Cultivating Seeds for the Future

Current statistics about the membership of students in the National FFA, the premier leadership and student organization associated with agricultural education, alarmed me as I traveled 600 miles from my home in Ohio to teach a population of severely underrepresented students in rural Virginia. According to the 2007 National FFA data, only four percent of the nation's nearly 500,800 FFA members are African American students. Upon arriving at my teaching destination, I discovered that fifty percent of my students were of that small, national percentage. From the first day of school, the perceptions my diverse students had about agriculture were grim. Terms like farmers, rednecks, and hicks were all the students could use to describe the people they knew in the agricultural industry. The first step I needed to take in motivating my students to learn was to break down the barrier that agricultural education was just teaching people how to farm. Once my students started identifying themselves in positions that were agriculturally related, other than farming, they began to see a real connection to the class, and more importantly, to the industry as future leaders. Motivating students to become interested in agriculture and to develop their skills to become leaders in the community was challenging. According to Mankin et al., motivation is central to student learning, but has always been a challenge for teachers, because students enter the classroom with diverse backgrounds, interests, experiences, and learning styles (2004, p. 10). I found this to be true in an area where it appeared that education is not as valued as in other places. The economic status of the community is low, and career opportunities are far and few between; the need for leadership development appeared to be a crucial skill to be taught in the classroom. In order to promote an environment for positive leadership skills to be learned, I experimented with different ways to motivate my students. Without a doubt, one teaching technique rose to the forefront of all others, hands-on interaction. Students wanted to be outside. They wanted a teacher who was enthusiastic; and allowed them to be creative and take risks, without being punished. Students had indirectly conveyed to me that they wanted and needed real-life experiences to see the tie between their schoolwork and future careers in agriculture. With no existing shop or laboratory facilities at our middle school, and with failed hopes of a greenhouse, I desperately searched for a solution that would be comparable to the experiences gained with such amenities. After convincing administrators and grounds keepers, a plan was approved for students to design, construct, and maintain raised flowerbeds on the side of the school's property. While it's likely that many of my students will never be associated with a working farm or college degree, it was necessary that my students could find a niche in agriculture that was a more realistic future. This project, however, also provided them the opportunity to take ownership and demonstrate their capacity to be leaders. With this in mind, horticulture seemed to be the ticket of opportunity. After proposing the flower bed idea to the students, the energy level in the classroom instantly skyrocketed. Students were eager to be involved in such an elaborate project, to learn more about plants, and the careers available in the horticulture industry. After several weeks of learning and preparation, each class got the opportunity to build and maintain their own bed. To add another level of excitement, the project turned into a competition between all of the classes, each one competing to be the best! Students of all backgrounds, experiences, and interests came together to work as a team and construct their project over the course of several days. The typical arguing between the middle school students was replaced with compliments on jobs well done. …