Imaging Service-Learning in The Agricultural Education Magazine from 1929 to 2009: Implications for the Method’s Reframing and Use

Abstract

Service-learning's (SL) discourse is written as a story of victory, achievement, and transformation in school-based, agricultural education (SBAE). The resources dedicated to improving both learning and communities through SL can be significant. Little work, however, has been put forth to examine this victory narrative's underlying assumptions and implications. Therefore, the purpose of this historical investigation was to explore how SL was imaged in The Agricultural Education Magazine (The Magazine) from 1929 to 2009. Through the analysis of data, SL's imaging in The Magazine appears to have been positioned through three distinct lenses: (a) societal, (b) pedagogical, and (c) social justice. In societally imaged SL, actors emphasized the importance of shaping young adolescents into productive citizens to meet the demands of their society. Meanwhile, the pedagogical lens emerged in response to calls for improved instructional effectiveness; as a consequence, practitioners and scholars outlined how SL could be used to enhance students' academic achievement. The final lens, social justice, arose as a way to address equity, race, and privilege in agricultural education. Based on these conclusions, we offer implications and recommendations that may help reframe SL to respond to contemporary issues and trends in SBAE.

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“…In particular, teacher educators may be unaware of how to appropriately conceptualize and then operationalize the method, which diminishes their self-efficacy to implement it and thereby motivate students to take SL actions in the community (Roberts et al, 2019c). We also advance the notion that teacher educators' resistance to SL may be further entrenched by a lack of principlesknowledge because they lack proper understanding of the theoretical perspectives needed to navigate potential issues of power to likely emerge among key actors, including their students, community partners, and themselves (Roberts & Edwards, 2018). Although personal forces may greatly affect teacher educators' resistance to SL, our reframing of this phenomenon also clarifies how institutional forces can influence their knowledge-based views regarding this instructional approach.…”

“…To begin, we must understand that for most potential adopters SL represents a departure, or change, from traditional classroom teaching (Roberts & Edwards, 2018). The implementation of SL would require many instructors to transition from a predominantly behavioristic approach in which they, as authority figures, passively impart knowledge to students to instead use a method that allows the sharing of power and the co-construction of learning by all participants, i.e., a constructivistic orientation to teaching and learning prevails (Doolittle & Camp, 1999;Zieren & Stoddard, 2004).…”

“…We also contend that societal forces shape teacher educators' knowledge and beliefs about SL (Roberts et al, 2016;Roberts & Edwards, 2018). To illustrate, consider the plethora of training methods, models, and priorities in the preparation of secondary agricultural education teachers (Phipps, Osborne, Dyer, & Ball, 2008;Torres, Kitchel, & Ball, 2010).…”

Images from the Trenches: A Visual Narrative of the Concerns of Agricultural Education Majors

“…Visual narratives are premised on the idea that humans interact in the world using symbols and imagery that are assigned socially constructed meanings (Rose, 2016). As an illustration, when engaging with others, individuals often refer to a range of objects and metaphors to add critical layers of meaning and evoke vivid imagery as they story critical events and experiences (Pink, 2012;Rose, 2016;Roberts & Edwards, 2018). Therefore, visual narratives focus on how individuals use imagery to depict aspects of their beliefs, perceptions, and lived experiences (Pink, 2012;Rose, 2016).…”

Planned Behavior Typologies of Agricultural Education Teacher Educators Regarding Service Learning as a Method of Instruction: A National Mixed Methods Study

“…The emergence of service learning (SL) as an instructional approach in higher education is a relatively recent phenomenon. However, this instructional method has deep philosophical roots that can be traced to some of the earliest origins of formalized learning and education (Speck & Hoppe, 2004), especially in agricultural education (Roberts & Edwards, 2015, 2018. Although thought leaders have championed different teaching methods, curricula, and philosophical positions, their views often converge around the notion that education should be used to foster social harmony and improve society (Fraser, 2014;Tyack, Lowe, & Hansford, 1984).…”