Agricultural Education, School and Society

Lesson 6:	Components of Agricultural Education
Introduction:	"Look, here comes the FFA teacher!" Many a parent has stated those words when the agricultural education teacher has arrived for a visit. While technically not correct, this response shows the interelated nature of agricultural education and the FFA. The FFA is an integral part of the agricultural education program. Not all youth organizations in career and technical education claim to be intracurricular (an integral part of the curriculum). The FFA makes this claim and has federal law and policy to substantiate this claim. In this lesson we learn a little about the FFA and why it is important to students and agricultural education. Students in the LEAP program will complete an entire course, AEE 503, that focuses on the FFA. One of the hallmarks of agricultural education has been the "hands-on" approach to learning. This occurs both in the school and outside of school. It occurs in schools in the agricultural classrooom, greenhouse, and other types of laboratories. It occurs outside of school in what is know as "Supervised Agricultural Experience" (SAE). In this lesson we'll get an introduction to SAE. There is another course in the LEAP program, AEE 522 Occupational Experience in Agriculture, that focuses entirely on conducting the SAE component of agricultural education. As a high school agriculture teacher, you will be responsible for teaching about and helping students with SAE activities.
Learning Objectives:	Upon completion of this unit the learner should be able to: Describe the importance of the FFA in youth leadership. Identify benefits of student involvement in the FFA. Identify SAE programs as part of experiential learning in Ag Ed. Describe benefits of SAE programs Describe factors that contribute to the effectiveness of a teacher.
Instructional Activities:	Take the pretest on FFA and SAE! FFA: Read Larry Case's and Kathryn Whitaker's article from The Agricultural Education Magazine (December, 1998) titled "The FFA: Why Do We Have It" Teaching and Learning Through the FFA is the title of the Sept.-Oct. 2001 article in The Agricultural Education Magazine. Read Lowell Hedges Sept.-Oct 2001 article in The Agricultural Education Magazine, "Is FFA the Teachable Moment?" Back in 1984, during a plethora of education reform reports, a commentary titled "Vocational Agriculture: A Model for Educational Reform" appeared in Education Week. What was it about Agricultural Education that made it the model for educational reform? (To see the article you will need to register, but it is free.) What is the FFA? The National FFA Organization internet presence is a comprehensive guide to what the organization has to offer. Spend a little time browsing the FFA web site. Be sure to click on About FFA (Foundation -> General Links) and then click on Organization to learn more about the FFA. How can we tell if student members of the FFA are really developing “premier leadership, personal growth, and career success”? Check out the information about the Purdue/Horatio Alger Study on the National FFA web site. Does your state have an FFA site? Go to the National FFA Organization to find out. The North Carolina FFA web site can be reached at http://www.ncffa.org. The FFA is not the only student organization in Career and Technical Education. View the PowerPoint presentation, Youth Organizations, or click here to download the presentation to your computer. You can then open it in PowerPoint and view or print it. You will learn about the other student organizations and how students benefit from being in the youth organization. SAE: Even though the story "A Teaching Experience" described teaching in a rural school in 1886-87, the moral of the story is just as important today as it was then. See if you can figure out the moral and why this is important for agricultural educators today. Read "Back to the Basics in Teaching Agriculture--The Project Plan." Don't laugh too much at the picture but I was once younger. This article appeared in The Agricultural Education Magazine in April of 1979. Let's fast forward 20 years and see if "The Basic" from the previous article is ready for the 21st Century. Read "An Approach to Experiential Learning: A Model that Merits Consideration for the 21st Century." from The Agricultural Education Magazine. Read "Is SAE Meeting the Needs of Today's Students?" from The Agricultural Education Magazine. View a slide presentation about SAE.Download the presentation as a PowerPoint file. To learn more about SAE (and find some lesson plans on how to teach SAE) visit SAE Central.
Lagniappe:	While teaching about SAE, you may need some stock photographs to use. http://www.farmphoto.com/ is a place where one can find agricultural photos.
Assignment:	After completing this lesson, send an e-mail to other members of the class (and the instructor) and tell about your experience in the FFA, 4-H or another youth organization and how you benefited from this experience. If you had an SAE in high school or a 4-H project describe it and tell what you learned. Your paper on shadowing an agriculture teacher is due. If you haven't done that yet, you don't have any time to waste.

Take the pretest on FFA and SAE!

FFA:

Read Larry Case's and Kathryn Whitaker's article from The Agricultural Education Magazine (December, 1998) titled "The FFA: Why Do We Have It"

Teaching and Learning Through the FFA is the title of the Sept.-Oct. 2001 article in The Agricultural Education Magazine.

Read Lowell Hedges Sept.-Oct 2001 article in The Agricultural Education Magazine, "Is FFA the Teachable Moment?"

Back in 1984, during a plethora of education reform reports, a commentary titled "Vocational Agriculture: A Model for Educational Reform" appeared in Education Week. What was it about Agricultural Education that made it the model for educational reform? (To see the article you will need to register, but it is free.)

What is the FFA? The National FFA Organization internet presence is a comprehensive guide to what the organization has to offer. Spend a little time browsing the FFA web site. Be sure to click on About FFA (Foundation -> General Links) and then click on Organization to learn more about the FFA.

How can we tell if student members of the FFA are really developing “premier leadership, personal growth, and career success”? Check out the information about the Purdue/Horatio Alger Study on the National FFA web site.

Does your state have an FFA site? Go to the National FFA Organization to find out. The North Carolina FFA web site can be reached at http://www.ncffa.org.

The FFA is not the only student organization in Career and Technical Education. View the PowerPoint presentation, Youth Organizations, or click here to download the presentation to your computer. You can then open it in PowerPoint and view or print it. You will learn about the other student organizations and how students benefit from being in the youth organization.

SAE:

Even though the story "A Teaching Experience" described teaching in a rural school in 1886-87, the moral of the story is just as important today as it was then. See if you can figure out the moral and why this is important for agricultural educators today.

Read "Back to the Basics in Teaching Agriculture--The Project Plan." Don't laugh too much at the picture but I was once younger. This article appeared in The Agricultural Education Magazine in April of 1979.

Let's fast forward 20 years and see if "The Basic" from the previous article is ready for the 21st Century. Read "An Approach to Experiential Learning: A Model that Merits Consideration for the 21st Century." from The Agricultural Education Magazine.

Read "Is SAE Meeting the Needs of Today's Students?" from The Agricultural Education Magazine.

View a slide presentation about SAE.Download the presentation as a PowerPoint file.

To learn more about SAE (and find some lesson plans on how to teach SAE) visit SAE Central.