Describing Volunteer Involvement in School-Based Agricultural Education Programs

Abstract

The purpose of this descriptive study was to assess volunteer involvement in school-based agricultural education (SBAE) programs. An electronic survey (based on Seevers and Rosencrans,2001) was sent to a census of SBAE instructors in three states. Attitudes of involving volunteers was positive although there were some roles SBAE participants’ believed that volunteers should not assume. Primary roles that volunteers assumed include advisory committees, fundraising and assisting with FFA activities. However, activities with the highest number of hours contributed were classroom instruction, FFA activities and chaperoning. Most instructors agreed that while volunteers provided a benefit to their programs it was easier to spend their time and efforts on the task than to train a volunteer. Instructors do believe that volunteers provide a positive service to SBAE programs but are not comfortable in the roles of training and supervising them, indicating an opportunity for pre-service and in-service support.