Philosophy of Agriculture Education
Agricultural Education is a combination of applied sciences such as biology, chemistry and physics and business management practices according to the Iowa Governor’s Council on Agricultural Education. While most people tend to think of agriculture as a dying field, as agriculture science educators tend to think they are clearly mistaken as we know agriculture is the backbone of human existence. Therefore, it is extremely important for agriculture science teachers to become aware of the need of future generations to know the importance of agriculture in our society. In the process of informing of the importance of agriculture in modern society, it is necessary to incorporate more than one aspect in the education process. There are three major components that make u pan agriculture science program and those three components include classroom instruction, FFA, and SAE projects.
The first and probably most important part of the agriculture science program is the classroom instruction though which you are able to teach students about the importance of agriculture in the world today. The instruction in the classroom is the most important of the three components because it is the one where you will reach the most students. The teacher in the classroom will, in general, have the attention of the students in the classroom, therefore, making it easier to explain to them the importance of agriculture in today’s society. Classroom instruction is a place where the students’ skills will be able to go beyond just basic knowledge and skills to incorporate the significance of agriculture in today’s society and the relationships between the agricultural industry and other businesses. Through the classroom instruction, the agriculture science teacher will be able to incorporate the study of horticulture, forestry, conservation, natural resources, agricultural products and processing, production of food and fiber, aquaculture, mechanics, leadership development, etc. The agriculture science classroom will help prepare students for their future careers as well as their future dealings with other people. The instruction will incorporate so many topics that any student will be able to come out of the classroom and apply something they have learned in their agriculture science courses.
The classroom instruction is also a prime place to advertise for the other two components of agriculture education. In the classroom, you can recruit for your FFA chapter or you can encourage the production of an SAE project. While some of your students will be from agriculture backgrounds, in the coming future most of the students will not know about the importance of agriculture or the importance of being a part of the agriculture society. Therefore, as their agriculture science teacher, it will be our job to show them and encourage them to become a part of the backbone of humanity, agriculture. The students will not know unless we inform them and what better way to inform them than through classroom instruction.
This leads me to the next component of Agriculture Science Education which is the FFA advisor portion. The FFA program should be an extension of the classroom instruction in that the program can continue what is being taught in the classroom especially the leadership development aspect. Through the FFA program students will be able to put their knowledge about leadership to the test by being involved as an officer in the program or a committee member for furthering the development of the program. The FFA program should also be very involved in the community which will help students in the area of public relations and the like. The aforementioned topics are all topics that are spoken of in the agriculture science classroom just extended into the application phase. As the advisor for the FFA program, it will be my responsibility to share with the chapter about “potential and on-going activities to serve the individual members, local community, and success of the FFA chapter” (Nattress). By supplying the chapter with ways they can serve each other as well as the community, the advisor is helping the students to expand on what they have learned in their classrooms about leadership service and giving them actual experiences in the areas they have been learning about in the classroom.
This brings about another component of the Agricultural Education system which is the Supervised Agriculture Experience projects otherwise known as SAE projects. The SAE projects are designed to allow the students the chance to expand on their classroom instruction even more by taking what they have learned about agriculture production and applying it to their projects. The agriculture science teacher’s responsibility for this component of the agricultural education experience is the “supervised” part of supervised agriculture experience. The teacher is responsible for supervising students’ projects and offering advice whenever needed. It is also the teacher’s responsibility to make sure that the students have ample knowledge about the projects in which they have taken part, which is why classroom instruction is the most important component of them all.
Classroom instruction, FFA, and SAEs all make up the three components of agriculture education and one cannot function properly without the other. While each of the three would not cease to exist without the others, they are all vital to one anther. For example, students are learning in the classroom about leadership development and animal production and then they are putting those into practice through their FFA chapter and through their SAE projects. The three components all relate to each other and are all parts of what makes an agriculture education program successful.
References:
“FFA Chapter Advisor – Role and Responsibilities.” Lecture given by Wayne Nattress at Iowa State University.
“Tying It All Together.” Lecture given by Michelle Pavelock on April 27, 2007 at Texas A&M University. 2007.
Iowa Governor’s Council on Agriculture Education. 1990.