Agriculture and Irrigation (AGI) requires expertise and capacity to conduct reviews with all relevant stakeholders on the current program content of the identified specialties within the Green Certificate Program, collect, synthesize and update the information utilizing current curriculum development and revision practices, and deliver all draft and finalized updated curriculum documents to AGI in a way that creates a solid foundation for students to acquire the current knowledge in accordance with industry leading practices and techniques.
a) Project Background
The Green Certificate Program (GCP) provides instruction and training opportunities for students to enter a variety of agriculture-related, structured learning pathways as a part of their high school programming. Students can earn up to 16, Grade 12 diploma credits, a credential that could lead to a career in agriculture or agri-business. Students must be a minimum of 15 years of age and registered in Grade 10 to enroll. Students have up to three years to complete a specialization and can complete multiple specializations during this time if they choose. Additional credits may be applied towards their high school diploma for completing multiple specializations, depending on their school’s policies.
GCP students learn through both theoretical and vocational instruction, under the direction of experienced farm personnel and supervised by both their high school’s Off-Campus Education Coordinator and their Green Certificate Regional Coordinator.
GCP is a longstanding program managed by the Agriculture and Irrigations (AGI) Rural Economic Development Branch. AGI’s GCP team works directly with five contractors that are employed through four polytechnic institutions and colleges throughout the province. The contractors act as the Regional Coordinators for the program. The Regional Coordinators work directly with school district appointed School Coordinators at each of the 255 schools currently participating in the province. In the past 10 years, over 4574 students have graduated from the program with 1637 provincial high school students currently being active in the program.
GCP was established in 1975 and is celebrating 50 years of educating students this year. Major changes to the program over the years have included transitioning from teaching adult education to high school students, adapting to education and expanding primary agriculture sector training curriculum to include eleven (11) specializations. Currently, all eleven specializations require modernization, which includes: cow-calf, feedlot, dairy, sheep, swine, field crop, irrigated crop, beekeeping, equine, poultry production (broiler chicken, broiler hatching egg, table egg and turkey) and greenhouse production.
Based on feedback from producers, sector representatives and subject matter experts, the Green Certificate Program’s curriculum needs revisions, particularly on topics identified as critical to their continued relevance and utility as they are important to support the important role the GCP program plays within Alberta’s agriculture work force and career development sectors. This request for proposal will bring together sector leaders to review the current curriculum, and identify, update, remove, or alter the materials to ensure the content reflects the latest standards and practices for each sector and while being designed to incorporate modern practices and processes in vocational training.
b) Project Objectives
A consultant or consultant group with an education background and experience in development of curriculum-based classroom and vocational resources, field-based research, the delivery of focus groups in the Natural Resource (specifically Agriculture production) sector and the use of curriculum development methodologies, such as DACUM (Developing a Curriculum), to build a record of competence as a starting point. This consultant or consultant group will be engaged by the program team for the purpose of overseeing and managing the revisions of the curriculum. Working directly with industry experts, the contractor or contractor group will lead and coordinate curriculum writing as well as facilitate advisory groups consisting of agricultural subject matter experts in sectors specific to each curriculum.
While the program area has eleven (11) specialty curriculum in total, there are eight (8) curriculum specialties that require more immediate attention in order to prepare our students with the most current and emerging agriculture production management practices, technological advancements, while promoting sound management and welfare practices.
High-Priority Areas: The curriculum for swine, dairy, beekeeping and sheep have not been updated since 2006 and have been identified as the most critical because these sectors are among the most affected by changes in technology, disease management and industry standards.
Cow-calf, feedlot, field crop and irrigated crop are the next areas sequentially requiring curriculum revisions. Grouping cow-calf/feedlot and field crop/irrigated crop together can maximize the efforts of the advisory groups providing input, as there are overlapping skills within curriculum.
The project intent is to begin work on the four (4) priority areas in the first year and move to the remaining four in year two, to remove outdated curriculum as quickly as possible.
c) Project Structure/Business Model Strategy and Coordination Director – Provides high level operations oversight by clearing obstacles that threaten project delivery timelines and budget, major component sign off, risk management, and acts as the primary liaison between Government of Alberta Ministries.
GCP Team Program Coordinator - Provides daily operational and resource management by identifying key players, allocating and scheduling resources within the timeline and budget, delegating tasks, if required, and timely communicating with leadership and stakeholders.
Proponent – Project lead with curriculum expertise that will develop a comprehensive plan that includes scope, timelines, resource allocations, implementation, and facilitation of information gathering from all stakeholder groups identified.
GCP Coordinators and Advisors – Provides oversight to gathering and analyzing information related to curriculum updates from the various stakeholders and program support members involved in the daily delivery of GCP programming.
Industry Technical Contributors and Advisors - Provide information related to industry specific updates in technology, process, trends, and practices as a leader and expert in their sector.
d) Key Stakeholders to consult through this project include:
a. Sector leaders, producers, and industry technical contributors and advisors in the following industries:
Cow/Calf/Dairy/Feedlot
Beekeeping
Swine
Sheep
Field/Irrigated Crop
b. Green Certificate trainers, testers, instructors, and coordinators
c. Others that emerge from the progression of the work.
e) Related Project Documents
All current Green Certificate Program curriculum manuals will be made available to proponents during the RFP. Requests can be made via email to Kelli Roy and documents will be made available via PDF format.
