|
Agriculture Education
Mission
"To be a premier learning system that delivers agricultural, environmental and leadership education
programs and services"
Career Pathways
End of Pathway Assessments (Technical Skills Assessments)
Career Technical Student Organizations
Georgia FFA
Georgia CTSO
Equipment Lists
Lab Layouts
Industry Certification Standards
Teacher Certification Requirements
Unit Plans – Georgia Standards.org
Middle School Agriculture Performance Standards
FAQs about Agricultural Education
What It's About
Agricultural Education is composed of three distinct, yet interrelated components. A basic component is
classroom and laboratory experiences. In the classroom, students learn concepts and theories dealing
with a broad spectrum of agricultural and agribusiness topics. The classroom is
followed by the laboratory mode of instruction where concepts and theories are carried
through to their application. Here, the students are taught “hands-on" skills that ensure that the skills
learned are practical and usable.
Both classroom and laboratory instruction are put to use in the Supervised Agricultural Experience
Program (SAE) component of the program. In this approach, students work and learn in a real-life situation
where they obtain on-the-job skills. SAEP can vary from the traditional home projects to entrepreneurship
or cooperative work experience in production or agribusiness.
The third component, the FFA organization, provides an avenue for developing leadership skills. As an integral,
intracurricular component of the agricultural education program, the FFA has numerous systems to deliver
instruction in leadership. In addition, FFA provides incentives for improved student performance through its
awards program. Teachers of agriculture have always stressed the problem solving and decision making approach
to teaching. Through this approach, students are better equipped to cope with changes that are constantly occurring,
not only in agricultural industry but also in life in general. The strength of the program lies in the flexibility
and dedication of teachers whose philosophy is, "We don't just teach agriculture, we teach students."
The optimal benefit of the program is received when a student is an active participant of all three parts of the
program. A program that is developed to include the three components with equal weighting is said to have
a "balanced approach" and therefore, is providing optimal opportunities for all students. The challenge is
developing the balance and maintaining it. However, the focus for all programs in relation to total school
improvement is to stay focused on a balanced program, develop strategies to be focused, and evaluate the
effectiveness of our balanced program.
|
|