A model for agricultural education in public schools

Abstract

Agricultural education in public schools has a rich heritage of developing student personal skills as well as providing abilities needed in agricultural employment through classroom and laboratory instruction, supervised experience, and FFA activities. Over the years, agriculture programs have evolved to better serve the needs of students. Recent changes in the agricultural industry, student population, society, education system, and the work place necessitate expanding the scope of public school agricultural education to meet the needs of today’s students. For many years, the agricultural education program has been illustrated by a diagram of three overlapping circles representing classroom instruction, FFA. and supervised experience. That diagram inferred that, while some activities overlaped and were highly related, there were activities of SOE and FFA that were not related to classroom and laboratory instruction. Further, the context of school and community for the total agricultural education program was not apparent. To more accurately reflect agricultural education, a new model was developed representing the total agriculture program within the context of the current educational environment. This article focuses on the philosophy of that model and its rationale