What Message Are You Sending?
Posted on: Sunday, 11 May 2008, 03:00 CDT
By Smith, Amy Day, Joshua
At this moment, a little girl somewhere in the United States watches her mom in the kitchen and tries to act just like her. Somewhere else, a little boy sits on the couch with his daddy and observes his reaction to the latest football score. The little boy imitates the same emotion expressed from the other end of the couch. When children look to their parents or other adults and say... "I want to be just like you when I grow up," often we feel flattered, smile and pat them on the head. However, what happens when these children grow a little older and say, "I want to be an ag teacher just like you when I grow up?" Do we still feel flattered, smile and give them a pat on the head? Or, do we quickly run down the laundry list of reasons why teaching agriculture is NOT the greatest job in the world? What message do we send our children, either our own or those who sit in our classes day after day, about our job? Without a doubt, many of our high school students probably spend more time with us than their own parents. Because of this, we have an incredible opportunity to be successful role models for them. Generally, we do a pretty darn good job of it... in my opinion. Why then is there an exception made for the way we portray our career choice? It's true; our job is demanding, at times thankless, and requires a tremendous investment of our personal time. However, it is also true that we chose this career - and most days, we wouldn't have it any other way! If that is the case, why do our actions seem to say, "Do as I say, not as I do?"
Think about that phrase with regard to Agricultural Education: "Do as I say, not as I do. " Is that really the message that we want to be sending to the students enrolled in our secondary agriculture courses? Often it seems that individuals involved in challenging, labor intensive careers such as agriculture encourage their children to pursue livelihoods in anything but agriculture. Many times, we also hear of teachers pushing their children to enter higher paying, more prestigious careers. If your own children, or the students in your classes, were to consider becoming agricultural educators...what would you say? More importantly, perhaps, what would your actions say?
As you know, there is an ever-increasing demand for highly qualified agricultural educators across the nation. With The Council's 10,000 X 2015 initiative, coupled with teacher shortages and teacher attrition rates, the recruitment of potential agriculture educators should be on all of our minds. Indeed, we have the potential to be the best spokespersons for the job. The question is: how are we doing? The answer is... only you can know that. However, there are some efforts we can all make I individually to ensure that the message we are sending (both through our words and actions) is the one we should be sending.
1. Be positive! Shine a light on what is right. All too often, we get wrapped up in the latest dilemma we are facing, whether it be the most recent note from a parent, or a new requirement (aka: hoop to jump through) implemented by a school administration or legislator. However... even when these negative, frustrating things are occupying our time and thoughts, there are countless positive things going on as well. Sometimes, we just fail to see them because of the way we are looking at things. Think about how this may affect those students considering a career in agricultural education. If all our students ever hear about are the long hours we put in and the thankless job we do, how likely are they to want to follow in our footsteps? On the other hand, if we make a conscious effort to share the highlights of the job with our students too, we'll give them a fairer, less biased view of the career.
2. Be realistic. Not everyone is cut out for the life of an agricultural educator. In fact, we would do greater inj ustice to the profession if we encourage all our students to pursue ag teaching as a career. The last thing we need in agricultural education are beginning teachers who are unprepared or have misconceptions about the career. We need to make every effort to be honest with ourselves and our students about the time demands and importance of the occupation. We need classrooms across the country filled with highly qualified, enthusiastic teachers who have a passion for educating others-not classrooms filled with teachers excited about the "summers off," the opportunity to coach, or the chance to re-live their stock I showing days. Watch for students who seem to have a knack for teaching others and leading by example, and let them know it! Those are the ones we want teaching future generations! Sometimes these students won't even realize their own potential. Push them, mentor them and give them opportunities to develop the qualities of an effective teacher.
3. Be active! Do not sit back and think that others will do this or that it is the responsibility of teacher education programs to recruit future agricultural educators. While this is true, in part, the best sales pitch for agricultural education will come from those of us in the front line. Don't hesitate to tell your story; students want to know how you arrived in the classroom and why you chose agricultural education. Few agricultural education majors in college wind up in the degree program by mistake. A large proportion of the students choose agricultural education because of their own experiences in ag education and FFA. Do you provide information about a career in agricultural education to your upperclassmen? Have you utilized any "Teach Ag Ed" information from National FFA? When you teach careers to young students, do you emphasize the great aspects of your job?
The future lies in your classroom. If you make a conscious effort to be a positive, realistic and active role model for your students, it is quite likely that more and more of them will explore agricultural education as a potential career. In fact, if each and every agricultural educator would simply nudge one student in the direction of agricultural education, I would bet our shortage would be over. With that in mind, what more can you do to promote the career to your students? What message will you choose to send?
Amy R. Smith is a doctoral candidate in Agricultural Education at the University of Missouri. Prior to entering graduate school, she taught high school agriculture in both Oklahoma and Iowa.
Joshua S. Day is an undergraduate student at Iowa State University majoring in Agricultural Education. He is a former student of Mrs. Smith.
Copyright National Council for Agricultural Education Mar/Apr 2008
(c) 2008 Agricultural Education Magazine, The. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.
Source: Agricultural Education Magazine, The
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