Date of Graduation

5-2024

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science in Agricultural & Extension Education (MS)

Degree Level

Graduate

Department

Agricultural Education, Communications and Technology

Advisor/Mentor

Doss, William

Committee Member

Estepp, Christopher M.

Second Committee Member

Estes, Hanna E.

Keywords

Agricultural education; Career and technical education; Theory of Planned Behavior

Abstract

School-based agricultural education has experienced a scarcity of qualified teachers over the years. To reduce the prevalence of school-based agricultural teacher shortages, research has led to the adoption of several approaches in schools across the country. The purpose of this study was to examine the perceptions of school-based agricultural education teachers toward promoting agricultural teaching as a career. The theoretical framework for this research was based on the Theory of Planned Behavior. The research objectives were to determine the perceived importance of career promotion activities, the frequency of career promotion activities, the perceived job satisfaction of SBAE teachers, and the self-efficacy of SBAE teachers in areas of agricultural education. To accomplish this, a sample of 1882 SBAE teachers in all six regions of the National Association of Agricultural Educators (NAAE) in the United States were surveyed for their perceptions toward promoting agricultural teaching as a career. This study employed a descriptive survey research design. The survey instruments were created and distributed online via Qualtrics. Following data collection, the researcher scrutinized the data to ensure its accuracy and completeness. The researcher analyzed and interpreted the data using measures of central tendency and dispersion. The findings were presented in frequency and percentage tables. The findings revealed a positive attitude toward the perceived importance of career promotion activities among SBAE teachers. SBAE teachers reported moderate to high frequencies of engaging in career promotion activities. Activities such as modeling SBAE teaching and demonstrating passion received high frequency ratings, reflecting proactive efforts by teachers to inspire students. Overall, SBAE teachers reported moderate levels of job satisfaction. The self-efficacy assessment revealed high levels of perceived competence among SBAE teachers across various domains of agricultural education. Teachers demonstrated confidence in technical content areas, leadership development, teaching methodologies, and program management.

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