Haitian Agricultural Faculty Preparation for Their Academic Roles

Abstract

Food insecurity is widespread in Haiti. The tertiary agriculture institutions have the great challenge of educating the future professionals who will help in meeting the growth needs of the Haitian agriculture sector. The extent that faculty are prepared for the teaching roles is unknown. This study examined this topic using a basic qualitative study that consisted of interviews with 37 lecturers working at five leading agricultural universities in Haiti. Data were analyzed using a basic thematic analysis. Results revealed the majority of participants generally felt well-prepared for their academic roles. The institutional climate for professional development is variable across the universities represented by the participants of this study. Incentives for participating in professional development were primarily intrinsic. There were 56 specific topics suggested by participants for professional development trainings.

The Balance of Theoretical and Practical Skills in Agricultural Technical Schools in Haiti: An Exploration of the Curriculum

“…However, practice was found insufficient in the majority of cases because of lack of resources. A general lack of resources for agricultural education and extension in Haiti has been previously noted (Albert, et al, 2017;Pierre, et al, 2018). With the exception of the university, no other schools had farms for practice.…”

Social Capital of Faculty within Haiti’s Agricultural Education and Training System

“…Other research in international agricultural and extension education has examined how a leadership development program impacted farmer social capital in Morocco (Rasmussen, Pardello, Vreyens, Chazdon, Teng, & Liepold, 2017) and confirmed the importance of social capital in rural advisory service networks (Lamm, Lamm, Davis, & Swaroop, 2017). Recent research on Haitian agriculture faculty explored their perceptions of how prepared they were for their teaching roles (Pierre et al, 2018). Faculty generally believed they were prepared for their academic roles.…”

“…One such example would be routine opportunities for professional development. This would require better institutional support for faculty development, which faculty had previously identified as inconsistent but desired (Pierre et al, 2018).…”

Exploring the Purpose of Agricultural Technical Schools in Haiti

“…Given this important role within the agriculture sector in Haiti, understanding these TVET institutions as a piece of the larger capacity building system which ultimately has implications for the food security situation in Haiti. As previously noted in the literature (Pierre, Calixte, Moore, Bunch, Koenig, Delva, & Roberts, 2018), There is very little empirical understanding of the Haitian agricultural education system. This study adds to the literature by providing a baseline examination of a selected group of agricultural TVET institutions.…”