The Agricultural Education Model: A Personal Perspective
2008; Agricultural Education Magazine; Volume: 81; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês
ISSN
0732-4677
Autores Tópico(s)Diverse Educational Innovations Studies
ResumoIs agricultural education really the premiere educational delivery model? I am pleased to have the opportunity to respond to this question with my personal perspective. I could answer yes and just end there . . . but perhaps I should elaborate a bit. On the other hand, I'm reminded of a scene in Risky Business, a movie that has become something of a cult classic for my generation, in which Tom Cruise's character asked a question to Rebecca De Mornay's character. The Cruise character specified that the answer was to be no, or maybe; the De Mornay character answered yes, no, maybe! I know some of you recall this scene in the movie. So, an alternative answer to the question of the day ... is agricultural education really the premiere educational delivery model? . . . could be no, or maybe. Personally, I'm going to stick with yes but I do want to continue to qualify my response. I am a product of agricultural education. In 1975, I enrolled in agricultural education as a freshman at Park City Junior High School in Park City, Kentucky. I had three more years of high school agricultural education at Barren County High School in Glasgow, Kentucky. My agriculture teachers were Jewell Colliver, Jerry Greer, James Bailey, Frank Rowland, and Keith Weaver. Mr. Colliver is now deceased; the other four have retired from teaching, but they continue to be active in the community. My agriculture teachers were among the greatest teachers who have ever set foot in an agriculture classroom. Other than my mother and father, my agriculture teachers were the most influential persons in my developmental years. What made my agriculture teachers so great? It was their commitment to the agricultural education model that made them great. They were excellent classroom/laboratory teachers, first and foremost. But with them teaching didn't end in the classroom or laboratory. You see, I had other great teachers in my high school, such as Helen Russell, advanced American history. Mrs. Russell could make American History come to life for students inside that classroom ... and she helped me test out of some of my college history requirements. But, with my agriculture teachers, effective teaching happened way beyond the classroom, shop, or outdoor laboratory. My agriculture teachers understood fully how to supplement instruction to enhance student achievement with supervised agriculture experience (SAE) programs for every student . . . please notice that I wrote EVERY student. Further, my agriculture teachers understood fully how to use FFA at the local level to showcase the accomplishments of our agricultural education students and program and to motivate every student for career success and personal growth ... please note that I wrote LOCAL LEVEL and again EVERY student. But that was 30+ years ago! Will classroom/laboratory instruction in agriculture, work-based learning for every student via SAE, and leadership development for every student via FFA still work today? I argue it will. However, innovations in the program model have been made since then . . . and further innovations may be in order now. I now will offer some personal comments on each aspect of the agricultural education model. Clasroom/Laboratory Instruction Classroom/laboratory instruction ... no, or maybe? Given the current state of agricultural education in our nation, this one could be classified as a maybe. Yet, the potential exists, and great progress is being made for this to be a huge yes. What I mean is there is always room for improvement in what we teach, how we teach, and who we teach. My agriculture teachers in the mid-to-late- 1970s had their curriculum and their pedagogy down to pretty exact science. But, local, regional, national, and indeed, global agriculture is different today. Likewise, schools are different today compared to decades ago and the expectations of agricultural education programs within schools are quite different today. …
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