AFTER years of providing instruction and preparing individuals for successful careers in agriculture, can we say the job is done?

Today, some individuals believe that little need exists for continued instruction in agriculture. They believe that teaching science and business skills will meet the food, fibre, and environmental challenges facing the world. In some respects, these individuals are correct.

In the years ahead, agricultural education will become more focused on the science of producing and processing plants and animals as well as maintaining a healthy environment. The business skills needed by successful producers and agribusiness companies will continue to become more complex and challenging. If agricultural education in Jamaica does not change to meet the needs of a rapidly changing world we can expect to see little demand for this subject in the schools of tomorrow.

Many in the profession understand that the real value of agricultural education is not necessarily the subject matter content, but the method of teaching that makes this educational programme and process meaningful and enjoyable for both students and teachers. Therefore, it is critical that agricultural educators continue to examine, refine, and improve our educational process as we navigate the 21st century.

High quality teachers are the key to a successful future

There are several ways to ensuring a successful future for agricultural education. First, we must attract and keep high quality teachers. Bright, young people entering the field of agricultural education will ensure it sustains itself in future years. Teachers need the support of strong State and sectoral leaders to help them keep abreast of changes in teaching technology and methodology along with technical knowledge in agriculture.

Another key to future success will be agricultural education’s ability to deliver instruction to diverse audiences in diverse settings. Our programmes must become global in scope and available to students of varied age levels and backgrounds. Distance delivery of instruction will become commonplace. Agricultural literacy will become a more important focus for agricultural educators, therefore we will need to determine the primary customer for our literacy efforts.

For example, we should consider placing more emphasis on primary school and high students as the chief audience for our agricultural literacy efforts. By providing high quality instructional materials and programmes for students, beginning with grades 4, agricultural educators can focus their efforts on a specific target population. To ensure successful integrated instruction occurs, high quality materials must be developed that can be used by teachers of all subject areas for presenting information about agriculture to their students.

Agricultural education must be responsive to the needs of an increasingly diverse customer base. A cadre of high quality teachers with diverse backgrounds is essential for agricultural education to successfully meet the multiplicity of challenges of the future.

Integration into community-based programmes

To ensure we meet the needs of the agricultural industry and a more diverse consumer population teachers must think globally but be empowered locally. To best meet the needs of students, our programmes must also become more “community-based”. Teachers can empower themselves locally by bringing a wide range of community stakeholders together to determine the type of agricultural education programme the community needs and wants for their students. Together the community and teacher decide what should be taught. This ensures community and school support for the agricultural education programme and allows the teacher to focus on how to teach using such materials developed and approved by the Ministry of Education and Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries. Students interested in pursuing agricultural careers must have access to instruction and materials about the global agricultural industry that continues to evolve. Teachers must stay abreast of agriculture worldwide and show how world issues relate to the students’ home community, parish and country.

Managing Change Successfully

Finally, we must look for new ideas and new ways of delivering our materials and programmes. The rapid advances in knowledge and technology dictate that we must prepare students to deal with change. Change occurs at an accelerating pace and our students will find it increasingly challenging to stay abreast of current information and technology. We must develop processes to help them deal with these challenges and help them feel comfortable working in a rapidly changing environment.

Competition and cooperation will both be very important in the future, and students will need to know when to focus their energies in collaboration with others and when to rely on their competitive edge to take advantage of their opportunities.

Create a new vision for Agricultural Education

The national vision statement developed through the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries envisions an advancement of the development of a modern, efficient and internationally competitive agricultural sector, and the sustainable management of our fishery resources, in order to promote food security and food safety, in an effort to contribute to the development and well-being of our people: www.moa.gov.jm/mailchk_1.php. For this vision to become reality, we must re-examine and refocus our efforts related to career preparation and agricultural literacy. Opportunities abound in the years ahead, and if we recruit bright, young people into the profession, and provide a support system to help them become successful educators, then agricultural education will become more important and beneficial than ever to the country during this and the next millennium.

Jeanette Hylton is an educator, graduate of the College of Agriculture, Science and Education, and communications chairperson for Generation 2000 (G2K). Send comments to: gjhylton@hotmail.com