in Agricultural Education
Another hallmark of agricultural education is its "hands-on" approach to learning. This occurs both in the physical confines of the classroom and also what is done outside of the school. Inside the school it occurs in the agricultural classroom, greenhouse, and other types of laboratories. It occurs outside of school in what is know as Supervised Agricultural Experience Programs, or SAE.
In this lesson we will introduce ourselves to the importance of FFA and SAE to the instructional program. As a high school agriculture teacher, you will be responsible for teaching about and helping students with FFA and SAE activities.
2. Identify benefits of student involvement in the FFA.
3. Identify SAE programs as part of experiential learning in Ag Ed.
4. Describe benefits of SAE programs.
5. Describe factors that contribute to the effectiveness of a teacher.
FFA
1. Read Larry Case's and Kathryn Whitaker's article from The Agricultural Education Magazine (December, 1998) titled "The FFA: Why Do We Have It"
2. Teaching and Learning Through the FFA is the title of the Sept.-Oct. 2001 article in The Agricultural Education Magazine.
3. Read Lowell Hedges Sept.-Oct 2001 article in The Agricultural Education Magazine, "Is FFA the Teachable Moment?"
4. 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? (in preparing this article for the Internet it got jumbled a little but you should be able to figure it out)
5. 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 and sure to click on About FFA and then click on Organization to learn more about the FFA.
6. How can we tell if student members of the FFA are really developing “premier leadership, personal growth, and career success”? Check out the PowerPoint slide presentation about the Purdue/Horatio Alger Study on the National FFA web site. (You will need PowerPoint to download this file and view it.) If you don't have PowerPoint, you can read the news release (Acrobat Reader needed).
7. Want to compare state FFA sites? Visit the FFA Chapter link to see your state web site.
8. The FFA is not the only student organization in Career and Technical Education. View the PowerPoint presentation, Youth Organizations, or download the presentation to your computer by clicking here. 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
1. 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.
2. Read "Back to the Basics in Teaching Agriculture--The Project Plan." This article appeared in The Agricultural Education Magazine in April of 1979.
3. 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.
4. Read "Is SAE Meeting the Needs of Today's Students?" from The Agricultural Education Magazine.
5. To learn more about SAE (and find some lesson plans on how to teach SAE) visit SAE Central.
