What certifications are necessary?
I’d like to have a more thorough discussion on certifications, what they would be in, what would make them relevant, realistic, and worthwhile.
For example, here’s a certification for Beekeepers (see more of my analysis of this below). Start with a journeyman, and you must have this for a couple years before you can progress.
This is not a perfect example, but with whatever “certification” or “credential” or even “diploma” we offer, we want a way to verify that it is worthwhile and meaningful for the recipient.
To me, certifications require a certain amount of knowledge that anyone can learn, and a certain amount of practice that you can only get by doing the thing.
It’s not enough to say you’ve got all the knowledge but no practical experience. And, if you’ve got the skills to do the activity, you should be able to demonstrate the knowledge you have learned, even if you’re not perfect at it. I’d skew heavily towards experience being the weightier option if you already have it without the knowledge aspect being shown. In other words, you should always be able to test out of any knowledge if you are skilled enough already.
We need to find a way to balance knowledge work with experience, and recognize that some things just take time to learn and become great at. Some things, like beekeeping, we don’t need everyone to become a master at, but other things, especially Organic Skills, we do want everyone to master, or at least be very proficient at.
What “certifications” for lack of a better word would you want to see?
From the journeyman beekeeper for Washington here are the requirements, with my thoughts in italics following:
- Be a member of the Washington State Beekeepers Association (WASBA) - probably a way to make sure there is some regulating body, which I overall disagree with, but we don’t want to set people up for failure.
- Be a member of a Local Organization (if possible) - this is the mentorship piece. Do you have someone you can go to for help and guidance?
- Taken and passed the WASBA Apprentice Beekeeper Course - t_his is the knowledge piece. Can you show you know what you’re doing on paper? Legislatively convenient, easy to see if someone can pass a knowledge test or not._
- After successfully completing the WASBA Apprentice Course:
• Kept colonies for at least 3 years. (Exceptions may be made if the intent of the guidelines is met Contact master@wasba.org) - time limit - you must do the work for 3 years.
• Maintain a beekeeping journal for a minimum of 2 years. - again, time, you must show you can do the work over a time period.
• Earn at least 35 Public Service Points* - further way to establish that you have put in the time doing things to build up the rest of the community around this certification.
• Mentor a new beekeeper - specific showing someone how to help and be a leader.
• Take and pass the WASBA Journeyman Beekeeper Course with a score of no less than 85% - again, knowledge.
• Take and pass the Journeyman Field Test with a score of no less than 90% - fairly extensive real-world test to see if you are doing all the things they think you should, 10 categories: General Apiary Appearance, Hive Appearance – Organization, General Colony Management, Manipulation Expertise, Colony Temperament, Colony strength – Adjusted – Nuc vs. Parent, Time of Year, Sanitation and Cleanliness, Medication Program – Preventative, Knowledge of Environmental Factors, Public Relations Awareness.
Even after doing all that, I still cannot operate my own hive in my city limits because that isn’t a high enough bar for our city code.
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