National Teach Ag Campaign - Teaching Agriculture | National Association of Agricultural Educators

Teaching Agriculture

Agricultural education teaches students about agriculture, food and natural resources. Through these subjects, agricultural educators teach students a wide variety of skills, including science, math, communications, leadership, management and technology.

Some of the potential jobs for someone graduating with a degree in agricultural education could be:

High School Agriscience Teacher
Ag Literacy Coordinator
Agricultural Education Professor
Farm Business Management Instructor
2-year Technical College Agriculture Instructor
Adult Agricultural Education Instructor
Young Farmer Instructor

Agricultural Education uses a three-circle model of instruction. These are classroom and laboratory instruction, leadership development, and experiential learning. The successful integration of each of these three components results in a strong program that produces well rounded individuals who are prepared to be leaders in agriculture, business, and industry.

Many high school agriculture programs use FFA to enhance the leadership and experiential learning portions of their program. To learn more about FFA and its influence on agricultural education, visit www.ffa.org.

Teacher Shortage

Currently there is a national shortage of agricultural educators at the secondary level. It is estimated that there will be hundreds of unfilled positions across the United States this year, simply because not enough students are choosing to be agricultural educators.

How to Get Started

Talk to your teacher or guidance counselor today about how to get started on the path to becoming an ag teacher. Here are some tips to help you get going:

Talk to your ag teacher about what his or her job is like.
Ask your teacher to schedule a job shadowing or internship experience for you.
Develop a SAE involving agricultural education and participate in the FFA agricultural education proficiency event.
Check out colleges and universities that offer a degree in agricultural education. (You can get started with that right here)