference was great fun with Eric Maragar, the one man band with guest artist, Paul Zakos!
My most humbling moment was when Paul and his daughter Liz, took us to the train station, waited until the train arrived and carried our luggage onto the train. Such great souls!
Viva Workers’ College! Viva FNTI!

Anitha Shah
June 2009