Class

Article

College

College of Agriculture and Applied Sciences

Faculty Mentor

Tyson Sorensen

Presentation Type

Oral Presentation

Abstract

The school-based agricultural education (SBAE) profession has been suffering with a shortage of qualified agriculture teachers for more than 40 years (Smith, Lawver, & Foster, 2016; Kantrovich, 2010). Each year, agriculture programs across the country are unable to find enough qualified agriculture teachers to meet the demand, and some agriculture programs have shut down as a result. This shortage has led to the inability for programs to grow and expand, which means less opportunities for students preparing for careers in agriculture and STEM related fields. For years the main method of recruiting agricultural teachers has been through focusing on students enrolled in SBAE programs. However, there are some who make their way into the agricultural education profession who themselves never enrolled in agricultural courses or participated in the FFA in their high school years (henceforth referred to as non-SBAE students). Despite this, there is a dearth of literature exploring this segment of the population in terms of a viable recruitment option. Little is known about the motivations, opportunities, and factors that influence non-SBAE students to pursue a career in agricultural education. The goals of this phenomenological study are to address recruitment by 1) exploring the factors influencing non-SBAE pre-service teachers to pursue a career in agricultural education; and 2) examine the unique challenges that non-SBAE pre-service teachers face as they pursue a career in agricultural education. This qualitative study will use a phenomenological research design in order to identify the factors that influence the choices of non-SBAE pre-service teachers in seeking a career in agricultural education.

Location

Room 154

Start Date

4-12-2018 1:30 PM

End Date

4-12-2018 2:45 PM

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Apr 12th, 1:30 PM Apr 12th, 2:45 PM

Examining Another Source of Recruitment for Agriculture Education Teachers

Room 154

The school-based agricultural education (SBAE) profession has been suffering with a shortage of qualified agriculture teachers for more than 40 years (Smith, Lawver, & Foster, 2016; Kantrovich, 2010). Each year, agriculture programs across the country are unable to find enough qualified agriculture teachers to meet the demand, and some agriculture programs have shut down as a result. This shortage has led to the inability for programs to grow and expand, which means less opportunities for students preparing for careers in agriculture and STEM related fields. For years the main method of recruiting agricultural teachers has been through focusing on students enrolled in SBAE programs. However, there are some who make their way into the agricultural education profession who themselves never enrolled in agricultural courses or participated in the FFA in their high school years (henceforth referred to as non-SBAE students). Despite this, there is a dearth of literature exploring this segment of the population in terms of a viable recruitment option. Little is known about the motivations, opportunities, and factors that influence non-SBAE students to pursue a career in agricultural education. The goals of this phenomenological study are to address recruitment by 1) exploring the factors influencing non-SBAE pre-service teachers to pursue a career in agricultural education; and 2) examine the unique challenges that non-SBAE pre-service teachers face as they pursue a career in agricultural education. This qualitative study will use a phenomenological research design in order to identify the factors that influence the choices of non-SBAE pre-service teachers in seeking a career in agricultural education.