Where Do Secondary Vocational Agriculture Teachers Acquire Professional Agricultural Education Competencies?

brought about numerous structural changes and innovations in vocational agriculture education programs and in the ways in which the teacher develops and implements these programs (U.S. Office of Education, 1965; Phipps, 1980). Consequently, there are many additional competencies that secondary vocational agriculture education teachers must possess in order to plan and implement successful program offerings (King & Miller, 1985). Findlay & Drake (1989) reported that secondary vocational agriculture teachers were less competent in conducting activities involving adult education, and school and community relations. A search of the literature shows that no studies have been conducted to determine the methods or settings where secondary vocational agriculture teachers are acquiring their professional competencies. Therefore, the present methods by which teachers acquire professional competencies may not be the most appropriate methods for preparing them to perform their professional work role effectively. Baker and Trussell (1981) suggested that competencies to be demonstrated by students should derive from explicit conceptions of the teachers ’ roles. They also stated