Agriculture is a very large part of today’s world; it touches every human being in some sort of way. There are approximately twenty two million agricultural jobs, and there are training requirements for all of them. This is when agriculture education comes in to play. What effect has agriculture education had on agriculture, and our schools? In the early 19th century, a number of groups in the United States began to support the idea of new vocational education programs in schools.
This then reflects the widespread belief in morals, education, and practical use of work. “Many people that support vocational education, including businessmen and the labor unions, noticed that this was a solution that would solve problems with finding skilled-labor shortages and the unemployment in a fast-growing industry lead society”(Steffes 2014). Businesses were hoping it would possibly lower the power of the labor unions over the training that the jobs required for one to be an industrial worker; however, these workers saw it as an opportunity for individual advancement in the job or career that they are trying to pursue.
According to the Smith-Hughes Act of 1917, “Philanthropists and moral reformers regarded vocational training as an opportunity to inculcate the moral value of work, which they feared was being eroded by modern society” . Many teachers and educators saw this as an opportunity to practice new ways of teaching “that emphasized cultivating children’s’ interests through”hands-on learning (U.S. Cong. Smith-Hughes Act, 1917).Later in the twentieth century, individuals who supported further training started to help more in these precise projects that would underscore its monetary advance and utilitarian esteems all the more mightily.
For example, business groups began to argue that the American economic progress and global competitiveness caused a demand on public funding of trade instruction. In 1905, the Massachusetts State Legislature appointed the Massachusetts Commission on Industrial and Technical Education; this was also known as the Douglas Commission. In the final report it was recommended that they expand their technical and industrial training. But it did not address the question whether such education should take place in the existing public schools or if they were to create new vocational schools.
As this went on for about a decade, Massachusetts and many other states and larger cities would create their own vocational trade and technical schools and programs (U.S. Cong. Smith-Hughes Act, 1917).February 28th, 1917 the Smith-Hughes Act was signed, and adopted by the United States Congress. This provided federal aid to the states that promoted pre-collegiate vocational education in agricultural and industrial trades and in home economics. The law did help expand vocational courses and enrollment, but it generally did not live up to the loftry aspirations of its supporters.
Historians have pointed out its unintended effects in differentiating the secondary-education curriculum in ways that often reinforced existing class- and race-based inequalities (Staffes 2014).This all began with the findings of the Douglas Commission, a diverse group of reformers who embraced these findings. This group of reformers promoted vocational education at the local, state, and national levels (Encyclopedia Britannica, 2018). In 1906 they formed the national society for the Promotion of Industrial Education (NSPIE) to lobby on behalf of vocational education and to coordinate the efforts of supporting groups, this is including the American Federation of Labor, the National Association of Manufactures, the National Education Association and social welfare reformers (U.S. Cong.
Smith-Hughes Act, 1917).. Roughly eight years after the fact, the congressionally selected commission on National Aid to Vocational Education pronounced that national agriculture instruction was a dire need. It argued that vocational training would vitalize general education and democratize schooling by adapting to the real needs of children. It would promote industrial efficiency and national prosperity and decrease labour and social unrest.
Federal grants are recommended for the states to promote vocational education, with particular focus on training of vocational teachers. There are two commission members that introduced this idea to legislation, they were Sen. Hoke Smith and Rep. D.M. Hughes, both of Georgia. It was passed by congress ( with a few modifications) in 1917 as the National Vocational Education Act, also known as the Smith-Hughes Act (Steffes 2014).
The Smith-Hughes Act created the Federal Board of Vocational Education to oversee the distribution of funds and approved state plans. ” The act required every participating state to designate or create a state level body that would act as a liaison between federal board and the local districts; it thereby augmented the power and state governments at a time when they were beginning to expand their oversight of local schools in new ways”(Steffes 2014). The Advocacy had centered much of their attention on industrial education, it had also included agriculture and home economics within its definition of vocational subjects (Steffes 2014).”What is agriculture education? Agriculture education teaches the students about agriculture, food and natural resources. Through these subjects, agriculture educators teach students a wide variety of skills, including science, math, communications, leadership, management and technology” (“What is Agricultural Education?”). There are three ways that agriculture education is delivered through the classroom: classroom or laboratory instruction, experiential learning, and leadership education. A lot of the leadership aspect is taught through Future Farmers of America (FFA).
FFA is an intracurricular student organization for those interested in agriculture and leadership. It is one if the three components of agriculture education. Many high school agriculture programs use FFA to enhance the leadership and experiential learning portions of their programs. (“What Is Agricultural Education?”).Each Rural Instruction program or agriculture education program in the United States is one of a kind in its own specific manner. Courses range from Farming Business to Agrarian Economics, Creature Science, Cultivation, Agrarian Mechanics, Bioengineering, Gardening, Characteristic Assets and Environment Frameworks, Authority Improvement, and numerous others. Every pathway endeavors to progress agrarian innovation and manageability to enhance the world in which we live.
Despite an student’s advantage, Agriculture education enable understudies to comprehend the significance of what they are realizing in real, important ways. Besides, Rural Training sparks new understudy interests, opening the entryway for understudies to find potential future professions(“What Is Agricultural Education?”). The bigger number of students taking an interest in AFNR programs today is generally the result of dramatic changes in the type of courses being offered in high schools as a component of an AFNR program. The AFNR programming at Minnesota high schools concentrates on the accompanying expansive point zones:plant sciences, animal systems, agri-business systems, food processing systems, power and technical systems, natural resources and environmental systems. In past circumstances, AFNR programs were primarily profession and technical training programs for agriculture.
However, in the previous decade or so, with more focus on fundamental scholastics and high-stakes student testing, AFNR programs have expected to concentrate more on science and financial aspects to be a suitable portion of scholarly necessities (Thiesse 2013).Agriculture is a huge-spectrum industry with a variety of career and job opportunities. only a small percentage of those individuals working in agricultural industry are involved in production agriculture. The rest work in agribusiness, communications, science, government, education, processing and distribution, marketing and sales, as well as other occupations that serve the farmer or the full agricultural industry.(“High School Ag Ed Is”)Primarily based upon the above information, instructional programs were clustered to deliver instruction that will provide students with a wide range of opportunities for entry-level employment or further training. New and emerging occupations in biotechnology, microtechnology, electronic and satellite technology in agricultural mechanics, and integrated monetary management will necessitate a sound foundation in agriculture on the secondary level.
As these new occupational regions and others develop and labor needs are demonstrated, additional program and course descriptions could be developed. A regional delivery system should offer training for occupations as determined by employment opportunities and the desires of the students.(“High School Ag Ed Is”)”According to the National Association of Agricultural Educations, there are about 8,200 high school and middle school agricultural education programs all through the United States and Puerto Rico. In addition to those schools supplying agricultural science classes and extra-curricular programs, agricultural schools across America supply an interesting case study on teaching transferable life skills through agricultural curriculums”(McWhirter 2015).The USDA estimates that so much the yearly number of employment openings requiring a college degree including expertise in agriculture, food systems, renewable power and environment will increase by 5% from 2010-2015, as compared to 2005-2010. USDA projects that over 54,000 university graduates will be needed every year to forgather this job demand from 2010-2015, including 74% of these jobs being business- and science-type occupations. USDA estimates that only about 49,000 qualified university graduates will be accessible every 12 months to meet that increasing employment demand, including about 29,000 of those graduates coming from AFNR programs and the balance from other university majors. Some of the largest food and agricultural corporations in the world are based totally out of Minnesota, and have many career opportunities accessible to college graduates.
Of course, there are also many employment possibilities available in regional facilities and local communities all through Minnesota that would prefer some AFNR training and coursework for accessible positions. (Thiesse 2013).The cause of agricultural education is to prepare people for work. The Smith-Hughes Act, the founding legislation for our field clearly stated in regards to vocational agriculture, “the controlling purpose of such schooling shall be to fit for beneficial employment.” Moreover, that is the primary purpose identified in the national mission statement for agricultural education, “Agricultural education prepares students for successful careers and a lifetime of informed choices within the global agriculture, food, fiber, and natural resources systems” (The Council, 2004). So it is very plain that the purpose of agricultural schooling is to prepare people for work (moore 2004).
The purpose of agricultural training is to reinforce academic capabilities and prepare students for higher schooling. In the opening section of the President’s plan for the reauthorization of the Perkins legislation, one finds the statement, “…
each U.S. student needs to complete high school with a high level of academic skills and be prepared to take advantage of education and education beyond excessive college.” (america department of schooling, 2004) in reality the management believes the motive of secondary vocational schooling is to help train academic skills and get students ready for post-secondary education where they can examine work skills (Moore 2004).The purpose of agricultural education is to serve special needs students.
The Carl Perkins Act of 1984 called for 57% of the state allocations for vocational education to be spent on special populations. Vocational training was especially directed to work with the deprived, handicapped, adults who want retraining, single parents, displaced homemakers, and the incarcerated. This legislation coupled with the idea Act (individuals with Disabilities schooling Act) of 1975, which brought about mainstreaming has shifted the point of interest of vocational schooling to serving unique populations (moore 2004).Agriculture education impacted the whole world, me especially. I used all of the skills i was thought in my agriculture classes and applied them to my project. This is a wide range of skills from running power tools.
I really enjoyed helping out my community rebuilding the little league fields above the elementary school. I don’t think i could have asked for a better project.