We are surrounded by leadership influences that impact our daily lives and the future will require numerous leaders possessing leadership knowledge, skills, and dispositions. The teaching of leadership has an extensive tradition in secondary agricultural education programs that can be traced back almost a century. Much of the success in teaching leadership rests upon the secondary agricultural education teacher providing the learning experience. The primary goal of agricultural education teacher preparation programs is to develop highly qualified teachers in the subjects they are expected to teach. Leadership topics are being taught in the formal instruction component of secondary agricultural education programs. Thus, it is essential for agricultural education teacher preparation programs to better understand the importance of teaching leadership and the capability of agricultural education teachers to teach the leadership topics. This information can then be used by administrators and faculty as they make decisions about the design, implementation, and effectiveness of agricultural education teacher preparation programs.
This descriptive research explored the importance of teaching leadership in secondary agricultural education programs and the self-perceived capability of beginning secondary agriculture teachers to teach leadership. First through third year agricultural education teachers in Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Missouri, and Ohio were surveyed. The researcher-developed data collection instrument was based on the National FFA Organization LifeKnowledge® resource materials. Respondents rated the importance and self-perceived capability to teach 60 leadership topics. Data collected were used to: describe the importance of teaching leadership topics, describe the capability to teach leadership, calculate discrepancy scores, and to prioritize leadership topics.
Based on the data collected, it was determined that a majority of beginning agricultural education teacher respondents had taken leadership coursework during their post-secondary education and nearly one of five had taken more than three leadership courses. Respondents reported that leadership topics were important to teach in secondary agricultural education programs. Furthermore, the respondents perceived they were capable of teaching leadership topics.
Agricultural education teacher preparation programs are encouraged to consider leadership coursework in program requirements. This research revealed an extensive list of important leadership topics that may overwhelm agricultural education teachers. Therefore, it is recommended that efforts should be made to identify core leadership knowledge, skills, and dispositions that should be taught in all secondary agricultural education programs. Assessment of teacher capability to teach leadership topics should be conducted periodically with teacher candidates and practicing agriculture teachers. Based on assessment results, modifications to teacher preparation programs and professional learning opportunities should be considered. As the teaching of leadership continues to evolve, care should be taken to ensure that leadership development and leadership education efforts are harmonious and build upon each other to provide the knowledge, skills, and dispositions desired in future generations of leaders.