Going the Distance: Examining the Impact of a Long-Term International Fellowship

AgriCorps, an American organization, created a fellowship program to connect agricultural professionals to school-based agricultural education in developing countries. Previous scholars researched the impacts of international experiences on learners, usually through the lens of short-term study abroad. This study seeks to examine the impact of long-term international fellowship experiences in education and provide recommendations for future like-programs by analyzing the experiences of previous AgriCorps fellows. Fellows lived and taught school-based agricultural education in a community in Ghana or Liberia. Eighteen previous AgriCorps fellows participated in a semi-structured interview through a virtual meeting platform. The interviews were used to collect data on fellows’ experiences and perceptions. Through our analysis, 12 themes and 64 sub themes emerged. The initial themes include 1) growth after fellowship, 2) thoughts on AgriCorps post experience, 3) challenges, 4) AgriCorps responsibility, 5) discrimination, 6) enjoyed the culture, 7) reflection, 8) developed development philosophy, 9) adjusting to fellowship life, 10) engaging community, 11), language and 12) relationships built. With recommendations to provide language training, have established protocols for sexual harassment and health emergencies, ensure access to mental health and reflection resources, and assist participants in adapting back into home country culture

It’s Who We Are: New Approaches, Supported by Evidence

This issue poses the question, “Where do we go from here?” Agricultural and extension educators are well equipped to grow, reimagine, and improve our work. First, we go to our foundational training and educational background and apply those key principles in a new contextual setting. 1) Although we never left the country, we built a virtual study abroad using Kolb’s model (1984) of experiential learning to incorporate all four phases into our VHIE teaching and learning process. 2) Creating the SPS Policy Framework for Africa introduced our team to the Continental SPS Committee, which provided credibility to conduct two virtual 4-day participatory workshops to initiate the strategic plans for food safety and plant health. 3) When we addressed the impact of COVID-19 in Africa, we employed the most fundamental, important, and effective educational attribute, caring. 4) Conference attendance improved during the pandemic. However, agricultural and extension educators don’t view virtual meetings as a replacement for in-person meetings. 5) Students who have intercultural competence are in high demand. Lewin\u27s Theory of Planned Change explains the virtual student exchange rapid growth phenomena. The increase in students of color and low SES within intercultural competency programs is a welcome benefit. The problems that COVID-19 brought upon the globe challenged our educational, extension, and outreach systems. I observed that agricultural and extension educators utilized their foundational delivery background and talents to adjust quickly to the contextual COVID-19 pandemic world. We grew, reimagined, and improved our delivery and outreach because that is who we are

The Impact of Long-Term International Experiences: A Mixed Methods Examination of the International Agricultural Education Fellowship Program

In 2020, the International Agricultural Education Fellowship Program (IAEFP) was established by the Borlaug Institute for International Agriculture and funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Foreign Agricultural Service. IAEFP provided an opportunity for nine fellows to live in Ghana and implement school based agricultural education system. A mixed methods approach examined the impact of a 10-month international fellowship experience on the fellows and their perceived and measured impact on the rural communities they served. Using a convergence parallel method, qualitative and quantitative data were collected concurrently, analyzed separately, then compared to examine the phenomenon and draw conclusions. Themes from the qualitative data include programmatic adjustments, international development, challenges, personal and professional growth, and personal positivity’s. Quantitative results suggest participants had significant growth in professional formation. The qualitative results confirm the statistical significance of professional formation growth, the qualitative disconfirms the insignificance of cultural awareness and agriculture enhancement growth