ALEC 805 Teaching Portfolio: Exploring Students\u27 Teaching Effectiveness

This portfolio explores students attainment on InTASC Standards 1 & 3 through ALEC 805: Advanced Teaching Strategies. Students completed an initial teaching roots reflection and a final education philosophy that served as the basis for analyzing growth in effective teaching. Overall, students had more statements discussing teaching methods and strategies in their final education philosophies than they did in their initial reflections, but used their own experience to substantiate these methods much less. This provides opportunities for additional synthesis and reflection through the course, as well as opportunities for future scholarship in the course focused on students\u27 connection to their experience as they develop as teachers

Lessons from the Giving Tree

We probably know the story--in fact, The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein is one of my husband’s favorite books from his childhood. Shel Silverstein was one of my favorite childhood authors too. I recently came across an insert for this book that focused on the tree setting boundaries. The tree said, “no,” and told the boy to find his own way. Of course, The Giving Tree fans will tell you that isn’t the message of the story. Shel Silverstein didn’t really do interviews, but the general consensus is the book is about the boy’s selfishness, and the tree’s selfless giving. Throughout the book, the boy was selfish. And for most of the book, the tree was happy. Until she wasn’t. How often do we see The Giving Tree play out in our own lives? We’re happy to give, until we’re not. We give our students our time, our talent, sometimes even our families, and we find joy in these things

Maintaining the Fence: Establishing and Reclaiming Your Boundaries

Editor Comments: Boundaries? We Don’t Need No Stinking Boundaries... Or Do We?... by Gaea Hock Theme Editor Comments: Lessons from the Giving Tree .....by Becky Haddad Theme Articles: A Letter to the Profession.... by Haley Traini Balance in the Busyness.... by Roobie Richards The Boundaries that Weren’t..... by Bibiana Gifft An Early Introduction.... by Amber Rice and Quint Molina Prioritizing Boundaries... by Hannah Wedger The How’s and Why’s of Building a Fence.. by JoAnn Pfeiffer Avoiding the Burn... by Jay Solomoson and Trent Wells Book Review: Boundaries by Dr. Henry Cloud and Dr. John Townsend .... by Kayla Loewenhagen Ready to Learn More.... by Becky Haddad and Haley Train

Student Perceptions of Soft Skills & Career Decision Self-Efficacy through Participation in SAE

This study sought to assess student perceptions of soft skills and career decision self-efficacy attained through participation in different types of Supervised Agriculture Experience programs within School Based Agricultural Education. There was no significant difference found in career decision self-efficacy or perceived soft skill attainment between those who participated in SAE and those who did not. This study identified a positive significant impact for career decision selfefficacy and perceived soft skill attainment between those who had placement and exploratory SAEs with the exception of the problem-solving construct. Findings suggest that students participating in programs that require greater investment of student time, skill, capital, and initiative develop greater perceived skill attainment and efficacy through the SAE program

ACCESS TO LEADERSHIP EFFICACY: Those Who Start Early Finish Ahead

An increasing number of studies point to student gains from participation in leadership development opportunities. However, very little research exists to explore who has access to these experiences. In this paper, we investigate whether a student’s employment off-campus has an impact on their ability to participate in, and experience gains in leadership efficacy from leadership training opportunities. We employ a linear regression path analysis to identify potential relationships between pre-college leadership efficacy, off-campus employment, participation in leadership training opportunities, and leadership efficacy for undergraduate students at a university in the Pacific Northwest. Pre-college leadership efficacy was the strongest predictor of leadership efficacy for undergraduate students, with hours of employment and leadership training having small, but significant, mediating effects. This begs the question: How do students build their leadership efficacy prior to entering post-secondary education and what drives students to continue to pursue experiences that develop their leadership efficacy

Let’s Review: Types of Feedback Given in an Agricultural Writing Intensive Course

Our study sought to describe the types of feedback (affective, cognitive, and metacognitive) used by students of senior standing in a Writing Intensive Course within an undergraduate Agricultural Sciences degree. This study quantified a change in peer-review feedback over the course of an academic term. Students used each type of feedback throughout the duration of the course, but relied heavily on affective and cognitive feedback (63% and 80% of combined feedback between both categories in initial and final feedback, respectively). Further efforts are necessary to provide direction and rigorous evaluation in the writing intensive course. Continued research is necessary to examine instructional strategies in place and to provide a more thorough evaluation of the peer feedback structures in place. Efforts to understand the benefits of quality peer feedback as a critical component of the revision process should facilitate effective practice in writing courses within agriculture and agricultural education across the country

What Moves You? How SBAE Teachers Navigate Program Migration

Little data exists to examine the stigmatized phenomenon of program mobility within agricultural education. Our research starts the conversation through interviews with eight School-Based Agricultural Education (SBAE) teachers across the United States, using qualitative phenomenology, to provide a unique perspective of retention through migration. We define teacher migration as a program move while choosing to remain in SBAE. Utilizing the theoretical lens of expansive learning through activity systems (Engeström, 2009), we present teacher migration as a means to learn and grow in the craft of teaching within SBAE, particularly among teachers with more than eight years of experience. Although additional efforts are needed to quantify migration within SBAE, and to examine the common narrative, our research reveals program migration to be a relational issue. In our study, participants expressed community, opportunity to learn, and time as functions of support through a career transition. They identified resources and expectations as challenges faced in the migration process. Our research provides a starting place for conversations around teacher migration through a focus on the assets of experience, viewing migration as a means of retention rather than as a function toward attrition

That’s Not in My Position Description: A Discourse Analysis Study of SBAE Teacher Migratory Context

The purpose of this study was to unfold positions of migrating SBAE teachers to understand support and challenge to retain teachers in migratory contexts. Previous literature discusses problems related to teacher mobility as functions of teacher-student matching, teacher skill and effort, school environments, and advancing student learning. In an effort to focus on the teacher within their system, I conceptualized migration as a social interaction, drawing on the work of the International Symposium on Teacher Migration (Penson & Yonemura, 2012), the concept of socialization (Berger & Luckmann, 1966; Blumer, 2018; Mead, 2018), and current data discussing teacher mobility in the United States. Outlining teacher migration as a social interaction permitted the use of Positioning Theory (Davies, 2000; Harré & van Langenhove, 1999), through discourse analysis, to co-investigate the social navigations and structures in which mobile teachers operate. Participants for this study included two former SBAE teachers and four community influencers (administrator, two co-teachers, and the FFA alumni president), in addition to a contextual interview with the state supervisor for agricultural education. These participants represented experiences with a specific school (North Plains Consolidated, NPC) as migratory context. Interview transcripts, follow-up interview transcripts, confirmed data mapping, and co-iterative construction of the conclusions comprised the data for this study. Findings for this study find SBAE teachers positioning themselves with belonging, as overworked, as capable, and as unique. Community influencers positioned themselves as doing the best they could, seeking commitment, having high expectations for SBAE programs based on agriculture legacies, and being engaged in reciprocal investment. Together, these positions exposed conflicting requirements, willingness to persevere despite challenges, and available support if appropriately taken up. Ultimately, these compile to illuminate SBAE teachers positioning themselves as supported when they have human resources to draw on, the resources to grow their program, and validating relationships with their communities. Challenge is imposed when autonomy is infringed upon, expectations are unclear, or relationships do not extend ideal support. The findings identify teacher migration as a phenomenon bringing several other challenges in education to light. Implications of expectations, power dynamics, and workload depict the nuance of support and challenge as relational constructs. Several implications arise for the various stakeholders in this study: SBAE teachers, administrators, co-teachers, alumni, and state staff. In order to make the exposed positions useful, a conceptual framework of support and challenge as relational constructs to identify mitigating positions concludes this study

We’ve Crossed a Line: A Philosophical Examination of Systemic Implications Surrounding SBAE Teachers’ Attempts at Boundary Setting

This philosophical paper situates the system of School-Based Agricultural Education (SBAE) in light of teachers’ attempts at boundary work. We define the system of SBAE through a Social Ecological Resilience approach, particularly by examining publications in the Journal of Agricultural Education (JAE) from 2021 to explore what SBAE demands of its teachers. Having worked with SBAE teachers over the last three years as they have struggled with attempts at boundary ownership, we question what this personal struggle indicates about a broader system. We argue for a bounded system by which respect for boundary ownership is reciprocated as an expected norm. We conclude by situating solutions oriented around the factors of Social Ecological Resilience theory. This work engages individuals across the system, rather than just the teachers, toward systemic accountability and transformation

Will the First Through Fifth Years Please Stand Up? Quantifying National SBAE Teacher Experience

Research often references years of experience specific to participants, yet no compiled report exists for secondary school-based agricultural education (SBAE) to holistically quantify years of teaching experience. In addition, definitions accounting for experience fall short of capturing the myriad ways experience counts in the broader teaching profession. Our study addresses this missing piece of the teacher retention puzzle. Using Quiñones, Ford, and Teachout’s (1994) conceptual framework for work experience measures, our study quantified teacher experience in the National Association for Agricultural Education (NAAE). We analyzed National SBAE teacher experience through descriptive statistics, compared experience by region using an ANOVA model, and compared SBAE to the national teaching profession. We found practical significance in the difference between SBAE’s population of 1-3 year teachers and 10-19 year teachers compared to the national teacher average. We pose questions around teacher recruitment and retention relative to the specific experience demographic of SBAE and the generational trends accompanying such demographics