From the College Classroom to the High School Classroom: Theory to Practice

The demands on agriculture teachers' time are ever increasing; however, teachers must take the time to embellish their learning strategies as well as their technical knowledge to survive in today's educational system. Four teachers from upstate South Carolina were interviewed for this article concerning learning theories and practice. Mr. Glenn Stevens, of Belton-- Honea Path High School, in Honea Path, SC has been teaching for 17 years with a program of 184 students. His program varies from livestock production to agricultural mechanics to wildlife management and he is also responsible for one greenhouse. Mr. David Nixon, of Crescent High School, Crescent, SC, has been teaching agriculture for four years. He is part of a two-teacher program with 116 students. The program is traditional with a focus on agricultural mechanics, livestock production, and forestry. Mr. Jason Wigington, of Travelers Rest High School, in Travelers Rest, SC, has ten years of experience and a program consisting of 118 students. His program is mainly focused on production and horticulture, with one greenhouse. Barry Burdette, of Golden Strip Career Center, in Greenville, SC, is in his eighteenth year of teaching, in a primarily horticultural program consisting of 38 students with one large greenhouse. Burdette's students are actively involved with a variety of landscaping projects. For this set of interviews, several educators throughout the state were asked to identify questions they felt were relevant to finding answers to learning theories and practices. After collecting all of the questions considered to be important by our panel, the information was merged into nine questions that were used in the interviews. Below is a listing of the questions with a brief summary of the responses: Do you read professional journals and magazines that contain research in agricultural education? All of the teachers responded that they do read some type of journal or magazine related to the classes they teach, although they are not able to read as much as they would like, due to time constraints. Each of the teachers indicated they spend much of their time preparing for classroom and laboratory activities. Do you feel the available research from professional journals and magazines is applicable to you as a classroom teacher? If not, why? The teachers indicated that a considerable portion of published research is not applicable to their classroom settings due to the fact that most of the classes have several different learning levels represented All of the teachers reported that their classes were composed of students ranging from those with special needs to the top students in the school. Therefore, it is very difficult to administer teaching methods that apply to all students at one time. Are the teaching methods that we demonstrate in collegiate teacher education programs applicable to today's classroom settings? Two of the teachers said that they still use what they learned about methods at the university level. The other two said that what they were taught in teaching methods is not being taught today. They believe new teachers are not prepared when they graduate from the university. What training did you receive from the university in regard to laboratory instruction? All four teachers felt that they needed to have more training in regard to laboratory instruction. …