The Masks We Wear: A Quantitative Analysis of Motivational Factors of School Based Agriculture Education Teachers During a Pandemic

Abstract

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, school-based agriculture education (SBAE) was framed within a traditional approach to teaching and learning; teachers and students shared classrooms, met learning objectives, and promoted their local FFA programs. This study address the degrees of personal and professional motivation experienced by secondary agriscience teachers transition to remote/distance education instruction during the COVID-19 global pandemic. The theoretical framework for this study was structured within expectancy value theory (Atkinson, 1957) and bound by Weiner’s attribution theory (1972). Atkinson (1957) postulated that individual decisions dictate a person’s role in behaviors associated with a defined task. Three research objectives guided this investigation to more clearly understand teachers’ perceptions of personal and professional motivation: identify the characteristics of Alabama SBAE teachers during the pandemic, articulate how COVID-19 affected SBAE teacher’s personal dispositions toward teaching agriscience education, and understand SBAE teachers’ professional motivation during COVID-19. The questionnaire invitation was sent to 115 (n = 115) middle/secondary school agriscience education teachers in Alabama with 64 (n = 64) respondents attempting the questionnaire. Respondents indicated positive motivation in addressing their professional duties as a classroom teacher even as they lack the traditional classroom or lab. Teachers were motivated to make positive changes in their program with regards to FFA and SAE but are less than positive about their ability to make those changes in the online learning modality. This is consistent with existing understandings of online learning and the embrace of novel experiences.