Interviews with Matt Kreifels, Monty Larsen, and Becky Haddad
Literacy, of any kind, is a critical aspect of being a valuable member of society. Being able to understand agriculture and science topics allows people in Nebraska to communicate with others and be an informed voter when it comes to state decision making.
Matt Kreifels, associate professor of practice, Becky Haddad, assistant professor, and Monty Larsen, instructor in the teacher preparation option within the Department of Agricultural Leadership, Education, and Communication at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, are creating a space for future agricultural teachers to learn how they can use their skills to promote both science literacy and agricultural literacy in high-school agricultural education programs across the state.
“Agriculture is more than traditional farming, it actually encompasses over 300 career opportunities,” Kreifels said.
Everything from the food at the grocery store to the cell phone in someone’s purse can be tied to agriculture. In many small towns occupations like accounting or insurance even become centered in agriculture due to the number of farmers, ranchers in the area.
Connecting Agriculture to Science
The agricultural education programs in Nebraska schools educate the public on the impact of agriculture in the state and students grow their literacy of science by using agriculture to understand what is happening in the world.
“Science literacy is someone’s ability to engage in a conversation about science topics,” Haddad said.
Because agriculture is so abundantly present in Nebraska, agricultural education allows teachers to connect science topics to something that students in the area are familiar with, such as crop growing seasons, fertilization, and reproduction.
One of the most common examples of using agriculture to understand science is the use of fetal pig dissections to explain human body systems.
It is easier to explain the digestive and respiratory systems in humans by using fetal pig dissections due to the similarities between humans and pigs, Larsen explained.
Agricultural Education is Locally Driven
Agricultural education was developed to teach and motivate students through an integrated model that includes classroom instruction, leadership development, and experimental learning.
“Nebraska has 214 current schools with a complete agricultural education program and at least three new schools that are already considering adding a program for Fall 2024,” Kreifels said.
Agriculture varies across the state. This diversity allows teachers to use local resources for teaching students about how the economy can function at local level.
“Agricultural education is locally controlled, meaning that the curriculum is based on local resources,” Larsen said. “There’s natural diversity that makes it so not everyone teaches the same thing in Nebraska.”
For example, in Stuart, Nebraska, one of the agricultural education courses that is offered is range science, but an hour north in Bloomfield, Nebraska, soil science would be offered instead. This diversity of resources gives agricultural education instructors flexibility when building their curriculum so that students get to learn about what affects their communities.
Haddad added that the advantage to this diversity across the state is that each agricultural education program has the chance to claim their niche thing and then take that and present it to the community to show how the small town or program fits into the larger ecosystem of agriculture, food, and natural resources.
When communities understand how their local agriculture connects to the state and national economy, citizens are more knowledgeable of what they are voting on when it comes to elections, school board meetings, and more. Literacy, both in science and agriculture, is that bridge that connects local agriculture to the larger economies.
“It is important to look at the entire scale of agriculture from local to global, and everything in-between, to fully appreciate what agriculture is as well as what influences agriculture,” Kreifels said.
Educators are Everywhere
Being able to communicate with those who may not understand topics like agriculture gives someone the opportunity to pass their knowledge on and start a domino-effect of education.
When students start taking courses in high school, they spark their interest in topics like agriculture, math, or art and decide to continue with more education or go into a career that fits those interests.
With the rise of social media in recent years, people are using their platforms to educate about their brand, interests, and controversial topics like science or agriculture. With the growth of social media users, the platform for expanding science literacy will continue to grow among all ages.
“More people are starting to see their role as an educator,” Haddad said, “my hope is that more and more people become comfortable with their role as an educator in agriculture for years to come.”
As more people grow into their roles as educators, general knowledge of topics like agriculture, natural resources, science, and more will continue to increase. With that, the public will build more informed communities and citizens in Nebraska will be able to better understand key factors of the state’s economy.
The mission for agricultural education is to prepare students for successful careers and a lifetime of informed choices in Agriculture, Food, and Natural Resources. To learn more about the agricultural education program at the University of Nebraska – Lincoln check out https://alec.unl.edu/ and for more information about the agricultural education partners within the Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources, check out https://ianr.unl.edu/academics.
Key Takeaways
- Being literate in agriculture or science allows for someone to communicate with others about topics in science and agriculture and be an informed voter.
- Agricultural education was developed to teach and motivate students through an integrated model that includes classroom instruction, leadership development, and experimental learning.
- Communities will become more informed as people step into their roles as educators.
