Exploring The Paradox Of Supervised Agricultural Experience Programs In Agricultural Education

Agricultural teachers in North Carolina were surveyed to assess their attitudes toward Supervised Agricultural Experience (SAE) and to identify barriers to implementation of SAE in their schools. The teachers gave the politically correct answers about why SAE was important. The teachers indicated that SAE was important (8.46 on a 10 point scale) but confessed the quality of their SAE program was only a 6.33 on the 10-point scale. Furthermore, less than 1/3 of the teachers had a 75% or higher participation rate in SAE. Clearly this is a paradox; the results don’t match the rhetoric. Teachers believe that SAE is not rewarded/recognized to the extent of involvement in FFA activities. Teachers identified the number of students they teach, conflicting demands on their time, lack of knowledge of new approaches to SAE, inadequate SAE opportunities in the community, and the difficulty in teaching record keeping as barriers to implementing SAE programs. The profession needs to develop a realistic plan for addressing the barriers to implementation of SAE.