ABSTRACT
Observation has shown
that as laudable as the objectives of agricultural and vocational education in
Nigeria are, it may be impossible to achieve them due to poor delivery process
of the programme and inappropriate method of evaluating the performance of students
in vocational agriculture at the senior secondary school (Ikeoji, 1997a, 1998).
Martin and Odubiya (1991) reported that the primary role of vocational
agriculture teachers has always been to help students to learn knowledge and
skills in agriculture.
Several researches
have shown that many teachers of agriculture at the secondary school leave the
profession early in their life (Myers, Dyer and Washburn, 2005; Heat- Camp and
Camp, 1990,1994). Myers et al 2005; Camp, Broyles and Skelton, 2002; Mundt and
Connors, 1999; and Veenman, (1984) have conducted studies on the problems of
beginning teachers of agriculture. These problems of beginning teachers include
classroom management and student discipline, balancing work and personal life.
INTRODUCTION
Agricultural science is a broad multidisciplinary field that encompasses the
parts of exact, natural, economic and social sciences that are used in the
practice and understanding of agriculture. (Veterinary science, but not animal science, is often excluded
from the definition.)
Agricultural education is instruction about crop production, livestock management, soil and water conservation, and various other
aspects of agriculture.
Agricultural education includes instruction in food education, such as nutrition. Agricultural and food education improves the quality of
life for all people by helping farmers increase production, conserve resources, and provide nutritious foods.
There
are four major fields of agricultural education:
- Elementary agriculture education
- Secondary agricultural education
- College agricultural education
- General education in agriculture
Elementary
agriculture is taught in public schools and private schools, and deals with such subjects as how plants and animals
grow and how soil is farmed and conserved.
Vocational
agricultural trains people for jobs in such areas as production, marketing, and conservation.
College
agriculture involves training of people to teach, conduct research, or provide information to advance the field of agriculture
and food science in
other ways.
General
education agriculture informs the public about food and agriculture.
METHODOLOGY FOR
EFFECTIVE TEACHING OF AGRICULTURAL SCIENCE IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN NIGERIA
METHODOLOGY A
THE PRACTICAL APPROACH
1. Plant Production
Orally
and in writing, reading
-
plant a mystery seed and observe its growth
-
describe mystery plant, make predictions as to what it is
-
harvest mystery plant or plants (depends on availability of school garden or
school farm)
-
describe agricultural plants/seeds/crops
-
describe the environment
-
describe end uses/plant industries
-
discover botanical nomenclature and discover how internationally useful it is
for scientific communication!
2. Animal Production
Orally
and in writing, reading
-
describe farm animals
-
describe their physiology (not too much detail)
-
describe end uses/animal industries
-
discover zoological nomenclature and discover how internationally useful it is
for scientific communication
3. Agricultural technology
Mainly
oral
-
Describe machinery
-
Describe details of machinery
-
Sell and auction machinery
Example:
A
big multilingual (English, French, German, Italian) poster for a large tractor
can be used, and multilingual leaflets are available from every internationally
represented manufacturer of agricultural machines. Multilingual manuals and
spare parts catalogues of such machines can also be used.
Students
are to describe in simple terms the tractor in German, eg. there is the engine,
this is the fuel injection system etc. This will be an exercise in free speech
and will rehearse pronunciation. A little presentation by one or more students
supported by pictures and descriptions on the poster will be ideal for
students, who are not overly confident in sentence making and need picture
prompts to keep them going. Agro-technical journals as a relevant original source
can support the activity.
Technical
terms can be easily understood after short exposure, because many are quite
similar. Students of all grades can create computer generated work sheets for
themselves or for their peers, by using written and illustrated material, or
they use a scanner, or maybe a digital camera to take pictures of their own
machinery at home or on friends’ farms.
A farm machinery auction in the target
language gives the commercial edge and emphasizes the relevance of numeracy.
METHODOLOGY B
THE CURRICULUM FOCUS
1. Examples of contexts and learning activities
Investigate
the living things from which foods originate and place things in a food chain
Investigate
agricultural plants, animals and technology
Investigate
in particular Australian foods, introduced and indigenous (bush tucker)
Investigate
prices, analyze markets, debate value of merchandise
Design
and carry out agricultural trials involving photosynthesis, animal metabolism,
technological problem solving.
Debate
the impact of variables, regular observation, data registration.
Learn
to predict, make educated guesses and draw conclusions, record and substantiate
findings
Selected
vocabulary and information about major Australian crops.
Discover
relationships within ecosystems and market systems
Learn
to categorize
Learn
vocabulary relevant to everyday life as well as Agriculture
Basic
numeracy in both languages
Demonstrate
comprehension of main ideas and concepts
Interact
orally, by asking questions and giving the appropriate answer
React
to answer and/or investigate further
Convey
in writing a message relevant to the topic
Understand
through reading more about the topic
Assess
resource material and material produced by fellow students
2. Skills processes and procedures
Students
should be given audience to pose questions, answer questions, make predictions,
carry out simple investigations, produce work through the reading of texts as
well as making a record of practical work. Students can group, categorize and
assess scientific and non-scientific information.
Students
should be made to work in groups, where they practice oral, aural, reading and
writing skills at all times.
3.Learning outcomes
Plant
and animal growth
Oral
interaction about cropping and animal production in Australia.
Oral
interaction about technology in agriculture.
Aural
interaction by reacting to the auctioneer, to his/her sales pitch and number
recitals
Written
interaction by producing posters and project work
Revision
of vocabulary
Grammar
introduction and revision, e.g. aspects of tenses, verb conjugation, noun
declination and idiomatic phrases.
Linguistic
studies by comparing expressions in the first language and the target language.
Sociocultural
knowledge, what does one eat, see and appreciate in the target country
4. Assessment
Assess
analytical and observational skills from posters, and project work and judge
oral presentations of project work
Assess
team working skills
Assess
writing and drawing skills by judging a student generated promotional poster
for Australian plant products.
Assess
writing competency by judging a student generated promotional poster for
Australian value added animal products.
Assess
technological knowledge by judging project work and presentation of project
work
Assess
speaking skills and listening skills by judging students interaction at the
machinery auction.
Overall
assessment can be in the form of a school based “Agronomy Conference”, with
posters, oral presentations including discussions and maybe a trade display, if
it is possible to use a school garden or farm to produce agricultural and
horticultural products at school.
CONCLUSION
By
using agricultural science and language studies together, students can discover
the usefulness of both. The approach will create an interest in taking up more
intensive agricultural science units at school and tertiary institutions and
lift the profile such studies have. There are a multitude of spin offs for
careers in agriculture related sciences besides the ones mentioned.
Students
could consider expanding their studies into meteorology, earth and soil
sciences, marine biology, food technology, agrochemistry, market research and
international agricultural business management.
Language
can be seen as a tool to exchange findings in research and development,
understand economics and international relations. Students will also be able to
consider studying a combination of natural sciences and language studies,
creating flexible thinkers who are aware of the big picture.
RECOMMENDATIONS
The delivery of
vocational agriculture at the senior secondary level should not be
handled as a science per se but rather as a vocational subject for acquisition of practical
agricultural skills for meaningful living (Obi, 2005).
handled as a science per se but rather as a vocational subject for acquisition of practical
agricultural skills for meaningful living (Obi, 2005).
Olaitan (1997)
maintained that the basic goal of our National Policy on Education is to make
education both functional and utilitarian.
Ikeoji (1999)
reported that vocational education is borne out of the need for the system to
make its products useful to themselves.
The Federal Ministry
of Education (as cited by Obi, 2005) stated that the
objectives of agricultural education at the senior secondary should include;
objectives of agricultural education at the senior secondary should include;
1) to stimulate and
sustain students interest in agriculture;
2) to enable students
acquire useful knowledge and practical skills in agriculture;
3) to prepare
students for further studies in agriculture; and
4) to prepare students
for occupations in agriculture.
In addition to this
Yoloye (1984) outlined the aim of vocational education in Nigeria as:
1) to provide people
who can apply scientific knowledge to the improvement and solution of
environmental problems for use and convenience of humanity;
2) to provide the
technical knowledge and vocational skills necessary for
agricultural, industrial, commercial and economic development; and
agricultural, industrial, commercial and economic development; and
3) To provide young
men and women with an intelligent understanding of the
increasing complexity
of technology.
REFERENCES
Martin and Odubiya, 1997
method of evaluating the performance of students in vocational agriculture at
the senior secondary school
Board
of Studies, 2000, Curriculum Standard Framework II, Board of Studies, Victoria.
Claude Bourguignon, Regenerating the Soil: From Agronomy to
Agrology, Other India
Press,2005
Pimentel David, Pimentel Marcia, Computer les kilocalories, Cérès, n.
59, sept-oct.
1977
Russell E. Walter, Soil conditions and plant growth,
Longman group, London, New York
1973
Salamini Francesco, Oezkan Hakan,
Brandolini Andrea, Schaefer-Pregl Ralf, Martin
William, Genetics
and geography of wild cereal domestication in the Near East, in Nature,
vol. 3, ju. 2002
Saltini Antonio, Storia delle scienze agrarie, 4 vols,
Bologna 1984-89,
Vavilov Nicolai I. (Starr Chester K. editor), The Origin, Variation, Immunity and Breeding
Of Cultivated Plants. Selected
Writings, in Chronica botanica, 13: 1-6,
Waltham, Mass., 1949-50
If you teach ICT or manage a school network then you will know that building effective and reliable ICT solutions for schools that support 21st Century educational initiatives is a demanding and skilled task. SchoolCare’s team is dedicated to seeking out the leading new ICT solutions for education and with it, the increasing opportunities for teaching.
ReplyDeleteFrom installations to support, from digital signage to wireless systems and from special needs software to equipment disposal, SchoolCare is able to offer schools and colleges a complete service supplying new ICT innovations for teaching.
Sugar Mummy is Real!!!
ReplyDeleteDo you need Sugar Mummy/Daddy? Hurry up now and contact Mrs Sandra on (08140553826) she just linked/hooked me up with a rich sugar mummy after I have been played/scamed online by some other people all the name of sugar mummy, no much talks hurry up now call her (Mrs. Sandra) on (+2348140553826) and testify/see for your own self don’t waist time, she is genuine, just follow her rules and in 24hours she will link you up! Allah she is nice.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts and knowledge on this subject. This is often really helpful and informative, I might like to see more updates from you on informative.It’s really help for to know more information about https://www.connectedliving.com/resident apps.
ReplyDelete