Exploring Pre-service Teachers’ Training Needs Related to Technical Agriculture, Teaching and Classroom Management

Abstract

Agricultural education teacher preparation programs constantly attempt to keep pace with 21^st Century agriculture and provide relevant pedagogical and content training for pre-service teachers. The National Research Council urged land-grant universities to focus on the needs and demands of students. This study aimed to identify [University] pre-service teachers’ training needs related to the General Program Standards for Agricultural Education.  The General Program Standards for Agricultural Education, developed by the [State] Governor’s Council on Agricultural Education, served as a guide for assessing the areas of pre-service teachers’ training needs. The survey instrument was comprised of 37 items; 29 items served to assess the training needs of the pre-service teachers, seven multiple choice and short-answer items sought to determine the demographic (i.e., age, academic classification, and biological sex) and background characteristics (i.e., engagement in secondary-based agricultural education, Curriculum for Agricultural Science Education (CASE) certifications, enrollment in CASE-based secondary courses, interest in teaching various content areas) of the pre-service teachers.