Being A Teacher -- Roles and Responsibilities of Agriculture Teachers

What are the roles and responsibilities of agriculture teachers?  It is a given that a teacher of agriculture teaches classes. It takes a good bit of time to prepare for and teach classes. And like all teachers, agriculture teachers also do bus duty, take tickets at ball games, monitor the cafeteria, etc. However, the job of the agriculture teacher is unique in that are also expectations related to advising the FFA and supervising student SAE programs. In this lesson we will focus on the roles and responsibilities that are somewhat unique to agriculture teachers.

1. Describe the role of the teacher

2. Discuss the rewards and frustrations of being a teacher

3. Identify the benefits of being a teacher

4. Determine the qualities one should possess in order to be an FFA advisor.

5. Explain the importance of the FFA Advisor in preparation for Career Development Events.

6. Identify means of recruitment for an FFA chapter.

7. Explain the impact of the advisor on Supervised Agricultural Experience projects.

1. The San Francisco Chronicle also reports on three novice teachers in "Rookie teachers Three weigh their huge frustrations against small successes"

2. Who Should Teach? is a special report in Education Week. Read the Executive Summary and spend some time on this site exploring the various issues involved with the question of who should teach.

3. The fact that you are teaching makes you a very special person.  Will you continue in this profession?  A revealing article from Education Week entitled "Will the Best and the Brightest Teach?" outlines some of the problems with getting, and keeping, teachers. 

4. The National FFA is concerned about the agriculture teacher shortage and has even developed a Teach Agriculture web site to provide more information about teaching agriculture. Spend some time exploring this site (it will not take long).

5. One responsible of an agriculture teacher is to be the FFA advisor,  Click on the links below to find some of the duties expected of the FFA advisor. 

Handbook on Agricultural Education

Official FFA Manual

Handbook for Advisors of Vocational Student Organizations

6. Read Dr. Jacquelyn Deeds' article from The Agricultural Education Magazine entitled "Responsibilities Associated with Advising"

7. With all the duties of the advisor you'll probably find that managing your time is difficult.  Read "Managing Your Time to Effectively Advise the FFA" by Dr. Richard I. Carter (The Agricultural Education Magazine. Aug 1992. v. 65 (2) p. 11, 15, 18.).

8. Good advisors never go out of date.  Read this article by James Clouse from the May 1985 issue of the Agricultural Education Magazine entitled "The Agricultural Teacher: The Key in Program Improvement"

9.One duty of the FFA Advisor is to prepare students for Career Development Events. Read Dr. Osborne's article from The Agricultural Education Magazine "Keeping Contests in Perspective"

10. The November 1994 issue of the Agricultural Education Magazine focuses on being a better teacher and FFA Advisor.  Read Dr. Kirby's article "Using FFA Research to Improve Teaching and Learning" from this issue.

11. The Smith-Hughes Act (1917) mandated that agricultural education students have Supervised Agricultural Experience (SAE) programs. Just what are the benefits of SAE programs? A research based article "Benefits of Supervised Agricultural Experience Programs: A Synthesis of Research" by Dyer and Williams in the Journal of Agricultural Education (Vol. 38, No. 4, 1997) provides some answers. (You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader to read this document. If you don't have Adobe Acrobat Reader on your computer it can be downloaded for free from www.adobe.com)
1. Identify one teacher from your school days who had a major impact on your life. Describe the impact this individual had on your life.

2. Go to http://www.quotegarden.com/teachers.html or http://www.ntlf.com/html/lib/quotes.htm and find a quote that you like about teaching or teachers. Then include that quote at the end of your e-mail message and tell rest of the class why you like it. 
1. Phipps, L. J. & Osborne, E. W. (1988). Handbook on Agricultural Education. (5th Edition). Danville, IL: The Interstate Printers and Publishers, Inc. 

2. National FFA Organization. (2005). Official FFA Manual. Author.

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