Preparing the Urban Agricultural Science Teacher: Curriculum Implications

Abstract

Available lands in urban and rural schools are increasingly being threatened by developmental factors that spaces previously given to schools are now being retrieved by donor communities. This has affected the production of food crops by schools especially in the urban areas. The effect is experienced in the high cost of food items in the urban area with very high population. Schools are expected to produce food for the teaming population through the leading of competent teachers of Agricultural Science. Therefore, effective knowledge of the land usage is imperative recognizing the composite nature - various areas of specialization in Agriculture. This paper examined the needed competencies by teachers of Agricultural Science in urban areas as to making for effective institutional preparation for teacher trainees. Result showed that teachers identified 24 competencies needed for urban teaching of agriculture but expressed deficiency in 19 competencies (79.17 percent). The curricular implication of this range from inclusion of the basic Humanities subjects of Geography, Economics and Commerce in the curriculum of Agricultural Science teachers programme and effective implementation of field trips to strengthen the relationship between theory in the school and practice in the field.