|
Items in cart [0] |
Questions? Call 888-624-8373 |
| Copyright © 2009. National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved. Terms of Use and Privacy Statement |
Below are the first 10 and last 10 pages of uncorrected machine-read text (when available) of this chapter, followed by the top 30 algorithmically extracted key phrases from the chapter as a whole.
Intended to provide our own search engines and external engines with highly rich, chapter-representative searchable text on the opening pages of each chapter.
Because it is UNCORRECTED material, please consider the following text as a useful but insufficient proxy for the authoritative book pages.
Do not use for reproduction, copying, pasting, or reading; exclusively for search engines.
OCR for page 148
cH`9PrER
18
Integrating Agriculture
into Precollege Education:
Opportunities from Kinclergarten to Grade 12
Harder 0. Kunkel
Janis W. Lariviere, Rapporteur
Food, agriculture, and natural resources are factors that affect all
people. The understanding of these factors, however, is not well
integrated into general education in the United States. Their role in
the economy, their vital function in the health and quality of life of
people, and their importance in global interrelationships are scarcely
recognized in general education. Moreover, the vitality of the progress
of students from precollege to colleges of agriculture and life sci-
ences is a key factor in the vitality of the professional missions of
these colleges. it is important in discussing curriculum reform and
revitalization that the precollege education also be reviewed.
In the interest of focusing the discussion, look at three aspects
of the precollege education.
The first and most obvious aspect is the traditional integration of
agriculture in precollege education, namely, the program in voca-
tional agriculture. Companions to that are the 4-H Club and youth
programs, which have a close association with the land-grant uni-
versities through the Cooperative Extension Service.
The second aspect, one of increasing importance, is the articula-
tion of colleges of agriculture to students in science programs in
secondary schools. This would provide a greater opportunity to
bring so-called nontraditional students (for example, nonfarm, ur-
ban, and minority students) into agricultural education.
The third feature is the integration of agriculture into the elemen-
tary school curriculum. This may be the best means for very young
people to relate food systems and natural resources to human life
and well-being.
148
OCR for page 149
I~EG~TING AGRICULTURE 1~0 PRECOLLEGE EDUCATION
There are few studies that can give definitive answers to the
persistent problems of trying to interest students in studies of agri-
culture in precollege and college settings. The information is more
often anecdotal than empirical. One exception is the study of high
school students' perceptions of colleges of agriculture and agricul-
tural careers carried out by the American College Testing Program
(ACT) (1989) for the Farm Foundation. That study reaffirmed suspi-
cions that high school students have many misperceptions about
agriculture-related careers and majors. The study also suggested
that the student population interested in obtaining a mayor in agri-
culture in college is fluid: many students changed their objective
away from a major in agriculture between the time they took the
ACT test and the time they entered college. The implications are
that education in and about agriculture can be translated into agri-
culture-related career goals at early ages, but competing interests
have an impact as students make plans for their higher education.
Agricultural Education
A seminal study aimed both at vocational agriculture and agricul-
tural literacy was a report by the National Research Council (NRC)
(1988), Understanding Agriculture: New Directions for Education.
That report found that agricultural education in secondary schools
usually does not extend beyond the offering of a vocational agricul-
ture program. Vocational agriculture has had a positive effect on
thousands of people students, families, and residents of the com-
munity but until recently, enrollments were largely made up of
white nestles; the program contents may be outdated and uneven in
quality; and as a result of funding patterns, the education may be
largely restricted to vocational education. The NRC report con-
cluded that the focus of agricultural education should change, many
revisions are needed, the quality of the program should be en-
hanced, high-technology instructional materials and media should
be available, and all students should be enrolled in supervised
experiences. The report also implied that agricultural education
should contribute to general agricultural literacy.
Led by forward-thinking groups in vocational agriculture, state
education agencies and individual schools across the nation are
changing their programs in ways that reflect the recommendations
of the NRC report. Flexibility is being introduced into the program.
In Texas, courses are now offered in a semester-length format rather
than as year-long courses set in rigid sequence. The program
designation has been changed from Vocational Agriculture" to UAg-
ricultural Science and Technology." Supervised agricultural experi-
ences are acceptable in a much wider range than the show animal
or garden and are no longer called supervised "occupational" expe
149
OCR for page 150
AGRICULTURE AND THE UNDERGRADUATE
riences. Any high school student can take a semester course as an
elective, but only if the high school offers the program in agricul-
ture. In Texas, honors courses that parallel first-year college-level
offerings in animal science, agricultural economics, and agronomy
and an experimental course on rangeland management are being
offered. The inventory is 23 semester-length courses in such top-
ics as food technology, agribusiness, management, wildlife, leader-
ship, and agricultural production; three honors courses; and one
experimental course.
in such a context, there is substantial transition. The emphasis
is turning more to the education of students who are college bound
or who seek employment other than farming. Vocational empha-
ses are changing from skills with plants and livestock to skills of
leadership, decision making, and technology. The content of the
courses can become more rigorous and useful. Agricultural sci-
ence and technology, stripped of its inflexible cloak, can open agri-
cultural education to a much larger number of students. Enroll-
ments in the agricultural science and agricultural business programs
that were once vocational agriculture grew from 47,073 in the fall
of 1986 to 64,681 in the spring of logo.
The directive for the transformation at the national level is now
the Strategic Plan for Agricultural Education, adopted by the several
national interest groups and associations related to vocational agri-
culture education. The plan calls for updating instruction in and
about agriculture, serving all people and groups, amplifying the
"whole-person" concept to include leadership and interpersonal skills,
fostering entrepreneurship, elevating standards of instruction, and
developing educational programs that respond to changes in the
market for students.
The essential key to driving these trends is the development of
instructional materials. The closer that such development can be
to the colleges of agriculture, food, and natural resources, the bet-
ter the interaction will be. Someday, too, it may be possible for
colleges of agriculture to couple with secondary school agricultural
science by way of a satellite-mediated Distant education," with the
home base being a land-grant university, for example.
I,inkage With Science Teachers
anti Courses
Colleges of agriculture are also recognizing broader mandates.
This is reflected in their names: college of agriculture and life
sciences; college of agricultural and environmental sciences; col-
lege of agriculture, food, and natural resources; and so on. A
number of colleges of agriculture are apparently making a strong
move to capture the environmental bent. As that thrust continues,
150
OCR for page 151
i~EG~TiNG AGRICULTURE I~O PRECOLLEGE EDUCATION
high school science, particularly biology, and teachers of science
can become key factors in an articulation of the precollege educa-
tion in agriculture and the natural resources. This connection be-
comes increasingly important as agricultural education in high schools
and colleges reaches for diversity in the student "pipeline."
Science can be taught in the context of agriculture. For example,
molecular genetics can be directed toward the conservation or im-
provement of food supplies. Agriculture and related subjects must
be taught within the context of biology, chemistry, and the social
sciences. Some colleges of agriculture have managed National
Science Foundation-sponsored young scholar programs to demon-
strate career opportunities in science. Some have provided spe-
cific courses, such as Ecology for Teachers. Some have provided
teaching materials to teachers of biology and chemistry. Through
interested teachers of biology biology is a particularly appropriate
subject because it is usually taught in the tenth grade capable,
interested students have been identified early and Adopted" by
departments in the college of agriculture. The trend probably will
be to integrate the sciences from kindergarten through grade 12,
and colleges of agriculture, being multidisciplinary, should be in
league with that spirit. AS relevance, quality of education, and
interest among teachers and students in secondary schools are
directed toward agriculture and natural resources, word will spread
and new linkages can be opened.
The Changing Student Pipeline
In the past three decades there have been unprecedented changes
in the undergraduates who flow through colleges of agriculture,
food, and natural resources. Student interests and attitudes have
varied. Some patterns appear to be cyclical. The late 1960S and
early l970S saw large influxes of students with concerns about
U.S. society. At the time, they were considered nontraditional stu-
dents. We may now be seeing a return of large numbers of stu-
dents with societal concerns that may override the preoccupation
with jobs that was evident in the 1980s.
The students who are coming to colleges of agriculture through
the science course route are different kinds of students and may
have different philosophical bents. Many are interested in conser-
vation issues, environmental law, and helping people. They will
have practically no interest in operating a farm. Many appear to be
looking for multidisciplinary outlets- which should fit colleges of
agriculture and they understand networking better than ever be-
fore. Many will come with the intent to obtain more than one
degree, including the master of business administration, doctor of
medicine, master of agriculture, and other professional degrees.
151
OCR for page 152
AGRICULTURE AND THE UNDERGRADUATE
As the pool of prospective students changes, we are in a con-
tinuing search for words. The recruiting words now (again?) seem
to be environment, conservation, science, Job satisfaction, molecu-
lar genetics, health, and animals. Some students as well as some
of the faculty-who come to natural resource and other agriculture-
related courses for traditional reasons may regard those students
interested in conservation and the environment as espousing phi-
losophies inconsistent with agricultural thought. But, it is a di-
chotomy that we should exploit, not fear.
All prospective students may now be beginning to focus more
on gratification derived from technical work than on job pay. AS a
colleague in animal science, Gary Potter, notes, what is not "in" is
trying to sell, Justify, or defend an industry. Teenagers are not very
interested in the reasons why it is important to grow food to feed
the world. Many students take up agriculture-related majors in the
university for reasons that make little professional sense: they like
to ride horses, they like hunting and fishing, or some day they
would like to operate a farm in addition to their primary employ-
ment. It is the environment outside the schoolrooms that may
provide the greater influence toward interest in agricultural courses.
Once in college, however, students can be taught both what they
want to learn and what we would like them to learn.
Agricultural Literacy
The NRC report (1988) also recommended that, beginning in kin-
dergarten and continuing through the twelfth grade, all students
should receive some systematic instruction in agriculture. A per-
sisting belief among those concerned about agriculture is that we
not only teach skills and technology but that a body of education
about agriculture should be provided to larger numbers of precollege
students. This envisions value in general knowledge about the
history and current economic, social, and environmental significance
of the food and fiber system (National Research Council, 1988).
Such understanding would include some knowledge of food and
fiber processing, distribution, and domestic and international mar-
keting. Such education might also include the practical knowledge
needed to care for the environment lawns, gardens, recreational
areas, parks, and communities that touches individual lives. Most
importantly, the individual knowledge base should include enough
knowledge of nutrition and food safety so that people can make
informed personal choices about diet and health.
Historically, agricultural literacy for many has come through the
national Future Farmers of America organization integrated with
vocational agriculture education and the 4-H Club program, both of
which have the basic infrastructures to support such activities. The
152
OCR for page 153
INTEGRATING AGRICULTURE INTO PRECOLLEGE EDUCATION
4-H Club program touches millions of students, and its value to the
development of the individual young person is unquestioned. However,
agricultural literacy, per se, seems to be a diminishing goal of the 4-
H Club program, although many of the projects are related to bio-
logical phenomena and consumer skills, and they do contribute to
students' understanding of the food and fiber system.
Programs have been devised that attempt to fill the void with the
larger student population from kindergarten to grade 12. The Agri-
culture in the Classroom program of the U.S. Department of Agricul-
ture, which is supported by state departments of agriculture and
the farm bureaus, has developed some very good materials and
reflects diverse efforts, particularly at the lower grade levels. The
California-based Life Lab program, which incorporates agriculture
into core subjects such as science, has demonstrated a possible
mechanism of positive intervention in the elementary school cur-
riculum. Projects Wild (for students from kindergarten through grade
12 sponsored by the Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agen-
cies and the Western Regional Environmental Education council)
and Learning Tree (for students from kindergarten through grade 6
sponsored by the Western Regional Environmental Education Coun-
cil and the American Forestry Institute) are designed to enhance
awareness of wildlife and forests in the school setting. Many teach-
ers have plants and small animals in the classroom to aid the
learning process. Children have a love of nature, which sets the
stage for a closer connection to agriculture.
These programs also have their limitations, not the least of which
is the fact that there can be too little incentive for elementary and
secondary school teachers to use the materials. Teachers receive
a lot of material; much of it is very good, but they have limited time
to go through it all. Therefore, widespread use of agricultural lit-
eracy materials is not likely to occur unless these materials receive
approval from state education agencies. Even though there is offi-
cial acceptance, however, the focus must still be on teaching the
essential elements, not agriculture.
Many symbols of agriculture that we have used in the past the
fluffy and cute (chicks, calves, or baby lambs)' the grotesque (cock-
roaches), the beautiful (waving fields of grain, valleys of flowers,
bucolic farm scenes)- to attract young people to the marvels of
living things and the countryside may tell little of the real meaning
of food and agriculture. It is imperative that we rethink the ap-
proaches. But tying a commodity, for example, corn, to the essen-
tial elements of education may work: teach addition and subtrac-
tion with tropism as the visual example, count corn kernels instead
of other things, teach social sciences and history while asking why
the Midwest became the Corn Belt or how certain cultures came to
depend on corn as the staple food. At another juncture, one can
teach students that everyone is dependent on the food system, that
153
OCR for page 154
AGRICULTURE AND THE UNDERGRADUATE
is, that the food system exists because it provides for the needs of
people by maintaining health and well-being. One can teach his-
tory in the context of wars that have been fought over agriculture
and the denials of food to people. One can teach students about
microorganisms related to food safety and that bread, cheese, and
pepperoni are fermented products.
Conclusion
We do not know whether any particular approach will work. How-
ever, education in and about agriculture from kindergarten through
grade 12 is worth rethinking. At the outset 1 noted that it is impor-
tant that people know that food, agriculture, and natural resources
affect them. In order to gain acceptance of the principle, we may
well need to put aside our parochial world views of agriculture, the
desire to create a populace that thinks about agriculture as we
want them to, and even the wish to rescue the traditional agricul-
tural majors in college by turning around their decreasing enroll-
ments. The growth of agricultural education in secondary schools,
the movement toward integrating agricultural examples into the es-
sential elements of education, and the enrollment of the diversity of
students in colleges of agriculture may depend on colleges of agri-
culture also viewing themselves in truly flexible and confident-
ways.
References
American College Testing Program. 1989. High School Student Percep-
tions of Agricultural College Majors and Careers. Oak Brook, 111.: Farm
Foundation.
National Research Council. 1988. Understanding Agriculture: New Direc-
tions for Education. Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press.
ElAPPORTEUR9S SUMMARY
Harry O. Kunkel began the discussion with an excellent overview
of the problem. He stressed two goals for integrating agriculture
into the precollege curriculum. People need to know about food,
agriculture, and natural resources; and colleges of agriculture are
dependent on the continued flow of precollege students into their
programs.
The discussion continued with a series of insights from many
participants about how these goals can be accomplished. AS a
high school teacher representative, I felt that colleges of agriculture
154
OCR for page 155
INTEGRATING AGRICULTURE 1~0 PRECOLLEGE EDUCATION
must reach out to precollege teachers in a "hands-on" way if they
really wished to have an impact. Mailings of information or even
activities are rarely used unless the teacher has been to a work-
shop where they have done the activity. I also encouraged col-
leges of agriculture to have the teachers help to design the activi-
ties. I cited the Woodrow Wilson summer institutes at Princeton
University as excellent models. They bring in secondary school
teachers from around the country and present them with enough
information so that they can design student investigations and dis-
seminate them in their home states. Teachers have excellent net-
works for passing on information by presenting workshops at local,
state, and national science teacher conventions. There were more
than lo,OOO science teachers at the most recent National Science
Teachers Association convention in Houston, Texas.
Richard Reid, from the Society of American Foresters, mentioned
two successful projects for teaching young students about natural
resources that also directly involve teachers. These are Project
Learning Tree and Project Wild. Project Learning Tree is for stu-
dents from kindergarten through grade 6, while Project Wild has
activities for students from kindergarten through grade 12.
Paul Williams, from the University of Wisconsin, encouraged the
participants to bring their exciting agricultural discoveries into precollege
classrooms. Williams has developed a strain of cabbages, Fast
Plants, that allows students to investigate a plants entire life cycle in
one semester. He has set up a team partnership with teachers that
encourages them to use these plants. These plants and activities
with them are presented at teachers' conventions around the country.
Williams stressed that it is imperative to get agriculture into the
curriculum of conscience majors at the college level, because these
people will be teaching the students in kindergarten through grade
6. Williams also encouraged colleges of agriculture to seek corpo-
rate support for teaching teachers. He has an ongoing project
funded by the Kellogg Company that teams a science teacher with
a vocational agriculture teacher for a 2-week immersion course on
campus.
Dwayne Suter, of Texas A&M University, also advised session
participants to seek corporate sponsorship. He mentioned the Con-
sortium of Math and Science Teachers in Texas, which is partially
funded by International Business Machines and other corporate sponsors.
Suter encouraged the groups quest for ways to inform teachers
about opportunities in agriculture by describing a study that showed
that high school teachers are one of the three most important fac-
tors in a students decision-making process regarding a career (par-
ents and a person in the field being the other two).
J. Leising, of the University of California, Davis, felt that a cohe-
sive framework of learning outcomes for each grade level would be
helpful.
155
OCR for page 156
AGRICULTURE AND THE UNDERGRADUATE
Recruitment of minority students is an important issue in this
drive to interest more students in agriculture. Marquita Jones, of
Indiana University of Pennsylvania, urged colleges of agriculture to
have this as a focus. Urban and inner-city youth must be reached
early. They need mentors at the precollege and college levels.
The next topic of discussion was the need for precollege teach-
ers to do science themselves. Science can be deadly as a specta-
tor activity. Paul Williams believes that there should be more teacher
internships. G. Carlson, of Western lllinois University, stated that
his institution has had many successful internships. He advised
giving some college credit for the experience so that the teacher
can work toward a higher degree.
The session continued with a number of helpful comments and
suggestions. M. Hoppe, of South Dakota State University, praised
an activity she had recently participated in the Expanding Hori-
zons Conference for Young Women. G. Sharma, of Alabama A&M
University, suggested that colleges of agriculture need to help vo-
cational agriculture teachers expand their horizons so that they can
better prepare students for agriculture in the twenty-first century. S.
Katie, of Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, asked
whether there was a clearinghouse for information about all the
excellent programs that were mentioned. Paul Williams suggested
joining the National Science Teachers Association and the National
Association of Biology Teachers. Their journals, The Science Teacher
and The American Biology Teacher, are good sources for informa-
tion about programs that are already available.
The groupts discussion then turned to career education. High
school students have a very limited knowledge of careers in gen-
eral and even less of careers in agriculture. Colleges of agriculture
need to get their message to these students. They can send speakers
to science classrooms; bring teachers, counselors, and students to
campus; or send materials with career information to biology teach-
ers. 1 stated my opinion that although teachers would not do activi-
ties without hands-on experience, teachers would distribute career
information. G. Carlson showed a brochure that Western Illinois
University has produced to recruit people to agriculture. I sug-
gested that brochures similar to this example should be given to
biology teachers at high schools that would be likely sources of
students for a particular university. A. Jones, of the University of
Nebraska, stated that his institution had success with inviting teach-
ers, counselors, and principals onto campus to visit the College of
Agriculture. D. Hersey, of the University of Maryland, suggested
that preservice courses for teachers should be an important target
for agricultural career information and for information on agriculture
in general.
B. Hooper, the director of the Association of American Veterinary
Medical Colleges, reminded the participants that high school is too
156
OCR for page 157
INTEGRATING AGRICULTURE INTO PRECOLLEGE EDUCATION
late for many students to hear about career opportunities. Many
students have already denied themselves entry into a career be-
cause of their reading and math skills. Career education must start
at a young age. Paul Williams suggested that agricultural science
would fit very well into the new math literacy programs for middle-
school students.
The session concluded with S. Maurice, of Clemson University,
suggesting that we reduce the use of the term agriculture because
of its negative image. I responded that many urban and suburban
precollege students have no image of agriculture. If these are the
areas from which colleges of agriculture hope to draw new stu-
dents, the colleges need to decide what agriculture is today and
bring that message to these students in a meaningful way.
157
Representative terms from entire chapter:
precollege education
