Tariro Mpoperi
Sector: Government, K-12, post-secondary, union, business, industry
Affiliated Organization: Cox Mpoperi Wilson Education Consultants
Email: tmpoperi@coxmpoperiwilson.com
Tariro holds a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science and a Masters degree in Distance Education. Tariro has over 13 years experience in all aspects of the end-to-end corporate learning and development process. She held learning and development positions in the energy, oil and gas, banking and adult education industries.
Tariro is a systems thinker with very strong skills in project management and process mapping. She has managed over twenty learning and development projects including the implementation of a learning management system (LMS), reorganization of a learning department, the integration of eight compliance courses, and course development for a new regulated billing methodology for gas and electric utility services. Her learning and development skills and attributes are at their best when she is working with a team of subject matter experts, end users, project managers, stakeholders, who share a common vision.
Tariro completed a two-week DACUM Facilitator Workshop offered by the Canadian Vocational Association. She is a skilled DACUM Facilitator who has completed over twenty DACUM profiles. The results of the DACUM profiling have led to competency based training programs, job re-classification, re-design, interview plans, and formed the basis for succession plans.
CVA Report – February, 2010
Green Certificate Agricultural Training
Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development
What is Happening with DACUM in Alberta?
CVA Alberta Correspondent Tariro Mpoperi, Cox Mpoperi Wilson Education Consultants Inc.
“Our content drives the program,” says Raelene Mercer, Green Certificate Program Coordinator Alberta Agriculture & Rural Development. And, the fundamental way Raelene and members of her team gather content is to conduct DACUM sessions. The resulting skills profile forms the foundation for their Green Certificate apprenticeship-style training program that serves the agriculture industry.
Over the past eight years, Raelene has expanded and refined the Green Certificate program. Their student base over that time has grown from 400 to 1,400 trainees. Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development work in partnership with the agriculture industry and Alberta Education to offer the Green Certificate Program to all Albertans. Trainees select a specialization in one of nine areas: Cow-calf, Feedlot, Sheep, Swine, Dairy, Field Crop, Irrigated Crops, Beekeeping, Equine. Students 15 years of age enrolled in grades 10, 11 or 12, can undertake this program through their high school and earn 16 grade-twelve diploma credits per specialization completed. Adult trainees can access the program through their employer as a part of their employment training. The certificate program generally takes one year to complete, yet trainees are allowed up to three years to complete their training.
The Green Certificate’s application of DACUM principles is classic. The program invites a cross-section of employers and employees in each of the specialization areas to develop the DACUM skills profiles.
Changes to the profiles are made on an ongoing basis, given input and feedback from the industry, trainees and trainers. Every four to five years, the DACUM profile is formally revisited in another DACUM session to ensure content accuracy and relevancy.
Once a DACUM skills profile is created and validated, the next step involves putting together curriculum writing teams, who have expertise in the specialization area. These teams take the DACUM process to the next stage: task analysis. Portions of the skills profile are clustered into training periods that contain coherent, manageable, and seasonally relevant skills areas. Trainees can enter the program at any time and are free to select which training period they wish to focus on throughout their chosen specialization training.
“Everything is mentorship based when it comes to engaging in the learning experience. Nothing in the original curriculum design is developed for the classroom. It’s all hands on. It’s all self-directed. The best place for learning how to farm is on a farm. Trainees are guided by a trainer who offers opportunities to observe , practice and obtain skills outlined in the DACUM profile” said Raelene. The DACUM skills profile and associated task analysis steps form the learning guide and checklist for both the trainer and trainee. Skills evaluation comprises two levels: (1) an on-farm test conducted by the trainer for each skill, and (2) a regional test of five skill areas selected at random by testers, often administered by one of the five College Regional Administrators (Lethbridge Community College, Olds College, Lakeland College Northeast, Lakeland College Northwest, and NAIT Fairview Campus.) Trainees are evaluated by various testers and they do not get the same tester twice. The Certificate Program is based on a Complete or Not Complete ranking. If the ranking is Not Complete, the trainee is provided with guidance on which areas need improvement. Testers are provided with the Green Certificate Test Legend – a rubric or scoring guide - that describes performance expected to obtain a particular grade.
The manner in which the Green Certificate Program is offered is noteworthy in terms of the contributions it makes beyond skills training. “So much of this program is about building and nurturing relationships,” said Raelene. Through her work, she has integrated networking and relationship building at the family, local community, province- wide industry, and secondary and college education levels. Here’s some insight into how the Green Certificate has built relationships at many levels. First, delivery of the program strengthens family ties, because parents and family members can be and are often the trainees’ trainers. The program creates opportunities for successful handing farm production from one generation to the next. Second, should a family not be able to provide the learning context for a particular skills set, the trainee reaches out into their local community for a farm and trainer who can provide a hands on learning environment. The program also works with clubs and associations, such as 4H, to bring the community together. Third, connections with employers and employees in the industry is maintained through DACUM session participation and opportunities to validate and update content. Fourth, partnering and collaborating with High Schools and with College based Regional Co-ordinators has successfully bridged the important work of two Alberta Ministries – Agriculture and Education. Obtaining skills during high school that are relevant to future work and a career is beneficial. Given their connection with local Colleges, through the program induction and regional testing experience, trainees become aware of College offerings and environments that may be of interest to them going forward. Using college prior learning assessment tools, graduates of the Green Certificate Training Program may have awarded recognition for competencies already gained. All these relationships revolve around the Green Certificate Program foundation document – the DACUM skills profile. Everyone involved from the trainee, to the trainer, to the testers, the industry, the local farm sites, have as their guide the DACUM skills profile.
The Green Certificate Training Program has created an opportunity for the Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development, along with Alberta Education to create strong relationships, making learning opportunities accessible and flexible, honouring the apprenticeship and mentorship learning modalities, and overall supporting the sharing and implementation of best practices and careers in agriculture.
And without being too froggy – we think Raelene Mercer and her learning team at Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development has made it pretty easy to be green!
