Using Agricultural Education As the Context to Teach Life Skills

USING AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION AS THE CONTEXT TO TEACH LIFE SKILLS Amber L. Dailey, Graduate Teaching Assistant Carol A. Conroy, Assistant Professor Cynthia A. Shelley-Tolbert, Graduate Research Assistant Cornell University Abstract Over the years agricultural education has not done an adequate job of effectively defining or describing its meaning and purpose. As with the broad agricultural industry, the view of agricultural education varies between and among groups, within and outside of the profession, and has evolved according to global, regional, and local pressures including those originating from political, societal, and technological changes (National Research Council, 1988). This qualitative study investigated the perceptions held by individuals involved in agricultural education or the broadly defined agricultural industry as to how agricultural education can be promoted as a viable alternative for the instruction of academic and workplace skills, reducing some of the image problems associated with vocational education. Results indicate that participants believe agricultural education should remain a community-based program, and should incorporate more science-based instruction, but there is much confusion as to how traditional program goals such as FFA and SAE can be met with these changes. The conclusions and recommendations focus on a set of questions developed to guide future research on these issues. Introduction and Conceptual Framework content and life skills to prepare students for Externally mandated bureaucratic adulthood, regardless of their ideal career changes such as state standards, areas. The study of agriculture can also standardized testing, and increased provide a context in which learners can graduation requirements necessitate that explore key biological and mathematics agricultural educators be prepared and ready concepts and skills. Research studies have to articulate how their programs of study can demonstrated that learners fail to develop meet established requirements for preparing deep understandings of science and youth to be future citizens and members of mathematics in traditional classrooms and the workforce. This includes the notion of therefore fail to apply this knowledge to using agricultural education as a vehicle for settings outside of the particular classroom the instruction of transferable skills—both (Bailey & Merritt, 1997). academic and the “soft” skills identified as Supervised Agricultural Experiences crucial for the workforce (SCANS, 1991) (SAEs) were implemented in 1942 as a such as decision-making, communications response by the agricultural education and the ability to work within a group. community to Dewey’s call to base education on the personal experiences of the Meeting Traditional Program Goals and learner (Dyer & Osborne, 1996). SAEs Reinforcing Workplace Skills bridge the gap between the classroom and The basic core of agricultural education work by providing students opportunities to instruction consists of three intra-curricular apply what they have learned in the components: 1) classroom instruction, 2) classroom and to transfer those knowledge experiential learning through supervised and skills to a real-world situation experiences, and 3) leadership activities. (Swortzel, 1996). When these three components are actualized Leadership activities conducted through through a well-designed integrated program, the FFA provide opportunities for students they provide a context for learning necessary to learn about teamwork, public speaking Journal of Agricultural Education 11 Volume 42, Issue 1, 2001 Dailey, Conroy & Shelley-Tolbert Using Agricultural Education… and debates, writing for communication of mathematics principles into agricultural ideas, and other skills identified as important instruction. for the worker of the future (SCANS, 1991). Beyond the opportunities for learning In addition, the FFA Proficiency Awards and practice provided through SAEs and the Program enables students to use their FFA, students enrolled in agricultural technical agriculture knowledge and skills in education receive instruction and such areas as floral design, machinery reinforcement of science and mathematics repair, livestock judging, and milk quality principles within the context of agriculture. testing in a real-world setting; these Research has shown that using agriculture activities are judged and evaluated by improves the acquisition of basic science individuals practicing in the field. Combined and mathematics process skills of with record books used with SAEs, students elementary students (Mabie & Baker, 1996). have the maximum opportunity to practice Students studying aquaculture in an and demonstrate real-world problem agriculture program reported that their solving, communication skills, and achievement in science and mathematics application of classroom knowledge to a classes was higher as a result of their new situation. In addition to these important participation in agriculture based on opportunities for learning, most agricultural comparisons with their past performances in education programs engage in several those classes (Conroy & Walker, 1998). As community service activities per academic one specific example, a secondary year, engaging students with their agriculture program in North Carolina community and with citizens in need (Wade, reports using chemistry, biology and math in 1998). These activities include tutoring an integrated manner in their program using younger students, providing lawn a closed aquaculture recirculation system, maintenance for senior citizens, stream clean pond, and caged pond production methods up, playground equipment instruction, and (Mooring & Hoyle, 1994, as cited in Conroy others. & Walker, 1998). Another example of the interdisciplinary nature of agricultural Reinforcement of Science and Mathematics education is a program that uses classroom Skills aquariums to teach a curriculum that From its inception in the 1700s, integrates aquaculture production and agricultural instruction in the United States maintenance principles, technology, and has included instruction in science and sociology in an interdisciplinary model mathematics. Agriculture by definition is an (Brody & Patterson, 1992). applied science that combines principles of the physical, chemical, and biological Theoretical Framework sciences in the process and production of Lee (1999) defined transfer as the food and fiber (Merriam Webster, 1988). “ability to think and reason about new The field of agriculture as an industry has situations through using previous also changed drastically since the inception knowledge” (p. 1). Transfer can be either of agricultural education. The small family positive, where learning or problem solving farm that was the norm for American is enhanced through the use of previous agricultural producers is now the exception. knowledge, or it can be negative, where Agriculture today is a highly intensive, previous knowledge actually hinders the technologically sophisticated industry. learning process. Research on the transfer of These factors led the National Research general skills seems to be inconclusive, but Council to recommend that agricultural it is evident that students have difficulty education programs must update and transferring information from one situation integrate more agricultural science into their to another when the situations appear course content, a contention echoed by different to them (Hattie, Biggs & Purdue, Martin, Rajaeskaran, and Vold (1989). 1996; Novak & Gowin, 1984; Robins, Nationally, the field of agricultural 1996). Transfer also is said to occur within education has recognized a definite need for domains, or performing similar task in the the integration of more scientific and same domain or closely related subject area, Journal of Agricultural Education 12 Volume 42, Issue 1, 2001 Dailey, Conroy & Shelley-Tolbert Using Agricultural Education… or across domains, or where knowledge is production rules (The If-Then acquired in one situation or subject area and statements), which enables the then used in a second domain (Lee, 1999). individual to notice the similarities Classroom learning and transfer can both be between the initial situation and the improved when instructional tasks reflect subsequent situation. If the the contextual elements and reasoning individual lacks domain-specific complexity needed for addressing real-world knowledge to solve a problem in the problems (Choi & Hannafin, 1997). second situation, he/she needs to be The most recent theories of transfer are capable of recognizing the need for those espoused by Singley and Anderson and seeking out this knowledge. (1989, as cited in Lee, 1999) and 3. A person starts to apply previous Pennington, Nicolich, and Rahm (1995). knowledge to very new situations They involve the use of production rules, or when he/she is highly skilled in the a series of If-Then statements. Transfer first domain. Research has not yet should occur where production rules are determined how much training and similar between tasks, or where the numbers experience are needed for this of shared production rules between tasks transfer to begin (Blakey & Spence, define similarity. Stating this in a more 1990; Carey, 1986; Carr, 1988; Lee, concrete way, common elements transfer. 1999). One example would be that the same rules that apply to driving a car should apply to To simplify, this process can be visualized driving a truck (Lee, 1999). as a series of steps leading

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