The Presidential Address to the Association for Career and Technical Education Research: Using Standards to Reform Teacher Preparation in Career and Technical Education: A Successful Reformation

Identifying the Agricultural Mechanics Knowledge and Skills Needed by Iowa School-based Agricultural Education Teachers

“…As could be expected, this phenomenon could negatively impact teacher training and subsequent performance in this curriculum area (Burris et al, 2005). Whittington (2005) described that preservice teachers should receive the opportunity to develop a level of competency with various agricultural curricula. Agricultural mechanics is no exception to this.…”

“…Agricultural mechanics is no exception to this. Further, as teacher preparation programs examine methods of streamlining, and often reducing, credit requirements for graduation purposes (Whittington, 2005), agricultural mechanics courses are often trimmed (Burris et al, 2005;Hubert & Leising, 2000).…”

Beginning SBAE Teachers’ Metal Fabrication Knowledge Needs: Implications for Teacher Preparation

“…A modified version of Whittington's (2005) model for teacher preparation in agricultural education served as the conceptual framework for this study. This framework is grounded in the philosophical tenets of agricultural education including experiential learning (Kolb, 1984), problem-based teaching (Lancelot, 1944), social cognition (Bandura, 1986), and reflective practice (Schön, 1983).…”

“…As noted by Whittington (2005), the characteristics of experiential learning including hands-on, contextual, problem-solving, and project-based serve as one of the "philosophical foundations of agricultural education teacher preparation" (p.92). Without proper preservice preparation in metal fabrication, "it is unlikely that beginning teachers will be able to use the agricultural mechanics laboratory as a mode of experiential learning and a tool to provide rigorous and relevant instruction" (Saucier et al, 2012, p. 138) to their students.…”

“…Despite the minimal required coursework, Saucier and McKim (2010) argued that all SBAE teachers who instruct agricultural mechanics should be technically competent. To ensure preservice teachers are technically prepared to enter the profession, this study, guided by the model for teacher preparation (Whittington, 2005), sought to determine the essential metal fabrication knowledge and skills which beginning SBAE teachers should possess prior to beginning a career in agricultural education. Results from this study identified eight essential knowledge and skill areas categorized into four categories, metal fabrication equipment, metal fabrication production, student assessment, and laboratory management.…”