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Teaching of agriculture in secondary schools

Teaching of agriculture in secondary schools PPTA presentation to Primary Production Select Committee 22 May, 2008. A case study in subject specialist delivery. Secondary schooling is about specialist subject delivery

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Teaching of agriculture in secondary schools

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  1. Teaching of agriculture in secondary schools PPTA presentation to Primary Production Select Committee 22 May, 2008 Primary Production Select C'ttee May 2008

  2. A case study in subject specialist delivery • Secondary schooling is about specialist subject delivery • This presents staffing complexities not evident in generalist primary schooling • Senior subjects like Agriculture often attract small numbers, so provision at cost of larger classes in bigger subjects e.g. Maths, English or in junior classes • Attracting specialist teachers can be problematic, especially for schools in rural areas • PPTA tried to discuss staffing for C21st curriculum in the workstreams under the STCA 2004-2007 – no progress made Primary Production Select C'ttee May 2008

  3. Agriculture/Horticulture • Close links between two subjects • Agriculture and Horticulture are treated as separate subjects at level 1 NCEA • Boundaries become more blurred atlevel 2 and 3, where there are achievement standards common to both subjects • Essentially the same problems exist for both subjects • Agriculture probably at more risk: fewer qualified teachers, more popular in South than North Island Primary Production Select C'ttee May 2008

  4. Teacher education issues • Targeted funding for secondary teacher education removed in 1990’s. Effect: • Teacher educators’ ability to offer smaller subjects reduced • No institution offering Ag/Hort, though Massey does within a Science/Biology/Ag/Hort module • Students with Agriculture as speciality not entering profession • Few Agriculture teachers specifically trained for task – enthusiastic volunteers • Lack of professional development support – two Agriculture/Horticulture Senior Subject Advisers in 2007 invaluable, but then whole scheme disappeared Primary Production Select C'ttee May 2008

  5. Subject history • Agriculture SC subject from post WW II, later Sixth Form Certificate • 1990 became Bursary exam subject • Numbers grew to 900+ Bursary candidates by mid-1990’s • But no supporting curriculum or resources provided by Ministry of Education • 1993 Horticulture, Agriculture Teachers Assn (HATA) established • Attempted to produce resources through voluntary efforts of members Primary Production Select C'ttee May 2008

  6. NZ Curriculum • Agriculture is mentioned only in passing in the new NZ Curriculum, in the Science Learning Area description: “a wider range of programmes is possible, for example, schools may offer programmes in … agriculture …” (p.29) • There are no achievement objectives at any level specific to Agriculture Primary Production Select C'ttee May 2008

  7. Declining student numbers • Achievement standards written for Level 1-3 • Numbers of students declining at all levels since 2002: • 1.6/90154 Livestock management from 835 (2002) to 597 (2007) • 1.7/90155 Pasture/crop production from 837 (2002) to 606 (2007) • 2.4/90453 Livestock reproduction from 655 (2003) to 494 (2007) • 2.5/90454 Livestock growth from 619 (2003) to 438 (2007) Primary Production Select C'ttee May 2008

  8. Recognising excellence • Agriculture omitted from Scholarship list in 2004 • Level 3 exams remained, 2004-2005 Top Scholar award derived from exams, but to qualify student had to gain Excellence in all three Level 3 externally assessed standards • 2006 funding for Top Scholar ceased, removing incentive for academically top scholars to choose Agriculture • Affects status and academic credibility of subject, impacting on numbers and calibre of students encouraged to study Agriculture Primary Production Select C'ttee May 2008

  9. Low achievement • Under Bursary’s norm-referenced system, scaling ensured that marks scaled to pre-determined mean of 49% and top 2-3% gained Scholarship • Level 3 achievement standards, numbers achieving success low: 166 candidates gained 14+ credits from a/s in 2006 • Drop in numbers successful in two of three external standards at Level 3 between 2004-2007: • 90651 Market forces 115 – 81 • 90652 Market reqs & prod’n process 319 – 151 • 90653 Primary prod’n env issue 119 - 118 Primary Production Select C'ttee May 2008

  10. Primary Production Select C'ttee May 2008

  11. Impact of support • Beacon Schools initiative, which started in 2004, helped raise some achievement rates, e.g.: • 90452 (Level 2 external) went from about 15% of students achieving it in 2004 to about 60% achieving it in 2005 and 2006 • 90453 (Level 2 external) went from about 14% of students achieving it in 2004 to about 51% achieving it by 2006 • Introduction of 2 Subject Specialist Advisers in 2007 gave stimulus to existing teacher cluster groups and provided coordination of support and guidance where none had been previously. Primary Production Select C'ttee May 2008

  12. Primary Production Select C'ttee May 2008

  13. Use of unit standards • Low success rates in achievement standards have encouraged schools to offer unit standards instead, both general education and industry-based • Internal assessment and pass/fail appeal to schools/teachers • Availability/provision of teaching material from course providers • Negative impact on students’ ability to gain Certificate Endorsement, however • More support for achievement standards, e.g. Beacon Schools, may reverse this trend Primary Production Select C'ttee May 2008

  14. Support from primary industries • Industry consortium recently begun providing resources targeted at assisting effective teaching at secondary level • Set of 10 DVDs and an educational board game well received • Other web – based resourcing is in the process of production • Vast number of industry – funded scholarships Primary Production Select C'ttee May 2008

  15. Correspondence School • Previously offered opportunities for students in schools with limited students numbers or no specialist teacher • Built up considerable collections of high quality resources and workbooks (however these were never made available to schools generally, a real sore point) • At one point, around 25% Bursary Ag/Hort candidates being taught by Correspondence School – not ideal but better than nothing • Recent changes have restricted access to Correspondence School Primary Production Select C'ttee May 2008

  16. Do we need Agricultural Science in New Zealand secondary schools? Primary Production Select C'ttee May 2008

  17. Why would a school choose to offer the subject? • Why would a teacher choose to teach the subject? • Why would a student choose to take the subject? Primary Production Select C'ttee May 2008

  18. The way forward • Re-introduce specialist advisers in Agriculture, this time in every School Support Services region • Significantly increase the resourcing support provided for Agriculture • Make Agriculture a Scholarship subject from 2009 • Provide teacher education scholarships for career-changers willing to train as Agriculture teachers • Fund one or two universities to specialise in offering teacher education in Agriculture Primary Production Select C'ttee May 2008

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