Impact Of Sustainable Agriculture On Secondary School Agricultural Education Teachers And Programs In The North Central Region

Abstract

Concerns about the negative impact conventional agriculture is having on the environment have propelled the call for farming practices that are not only economically sound but also environmentally protective and sociallyacceptable. A cadre of agricultural researchers, educators, and farmers believe that the agricultural systems advocated by sustainable agriculture have great potential for addressing these concerns. The purpose of this study was to determine the impact of sustainable agriculture on secondary school agricultural education teachers and programs in the North Central Region. Likert-type scales were used to measure teacher perceptions of sustainable agriculture and the extent to which sustainable agriculture was taught in the curriculum. The findings revealed that sustainable agriculture has had a limited impact on secondary school agricultural education teachers and programs. Responding teachers were neutral in their perceptions of sustainable agriculture. Sustainable agriculture was taught to a moderate degree in programs of the respondents. There was a lack of evidence that sustainable agriculture was being taught from a systems perspective. However, agronomic topics basic to the understanding of sustainable agriculture were included in the curriculum, providing a foundation for curriculum innovation related to sustainable agriculture.