Developing and Promoting a Vision for Agricultural Education: Whose Job Is It?

A poster in a high school weight room states: you are not getting better, you are getting worse, there is no in-between. This speaks volumes regarding agricultural education programs in regards to facilities, equipment, support, recruitment, and overall program success. It takes continued effort and desire to ensure students are provided the best opportunities to learn and develop for the future. This belief, to provide the best opportunities to learn, is foundational if anyone wants to be a successful teacher or have a successful Agricultural Education program. Teachers of Agricultural Education have an incredible opportunity to either a vision and direction for their Agricultural Education program, or they can stand on the side-lines and support changes being brought about by other outside forces or agencies. These changes may include curriculum, CDEs, SAE practices, or facilities. If a teacher expects change in a program, the teacher will not only communicate the expected change, but would also become an active proponent of change. Change will take a strong purposeful effort, but will be worth the investment of time and energy. In return, when those with a vested interest observe their teachers making efforts to improve the Agricultural Education program, the students, parents, and school administration will respond favorably. Somehow, when one studies the history of Agricultural Education, one also has to look at the history of Career - Technical Education (Vocational Education). Since 1917, Agricultural Education has been intertwined with Vocational Education. Even today, funding for Agricultural Education programs is dependent upon the funding for Career - Technical Education. When studying the history of Career - Technical Education, it is clear to note that outside forces have generally been the root for most of the legislative and funding changes. Basically, Agricultural Education has been guilty of the same, however not to the extent of Career -Technical Education! Agricultural Education has created other venues by which to and affect change. For example, there have been two national strategic plans created to offer program direction and sustainability for Agricultural Education. These authors maintain however, that a local agricultural education teacher does not need to wait or be dependent upon others to have a vision for change in their Agricultural Education program. Let us offer an example. In one state, in 1995, there was a proposal by the State Department of Education staff to move Agricultural Education programs towards AgriScience. The State Department of Education indicated that they were going to change the production-based programs in the state to more programs. The teacher education team at the state's university was consulted, and it was agreed upon that the teacher education staff would create an undergraduate program under-girded in the sciences, while the state department team focused on bringing about the change at the local level. Implementation of the science-based curriculum occurred. Three years later, the first set of student teachers reported to their cooperating centers, only to find that they were prepared to teach for a science-based curriculum, not the production-based curriculum encountered. Years later, the science-based curriculum proposed by the State Department of Education is yet to exist! Teachers are still being prepared for the science-based curriculum. …