Curricular Resource Use and the Relationship with Teacher Self-Efficacy Among New Mexico School-Based Agricultural Education Teachers

Abstract

School-based agricultural education programs have the potential to prepare students for successful lives and enhance career skills related to agriculture. For students to achieve instructional goals, they must have relevant materials. The teacher’s thoughts on how a subject should be taught influences their choice of curriculum resources, as well as their use of the resources. These choices ultimately have an influence on student learning. The purpose of this study was to determine the resources used by New Mexico SBAE teachers, examine the PDC of New Mexico SBAE teachers, and examine the relationship between resource use and self-efficacy for New Mexico SBAE teachers. The most frequently used resource was CAERT curriculum. CASE curriculum was determined to have both the highest level of offloading and adaptation. CAERT curriculum was reported to have the highest level of improvisation by teachers. Based on these findings, we recommend that the structure and organization of CAERT should be improved. Research should also be explored on how to develop materials that lead to adapting and improvising from teachers. Professional development and preservice programs should prepare teachers to enhance their pedagogical design capacity by finding various resources, critically analyzing their use, and modifying them to meet the goals of their students.