None Megan C. McManus, None Cary L. Rivard, None Londa Nwadike, None Candice A. Shoemaker
Beginning and small-scale growers face significant challenges to maintain their economic sustainability, including maintaining a sufficient level of income. Despite this growing problem, there is little information currently available on what kind of education and/or skills beginning farmers need in order to make their operations profitable. The primary objective of this study was to conduct a needs assessment based on grower feedback to inform business education curricula for beginning small-scale specialty crop producers. We also compared the business skills, resources and obstacles that experienced and beginning small-scale specialty crop farmers viewed as necessary to be successful. A mixed-methods design was conducted in Kansas and Missouri. Electronic survey (n=106) results suggested that farmers place high emphasis on all standard business education curricula. However, perception of resources surrounding these skills were mostly neutral to unsatisfied. Responses differed among the types of farmers, indicating years of experience, status and ownership can impact the perception of skill importance and satisfaction of resources. Furthermore, a series of four asynchronous and synchronous online focus groups (n=24) revealed themes on business skills, obstacles to profitability, resources and desired courses surrounding business education. These findings can help provide educators a better idea of what beginning small-scale specialty crop farmers need for business education. Curricula developed from this data could promote farmer business literacy and ultimately improve farm business viability.
{"title":"Grower experience affects business education needs for a profitable specialty crop farm operation in the central United States","authors":"None Megan C. McManus, None Cary L. Rivard, None Londa Nwadike, None Candice A. Shoemaker","doi":"10.5032/jae.v64i3.75","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5032/jae.v64i3.75","url":null,"abstract":"Beginning and small-scale growers face significant challenges to maintain their economic sustainability, including maintaining a sufficient level of income. Despite this growing problem, there is little information currently available on what kind of education and/or skills beginning farmers need in order to make their operations profitable. The primary objective of this study was to conduct a needs assessment based on grower feedback to inform business education curricula for beginning small-scale specialty crop producers. We also compared the business skills, resources and obstacles that experienced and beginning small-scale specialty crop farmers viewed as necessary to be successful. A mixed-methods design was conducted in Kansas and Missouri. Electronic survey (n=106) results suggested that farmers place high emphasis on all standard business education curricula. However, perception of resources surrounding these skills were mostly neutral to unsatisfied. Responses differed among the types of farmers, indicating years of experience, status and ownership can impact the perception of skill importance and satisfaction of resources. Furthermore, a series of four asynchronous and synchronous online focus groups (n=24) revealed themes on business skills, obstacles to profitability, resources and desired courses surrounding business education. These findings can help provide educators a better idea of what beginning small-scale specialty crop farmers need for business education. Curricula developed from this data could promote farmer business literacy and ultimately improve farm business viability.","PeriodicalId":73589,"journal":{"name":"Journal of agricultural education","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-09-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"136343636","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Lexi Trickett, Alex Preston Byrd, Ryan G. Anderson, J. Chris Haynes
Agricultural mechanics is a technical skill area that poses numerous challenges for teacher preparation programs due to safety, time needed to learn technical skills, and credit hour requirements. The skills required to manage a laboratory are crucial for instructors of agricultural mechanics curriculum. Agricultural mechanics is a popular course in secondary schools, but studies found that pre-service teachers were ill-equipped to teach the courses effectively. Determining the level of readiness of graduates of teacher preparation programs to teach agricultural mechanics was the purpose of this study. Certifying institutions for agricultural education teachers across the nation comprised our target population. A questionnaire was used to collect data for this study, resulting in 48% response rate (n = 52). Of the nine agricultural mechanics curriculum content areas most teachers reported they had five in their state curriculum. The nine content areas were determined to be “Important” by the teachers in this study. Hand/Power Tools (M = 3.69) was the only content area that institutions ranked their graduates as “Prepared” to teach. The remaining content areas were ranked as “Somewhat” or “Poorly” prepared. Most institutions stated that they required at least one course in agricultural mechanics in their program, with the average requirement being five to eight hours. It can be concluded that agricultural mechanics course requirements have decreased since 2005, even though the content is heavily taught at the secondary level. This study has shown that we must re-evaluate how we prepare students to be competent to teach agricultural mechanics.
{"title":"Preparing pre-service agricultural education teachers to teach agricultural mechanics: Are we doing enough?","authors":"Lexi Trickett, Alex Preston Byrd, Ryan G. Anderson, J. Chris Haynes","doi":"10.5032/jae.v64i3.80","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5032/jae.v64i3.80","url":null,"abstract":"Agricultural mechanics is a technical skill area that poses numerous challenges for teacher preparation programs due to safety, time needed to learn technical skills, and credit hour requirements. The skills required to manage a laboratory are crucial for instructors of agricultural mechanics curriculum. Agricultural mechanics is a popular course in secondary schools, but studies found that pre-service teachers were ill-equipped to teach the courses effectively. Determining the level of readiness of graduates of teacher preparation programs to teach agricultural mechanics was the purpose of this study. Certifying institutions for agricultural education teachers across the nation comprised our target population. A questionnaire was used to collect data for this study, resulting in 48% response rate (n = 52). Of the nine agricultural mechanics curriculum content areas most teachers reported they had five in their state curriculum. The nine content areas were determined to be “Important” by the teachers in this study. Hand/Power Tools (M = 3.69) was the only content area that institutions ranked their graduates as “Prepared” to teach. The remaining content areas were ranked as “Somewhat” or “Poorly” prepared. Most institutions stated that they required at least one course in agricultural mechanics in their program, with the average requirement being five to eight hours. It can be concluded that agricultural mechanics course requirements have decreased since 2005, even though the content is heavily taught at the secondary level. This study has shown that we must re-evaluate how we prepare students to be competent to teach agricultural mechanics.","PeriodicalId":73589,"journal":{"name":"Journal of agricultural education","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-09-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"136342876","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Scott Smalley, None Mark Hainline, None Katelyn Grein
With the perpetual increase in STEM-related jobs and a renewed focus on the importance of these content areas, school-based agricultural education (SBAE) teachers shoulder the important task of implementing inquiry-based learning opportunities to prepare students for future STEM careers. The Curriculum for Agricultural Science Education (CASE) is one source of professional development that provides teachers with agriculture-focused STEM content and pedagogical enrichment. This study sought to examine beginning SBAE teachers’ perceptions of CASE Agriculture, Food, and Natural Resources (AFNR) training, as well as the implementation of the curriculum into their programs. We interviewed six CASE certified teachers who had completed one year of teaching experience. Four main themes and eight sub-themes emerged from the interviews: active learning (i.e., institute training and active learning in the secondary setting), time commitments, resource availability (i.e., financial funding and material availability, and curriculum (i.e., a comprehensive introductory course; coursework planning; gaining confidence; and student motivation). Overall, the teachers perceived the CASE curriculum to be a great resource, but they also experienced some challenges associated with resource availability and were somewhat displeased with the duration and intensity of the CASE Institute program. Recommendations for research and practice are included.
{"title":"Beginning SBAE teacher perception of CASE training and curriculum implementation","authors":"Scott Smalley, None Mark Hainline, None Katelyn Grein","doi":"10.5032/jae.v64i3.56","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5032/jae.v64i3.56","url":null,"abstract":"With the perpetual increase in STEM-related jobs and a renewed focus on the importance of these content areas, school-based agricultural education (SBAE) teachers shoulder the important task of implementing inquiry-based learning opportunities to prepare students for future STEM careers. The Curriculum for Agricultural Science Education (CASE) is one source of professional development that provides teachers with agriculture-focused STEM content and pedagogical enrichment. This study sought to examine beginning SBAE teachers’ perceptions of CASE Agriculture, Food, and Natural Resources (AFNR) training, as well as the implementation of the curriculum into their programs. We interviewed six CASE certified teachers who had completed one year of teaching experience. Four main themes and eight sub-themes emerged from the interviews: active learning (i.e., institute training and active learning in the secondary setting), time commitments, resource availability (i.e., financial funding and material availability, and curriculum (i.e., a comprehensive introductory course; coursework planning; gaining confidence; and student motivation). Overall, the teachers perceived the CASE curriculum to be a great resource, but they also experienced some challenges associated with resource availability and were somewhat displeased with the duration and intensity of the CASE Institute program. Recommendations for research and practice are included.","PeriodicalId":73589,"journal":{"name":"Journal of agricultural education","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-09-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"136343458","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
This philosophical study aims to inform improvements to teacher professional development by introducing and integrating principles from the Theory of Margin. Specifically, a critique of existing professional development norms illuminates traditional offerings increase teacher load without consistent increases in teacher power, leading to the conclusion that traditional professional development offerings do not consistently increase teacher margin and, thus, do not achieve their objective to enhance education through teacher-enacted innovation. To address this limitation, the Model for Margin-Increasing Professional Development is proposed which outlines structures to professional development which increase teacher power and/or decrease teacher load. Adoption of this model is expected to help professional development offerings in agricultural education achieve their aim of positively transforming the discipline via teachers who possess the requisite margin to learn, modify, and enact the innovations introduced during professional development. Recommendations for continued scholarship on teacher margin and professional development are included.
{"title":"Enhancing professional development by increasing agricultural educator margin","authors":"Aaron McKim, Lauren K. McKim","doi":"10.5032/jae.v64i3.48","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5032/jae.v64i3.48","url":null,"abstract":"This philosophical study aims to inform improvements to teacher professional development by introducing and integrating principles from the Theory of Margin. Specifically, a critique of existing professional development norms illuminates traditional offerings increase teacher load without consistent increases in teacher power, leading to the conclusion that traditional professional development offerings do not consistently increase teacher margin and, thus, do not achieve their objective to enhance education through teacher-enacted innovation. To address this limitation, the Model for Margin-Increasing Professional Development is proposed which outlines structures to professional development which increase teacher power and/or decrease teacher load. Adoption of this model is expected to help professional development offerings in agricultural education achieve their aim of positively transforming the discipline via teachers who possess the requisite margin to learn, modify, and enact the innovations introduced during professional development. Recommendations for continued scholarship on teacher margin and professional development are included.","PeriodicalId":73589,"journal":{"name":"Journal of agricultural education","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-09-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"136343154","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Dharmendra Kalauni, Laura A. Warner, Colby J. Silvert, Cody Gusto, John M. Diaz, Jaret Daniels
This study was designed to understand the current state of wildlife-friendly landscape maintenance practices and the associated barriers and motivations among Florida green industry professionals. A Delphi technique to achieve consensus, along with descriptive survey questions, was used to facilitate feedback from Florida-based green industry professionals and Extension professionals. The expert panel identified 55 wildlife-friendly landscape activities, 25 barrier items, and 25 motivator items. Descriptive findings showed that green industry professionals believe, on average, Florida residents request wildlife-friendly maintenance services less frequently than wildlife-friendly landscape services are offered by Florida green industry professionals. Consensus findings demonstrated the barriers with the greatest agreement were a lack of public awareness about wildlife-friendly landscaping, its ecological and environmental benefits, professional focus on profit, homeowner association (HOA) regulations, and demand for formal landscape aesthetics. Consensus findings also revealed Florida green industry’s major motivators were clients’ demand for native, Florida-Friendly plants and wildlife-supporting landscapes, the desire to promote the company as wildlife-friendly, and public interest in native and Florida-Friendly Landscaping. Extension professionals, along with policymakers, educators, and program planners should reduce the identified barriers and expand on the motivators to encourage green industry professionals to engage in landscape maintenance activities that support wildlife.
{"title":"Green industry experts’ consensus about wildlife-friendly landscape maintenance: Delphi-informed implications for agricultural and extension educators","authors":"Dharmendra Kalauni, Laura A. Warner, Colby J. Silvert, Cody Gusto, John M. Diaz, Jaret Daniels","doi":"10.5032/jae.v64i3.115","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5032/jae.v64i3.115","url":null,"abstract":"This study was designed to understand the current state of wildlife-friendly landscape maintenance practices and the associated barriers and motivations among Florida green industry professionals. A Delphi technique to achieve consensus, along with descriptive survey questions, was used to facilitate feedback from Florida-based green industry professionals and Extension professionals. The expert panel identified 55 wildlife-friendly landscape activities, 25 barrier items, and 25 motivator items. Descriptive findings showed that green industry professionals believe, on average, Florida residents request wildlife-friendly maintenance services less frequently than wildlife-friendly landscape services are offered by Florida green industry professionals. Consensus findings demonstrated the barriers with the greatest agreement were a lack of public awareness about wildlife-friendly landscaping, its ecological and environmental benefits, professional focus on profit, homeowner association (HOA) regulations, and demand for formal landscape aesthetics. Consensus findings also revealed Florida green industry’s major motivators were clients’ demand for native, Florida-Friendly plants and wildlife-supporting landscapes, the desire to promote the company as wildlife-friendly, and public interest in native and Florida-Friendly Landscaping. Extension professionals, along with policymakers, educators, and program planners should reduce the identified barriers and expand on the motivators to encourage green industry professionals to engage in landscape maintenance activities that support wildlife.","PeriodicalId":73589,"journal":{"name":"Journal of agricultural education","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-09-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"136343627","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
This study aimed to describe school-based agricultural education (SBAE) teachers' attitudes regarding inclusion, diversity, and equity (IDE) and prioritize the need for IDE-related professional development. A series of survey questions were used to describe the sample of SBAE teachers and their attitudes toward IDE and inclusive teaching practices. Most participants agreed that their programs should create an inclusive environment where all students can benefit from their program, have equal opportunities, and demographically mirror their school's student population. However, the profession remains split on whether there are problems with IDE and whether changes are needed. This response is likely the result of today's polarized culture. The Borich Needs Assessment Model was used to determine the perceived level of importance and ability of SBAE teachers regarding 11 professional development statements related to IDE. All professional development needs were assessed and ranked using mean weighted discrepancy scores (MWDS). The top three IDE-related professional development need areas among SBAE teachers were (a) tapping into students' lived experiences (cultural capital) when teaching, (b) identifying curriculum resources to enhance inclusivity, and (c) advocating for minority students.
{"title":"Attitudes and professional development needs of school-based agricultural education teachers related to inclusion, diversity, and equity","authors":"Matthew Wood, T. Sorensen, Michelle Burrows","doi":"10.5032/jae.v64i2.58","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5032/jae.v64i2.58","url":null,"abstract":"This study aimed to describe school-based agricultural education (SBAE) teachers' attitudes regarding inclusion, diversity, and equity (IDE) and prioritize the need for IDE-related professional development. A series of survey questions were used to describe the sample of SBAE teachers and their attitudes toward IDE and inclusive teaching practices. Most participants agreed that their programs should create an inclusive environment where all students can benefit from their program, have equal opportunities, and demographically mirror their school's student population. However, the profession remains split on whether there are problems with IDE and whether changes are needed. This response is likely the result of today's polarized culture. The Borich Needs Assessment Model was used to determine the perceived level of importance and ability of SBAE teachers regarding 11 professional development statements related to IDE. All professional development needs were assessed and ranked using mean weighted discrepancy scores (MWDS). The top three IDE-related professional development need areas among SBAE teachers were (a) tapping into students' lived experiences (cultural capital) when teaching, (b) identifying curriculum resources to enhance inclusivity, and (c) advocating for minority students.","PeriodicalId":73589,"journal":{"name":"Journal of agricultural education","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-06-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44235106","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Bradley M. Coleman, Glenn Israel, D. Barry, Natalie K. Ferand, J.C. Bunch, Alyssa Rogers
Student teachers’ experiences during their internship are crucial in their development as a teacher. In agricultural teacher education programs, it is common for student teachers to record where their time is allocated each week on categorized timesheets. The purpose of this study was to examine the preservice teachers' performance over the 14-week student teaching experience and how their performance was affected based on their weekly allocation of time. It was found that hours spent on observation had a small, positive effect on teacher professionalism and reflective and autonomous practitioner performance constructs. In addition, hours logged for direct student contact had a small positive effect on the reflective and autonomous practitioner construct. However, the measures of model fit suggest that these effects were trivial. Time allocations were excessive and sporadic. Therefore, discussion regarding the expectations of appropriate thresholds and distributions of time for student teachers and trainings on time management strategies should be conducted across the profession. Additionally, continued research should be conducted on student teachers’ time allocation and its effect on their performance.
{"title":"Comparison of preservice teachers’ time allocation and performance evaluations while student teaching: An exploratory study","authors":"Bradley M. Coleman, Glenn Israel, D. Barry, Natalie K. Ferand, J.C. Bunch, Alyssa Rogers","doi":"10.5032/jae.v64i2.62","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5032/jae.v64i2.62","url":null,"abstract":"Student teachers’ experiences during their internship are crucial in their development as a teacher. In agricultural teacher education programs, it is common for student teachers to record where their time is allocated each week on categorized timesheets. The purpose of this study was to examine the preservice teachers' performance over the 14-week student teaching experience and how their performance was affected based on their weekly allocation of time. It was found that hours spent on observation had a small, positive effect on teacher professionalism and reflective and autonomous practitioner performance constructs. In addition, hours logged for direct student contact had a small positive effect on the reflective and autonomous practitioner construct. However, the measures of model fit suggest that these effects were trivial. Time allocations were excessive and sporadic. Therefore, discussion regarding the expectations of appropriate thresholds and distributions of time for student teachers and trainings on time management strategies should be conducted across the profession. Additionally, continued research should be conducted on student teachers’ time allocation and its effect on their performance.","PeriodicalId":73589,"journal":{"name":"Journal of agricultural education","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-06-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46170502","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The Curriculum for Agricultural Science Education (CASE) utilized, for the first time, a virtual method of delivery to train and certify teachers across the country in the summer of 2021. This study was created to research the effectiveness of the virtual CASE professional development (PD) sessions, determine the usefulness of the CASE Institute technology and virtual format, and determine the effectiveness of Lead Teacher facilitators on participant learning. Six features of effective professional development were utilized as the framework to guide the study. A descriptive survey was conducted among the participants who were certified in a virtual CASE course in the summer of 2021. From this survey, researchers were able to conclude that the participants found the PD effective because they were confident in the material learned and felt prepared to implement the material into the classroom. The participants highly remarked on the usefulness of the technology and materials and the effectiveness of the Lead Teachers. From the findings of this study, a list of recommendations has been collected for further research and practice in the use of virtual PD for CASE and other education programs. It is recommended for future virtual professional development events for the facilitator to be very intentional about promoting a community of practice among participants and facilitating peer-to-peer interaction.
{"title":"The effectiveness of virtual CASE institute professional development: A participant perspective","authors":"S. Smalley, Amber Rice, Laura Hasselquist","doi":"10.5032/jae.v64i2.89","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5032/jae.v64i2.89","url":null,"abstract":"The Curriculum for Agricultural Science Education (CASE) utilized, for the first time, a virtual method of delivery to train and certify teachers across the country in the summer of 2021. This study was created to research the effectiveness of the virtual CASE professional development (PD) sessions, determine the usefulness of the CASE Institute technology and virtual format, and determine the effectiveness of Lead Teacher facilitators on participant learning. Six features of effective professional development were utilized as the framework to guide the study. A descriptive survey was conducted among the participants who were certified in a virtual CASE course in the summer of 2021. From this survey, researchers were able to conclude that the participants found the PD effective because they were confident in the material learned and felt prepared to implement the material into the classroom. The participants highly remarked on the usefulness of the technology and materials and the effectiveness of the Lead Teachers. From the findings of this study, a list of recommendations has been collected for further research and practice in the use of virtual PD for CASE and other education programs. It is recommended for future virtual professional development events for the facilitator to be very intentional about promoting a community of practice among participants and facilitating peer-to-peer interaction. ","PeriodicalId":73589,"journal":{"name":"Journal of agricultural education","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-06-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47715178","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Teacher shortages in agricultural education are one reason for an increase in alternatively certified teachers, with 22.8% of new hires in school-based agricultural education (SBAE) being alternative licensure route completers in 2018. While prior research in SBAE has provided insight into the needs of alternatively certified teachers, we do not know how alternatively certified agriculture teachers are acquiring the practices of the profession. The purpose of this study was to explore how alternatively certified agriculture teachers acquire the practices of agriculture teachers using Wenger’s social learning theory, Communities of Practice. Data analysis resulted in four themes regarding how the participants acquired practices and the context of acquisition: (1) here are the keys, go teach; (2) connectors to the community, (3) in it for the kids, and (4) agricultural education is different from anything else. These findings highlight the social aspects of acquiring the unique practices of agriculture teachers through experience and mentors, as well as the dedication of participants to supporting students. Consequently, we recommend state leaders in SBAE to acknowledge the importance of social learning as they develop programming and supports for alternatively certified agriculture teachers.
{"title":"Here are the keys, go teach: How alternatively certified agriculture teachers learn to be agriculture teachers","authors":"Kellie Claflin, Josh Stewart, Haley Q. Traini","doi":"10.5032/jae.v64i2.110","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5032/jae.v64i2.110","url":null,"abstract":"Teacher shortages in agricultural education are one reason for an increase in alternatively certified teachers, with 22.8% of new hires in school-based agricultural education (SBAE) being alternative licensure route completers in 2018. While prior research in SBAE has provided insight into the needs of alternatively certified teachers, we do not know how alternatively certified agriculture teachers are acquiring the practices of the profession. The purpose of this study was to explore how alternatively certified agriculture teachers acquire the practices of agriculture teachers using Wenger’s social learning theory, Communities of Practice. Data analysis resulted in four themes regarding how the participants acquired practices and the context of acquisition: (1) here are the keys, go teach; (2) connectors to the community, (3) in it for the kids, and (4) agricultural education is different from anything else. These findings highlight the social aspects of acquiring the unique practices of agriculture teachers through experience and mentors, as well as the dedication of participants to supporting students. Consequently, we recommend state leaders in SBAE to acknowledge the importance of social learning as they develop programming and supports for alternatively certified agriculture teachers.","PeriodicalId":73589,"journal":{"name":"Journal of agricultural education","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-06-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41370942","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Agricultural Education relies heavily on national and state professional associations to serve School Based Agricultural Education (SBAE) teachers. Because there is not 100% membership in these organizations across the country, it is vital to learn what is holding teachers back from joining and identify the needs of current members to encourage continued membership. The purpose of this descriptive survey study was to determine teacher motivations to join their state ag teacher professional association and identify priority areas for initiatives. Data were collected from 245 SBAE teachers through a Qualtrics survey using skip logic to gather information from members and non-members. Results indicated most members were joining for networking opportunities and professional savvy. Cost and communication were indicated as limiting factors for non-members. Current members identified that curriculum resource sharing, new teacher resources, and teacher retention efforts should be very high on the list of priorities for the association. State association leaders should utilize this research to focus on networking and professional development initiatives as well as opening the lines of communication with stakeholders. Future research investigating demographic differences in decision to join and qualitative follow-up with members who have left may also be warranted.
{"title":"What is in it for me: Reasons to join the teachers’ professional association","authors":"Jillian Ford, M. Lambert","doi":"10.5032/jae.v64i2.111","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5032/jae.v64i2.111","url":null,"abstract":"Agricultural Education relies heavily on national and state professional associations to serve School Based Agricultural Education (SBAE) teachers. Because there is not 100% membership in these organizations across the country, it is vital to learn what is holding teachers back from joining and identify the needs of current members to encourage continued membership. The purpose of this descriptive survey study was to determine teacher motivations to join their state ag teacher professional association and identify priority areas for initiatives. Data were collected from 245 SBAE teachers through a Qualtrics survey using skip logic to gather information from members and non-members. Results indicated most members were joining for networking opportunities and professional savvy. Cost and communication were indicated as limiting factors for non-members. Current members identified that curriculum resource sharing, new teacher resources, and teacher retention efforts should be very high on the list of priorities for the association. State association leaders should utilize this research to focus on networking and professional development initiatives as well as opening the lines of communication with stakeholders. Future research investigating demographic differences in decision to join and qualitative follow-up with members who have left may also be warranted.","PeriodicalId":73589,"journal":{"name":"Journal of agricultural education","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-06-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48445956","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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