Workload Distribution Among Agriculture Teachers

Abstract

Teachers distribute their time in many ways. The study sought to determine how agriculture teachers distribute their time among 11 selected teacher activities (i.e., preparation for instruction; classroom/laboratory teaching; laboratory preparation and/or maintenance; grading/scoring students' work; administrative duties-program management; professional activities; Supervised Agricultural Experience observations and recording; local FFA activities; non-local FFA activities; Career Development Events preparation; and adult education) over a 15-week period. Additionally, comparisons were made for three teacher types (i.e., studentteachers, first-year teachers, and experience teachers). An additional time category (observation) was observed for student teachers. It was concluded that of the 11 selected areas, all teachers spend the majority of their time planning and providing classroom and laboratory instruction. The least amount of time was spent on adult education. Further, it was concluded that first-year teacher and student teachers display similar use of time in the 11 selected areas over the 15-week period. Recommendations cited include the need for personal development efforts in time-management and a need to better reflect on priorities for distributing time.

Using Case–Scenarios to Determine the Perceptions of Secondary Agriculture Teachers and 4-H Youth Development Personnel Regarding Interorganizational Cooperation

“…These findings are in excess of previous research (e.g., Nekolny & Buttles, 2007;Torres & Ulmer, 2007;Torres et al, 2008). Of the three aforementioned studies, the findings of this study most closely resemble Missouri student teacher time allocation as described by Torres and Ulmer (2007).…”

“…However, Torres et al (2008) opined that little research has been conducted on teacher workload and the allocation of hours spent during the student teaching internship. Understanding where student teachers spend their time during these experiences is important.…”

“…It has been suggested that the amount of time teachers allocate to various activities can improve student learning and achievement overall (Carroll, 1989;Gettinger, 1985;Rosenshine & Furst, 1971). In agricultural education, recent efforts by various researchers (e.g., Nekolny & Buttles, 2007;Torres & Ulmer, 2007;Torres et al, 2008) have described where student teachers invest their time while interning. Torres and Ulmer (2007) analyzed five years of University of Missouri student teacher data (N = 55) from 1999 to 2003 and categorized this into five three-week intervals.…”

“…However, preparation for career development events (CDEs), advising an FFA chapter, supervising students' Supervised Agricultural Experiences (SAEs), and maintaining overall quality of a program may be additional roles and responsibilities aspirants consider when choosing a career as an agriculture teacher (Torres, Ulmer, & Aschenbrener, 2008).…”

“…Further, fall student teachers spent 3.70 hours per week teaching in contrast to 4.19 hours per week reported by the spring student teachers. Torres et al (2008) compared Missouri student teachers (N = 13), first year teachers (N = 11), and experienced teachers (N = 11), in 2006, on how they distributed their time in the classroom. The authors found that the three groups did not "distribute their time equally" (p. 85).…”