RippleEd

🎄End of Year Christmas work party!!

🤔 I’ve been doing a bit of comparing myself to others and other businesses lately.
 
📉 Partly because of the economic climate. Like many small businesses, we’d love more work.
 
👷‍♀️Partly because imposter syndrome still pops up from time to time (I’m a woman with an education background, often working with very male-heavy trades).
 
📃 And partly because a business recently asked me for a one-pager that answered a simple question:
 
❓ Why would we choose RippleEd instead of a technical training provider?
 
Here’s where I landed, for now.
 
👷‍♂️ A technical trainer or subject matter expert is exactly that.

They teach the skills and knowledge they’ve learnt on-job. Technical experts bring deep technical knowledge.
 
is different.
We facilitate, more than train. We:

✅ get to know each person quickly - their experience, skills and knowledge

✅ design a wide range of learning activities

✅ include industry specific, realistic scenarios and problems

✅ involve everyone in discussions and activities through open questions

✅ embed human skills (communication, judgement, decision-making) alongside technical know-how

✅ assess competence through questions, activities and online quizzes, not lots of writing.
 
With over five years designing VET programmes, assessments, and learning resources across multiple industries, AND over 20 years in leadership and training advisory roles in NZ and internationally - we understand both the technical environment and the human reality of work.
 
RippleEd helps organisations get more value from the training, experience, and expertise they already have.
 
If your challenge isn’t “how do we teach the task?” but rather
“how do we get people on the same page, communicating clearly, and applying this safely at work?”

then RippleEd is likely a good fit.
 

Cheers to the end of 2025 from Mangatainoka and the Tui Brewery complex 🍻

Not that we actually had a beer…but we did have a cool group of 16 utility aborists in the room today completing their 1A Powerco Network Safety Induction.

This induction is soon to be online so getting to do it face to face is always a highlight.

Lots of discussions, learning and laughs.

And we can FULLY recommend the Marsala Junction Indian restaurant if you’re staying in Danniverke! It’s incredible!! Going back again for night two.

Thanks for the invitation TreeSmart and SCANPOWER LIMITED.

🙌 This was the absolute highlight of my day, perhaps the month even!

I’ve been wanting to visit the Port of Tauranga Limited ever since I arrived here 7 years ago.

Today was the day. And with lots of encouragement, a bit of deep breathing I got to the top(ish) of one of the gantry cranes.

RippleEd are working alongside Eden Design to create some learning and assessment tools based on working at heights at the ports.

A massive thank you to Karl, the stevedores and the electrical team who took time to show us around so we could make working at heights learning resources that are bespoke for ports workers.

Thank you for holding my hand…literally! 🤣 Gratitude cake is on its way! 🧁🧁

🎉 New release alert!
 
After months of interviews, theming, writing and polishing...our page-turning RPL report is almost nearly ready to launch!
 
‘Recognising Prior Learning (RPL) in the Food & Fibre Industry: Current State & Good Practices’ – written by RippleEd alongside Kathryn Koopmanschap’s research expertise... is being released soon by the Food and Fibre Centre of Vocational Excellence!
 
It’s a report, but we like to think of it like a book because...
 
📖 It’s based on real stories about RPL in the Food and Fibre industry

🕸️ The relationships between our RPL stakeholders are complex

🔍 There are three key themes that inform the next phases of our project

 💡 And with our focus on the six conditions of systems change - (policies, practices, resource flows, relationships and connections, power dynamics, and mental models) as defined by Kania, Kramer and Senge (2018), it may just change the way we think about recognising skills in the Food and Fibre industry and beyond.

We’ll be speaking about our report next week at the Canadian Association for Prior Learning Assessment conference via Zoom.
 
Keen to get a copy? Flick me a message and I’ll send it your way when it’s ready.
 

Very grateful to the Canadian Association for Prior Learning Assessment for allowing RippleEd to speak at their conference via Zoom this month!

💻 It would have been amazing to be there in person, but online is the next best thing.

🧑‍🌾 The title of the conference is "Recognising Prior Learning in Rural Spaces." And as our current Food and Fibre Centre of Vocational Excellence research project is based on RPL (Recognition of Prior Learning) in the food and fibre industry in New Zealand, we thought this conference would be a perfect one to attend.

A big thanks to Wendy Cato, our Australian RPL expert 'cousin' who informed us about the CAPLA conference and will also be speaking.

We're looking forward to the end of May and bringing back lots of international knowledge and learnings about RPL!



https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1G1wysRa9b/?mibextid=wwXIfr

🤝 Networking Opportunities! Connect with fellow professionals and expand your network at the CAPLA Conference 2025.

This is your chance to meet like-minded individuals and share experiences in the field of prior learning assessment. Learn more at our website

🗓️ Date: May 26-28, 2025
📍 Location: St. Francis Xavier University, Antigonish, Nova Scotia

https://buff.ly/mEMIMC0

What’s the process for carrying out RPL (Recognition of Prior Learning)?
 
Here’s how we see the full RPL process, which is linked to the European guidelines for validating non-formal and informal learning (2023).
 
1️⃣ Information – Learners get clear, user-friendly info about RPL
2️⃣ Identification – Screening helps link their prior learning to current learning outcomes
3️⃣ Documentation – Relevant evidence is gathered to demonstrate capability
4️⃣ Assessment – Evidence is assessed and verified
5️⃣ Certification – Recognition (credits) are awarded if the learner meets requirements
 
As part of our Food and Fibre Centre of Vocational Excellence research project into RPL, we spoke with 30 people across the sector — from education providers to employers, iwi trusts, and strategic leads — to explore current perceptions and practice.
 
🛑 But here’s the gap: Only 4 of the 9 providers had any RPL information on their websites — and of those, just one had detailed guidance. The others had minimal details like an application form, or out-of-date content about RPL.
 
If we want RPL to be more accessible and widely used, should we start with Step 1?
 
 

Ramon Messam and I are home this week after a five day work roadie!

⚡️We’ve just finished three days of Powerco Network Safety Inductions for some very cool teams in the electricity supply industry in New Plymouth and Palmerston North.

The NSI two yearly refreshers are a requirement for anyone working on Powerco’s network to get or maintain their 1B competency.

🚙 First stop - New Plymouth.

Two full training days and two visits to Brooklands substation so everyone could practice entering and exiting a restricted area safely.

The highlight of being in New Plymouth was the tour of the Network Operations Centre and having my millions of questions answered! 😀

🚗 Second stop - Palmerston North.

First time training here, and although there were a few familiar faces from the NSI refresher two years ago, the substation itself was new for us.

RippleEd has TWO trainers now! If you are a Powerco contractor or you know of any companies in the electricity industry requiring training, we’d love to have a chat.

The courses we deliver all over New Zealand include:

⚡️Network Safety Inductions

🗣️ Operational Communications course

👷🏽 Safety Supervision course

🏗️ Trainers at Work course

Tradies in Japan!

✅ Temporary Traffic Management
✅ Arborists
✅ Builders
✅ Line mechanics

Differences? No orange PPE, work sites and trucks are smaller.

Training is different too, but that’s for another post.

While most of my friends were training to be nurses, teachers, engineers and scientists, I did a Bachelor of Arts degree, majoring in Japanese and French.

⛩️ That’s because I was really curious about how other people lived, their languages and their cultures.
 
🗾 In my early 20’s I spent a whole year and a half in Japan, living with homestay families, teaching English, learning Japanese and trying to understand what Japanese people valued and why.
 
My year and a half in Japan was an apprenticeship of sorts. Like an extended block course. It led to roles back in New Zealand as a flight attendant and a secondary teacher of Japanese - and I loved both of these roles right up until my early 30s. And then a passion for teaching, learning and coaching took over.
 
While I was living in Japan in my 20s I learnt a LOT of Japanese language, and I tried hard to ‘be’ as Japanese as I could. In hindsight, I don’t think that was healthy - I put a lot of pressure on myself at the time to fit in. My whole identity was wrapped up in learning as much as I could about being Japanese.
 
Returning for a two week holiday this April, I was a bit unsure about how things would pan out.
 
It turns out that with a bit of maturity under my belt, I’ve loved these two weeks in Japan and felt so much more at ease than I did in my 20s. That curiosity about the Japanese culture and language is still flourishing - and I’m happy to say that I can still speak it and be (mostly) understood.
 
However this time, I’m not JUST learning Japanese, I bring other knowledge and questions. Since learning more about a Te Ao Maori world view, I’ve noticed links between this world view and the Japanese way of life. And I’ve enjoyed spending time talking to people about TVET and work-based training in Japan.
 
🤔 Have you had a similar experience returning to a place with fresh eyes?

🛠️ They know how to do the job — but not how to train others.
 
“He’s one of our best operators, but he just doesn’t have the skills to train the new ones.”
 
Sound familiar?
 
It’s common to promote your best technical experts into supervision roles. But just because someone is technically skilled doesn’t mean they know how to help others in the team LEARN on-job, especially under pressure.
 
According to RippleEd’s recent interviews with trainers, trainees and managers into effective work-based training, one of the biggest thing holding workplace trainers back isn’t the technical skills — it’s training skills and strategies.
 
😕 One trainee told us that ineffective trainers are the ones who are “not expecting to teach young people – they’re focused on their job, don’t think that they’re training.” Or “they give you the plan and just tell you to go do it.”
 
That’s where RippleEd comes in.
 
Our Trainers at Work programme helps technical experts become better trainers — not by turning them into teachers, but by giving them practical tools for getting to know their trainees, communicating effectively and building skills and confidence.
 
Because confident trainers = confident apprentices = stronger teams.
 
Want to support your technical experts to become confident trainers?
 
Let’s chat!
 

🤔 Why does a business invest in their work-based trainers?

Since working with Competenz to faciliate employer workshop about training at work, I’ve been thinking about this a lot.

🤔 Why is it that some businesses value training and development? And others see it as a tick box?

Below is my take on the potential issues and opportunities that exist around .

If a business is focused on developing technical skills, the reasons for investing in training and development are probably:

1. To meet compliance requirements
2. To meet legal regulations
3. To reduce skills and knowledge gaps

However, if a business is moving their focus to their people, people skills and business growth, the reasons for investing in training and development (and on-job training) are more likely to be:

4. To grow the team
5. To attract and retain talented workers
6. Succession planning
7. Innovation

👷🏽Which sized businesses are most likely to invest in people focused training?
—————————————————
Follow me for discussions about:

✅ Effectice work-based training.
✅ Programme and course design.
✅ RPL (Recognition of Prior Learning)