A Cross-Case Comparison of the Academic Integration Human Capital Pre-service Agricultural Educators Retain Prior to Their Teaching Internship

Abstract

The purpose of this cross-case comparison was to explore agricultural education pre-service teachers’ perceptions in regards to integrating academics into agricultural education curriculum. This study included three agricultural education teacher certification programs in the United States. The pre-service teachers queried held similar perceptions regarding the integration of academic related concepts into an agricultural education curriculum. (a) Participants felt agriculture was a natural integration and emphasis vehicle for a range of academic subjects. (b) Participants felt it was important to emphasize the core subject matter inherent to agriculture, but care must be taken to not fundamentally alter the purpose of the agricultural education program. (c) A consensus was reached that lessons should be “hands-on” and relate to real world applications. It was recommended prior knowledge was important for successful integration of core content into an agriculture curriculum. An examination of how many credit hours of mathematics, science, and English pre-service agricultural education teachers are required to take to be effective at integration of core material should occur. Further, collaboration between university faculty of agricultural education and other departments outlining ways to achieve successful integration of academic content was needed.