Overview of Students’ Career Choices In Agriculture.
The study of agriculture as a profession in secondary and tertiary institutions has been faced with negative perceptions, resulting in low student interest in choosing agricultural subjects.
Agricultural educators and policymakers in the educational sector are making frantic efforts to ensure that students take up agricultural subjects as careers, pursuing courses in agricultural education will help students possess adequate skills, knowledge, and ability in the subject to boost food production.
As food production across the globe is continually declining, the need for skilled personnel in agriculture is paramount. The government purposely introduced agricultural education programs to inculcate agricultural skills and knowledge in students and adult farmers to boost food production.
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Strategies for Enhancing Students’ Career Choices in Agricultural Science.
Teachers’ personalities consciously and unconsciously affect the student interest in taking agriculture as a career (Onwuemere, Ijeoma, and Ibe, 2021)
Agricultural science teachers must demonstrate appropriate knowledge of the subject matter to enable students to pursue agriculture as a profession. some of the strategies for Enhancing Students’ Career Choices in Agriculture.
Adopt Suitable Teaching Methods
The methods used by the agricultural science teacher have been found to significantly improve students’ interest in pursuing a career in agricultural science.
The selection of appropriate teaching methods plays a crucial role in capturing students’ interest.
Therefore, when deciding on a teaching method for agricultural science, the teacher should consider methods that will stimulate students’ curiosity and passion for learning.
Agricultural science is a familiar subject amongst students as it is taught from elementary school to higher education levels.
In African countries, many students are already experienced in farming and specialize in producing specific crops or raising certain animals.
However, the use of traditional farming methods and tools in Africa discourages students from considering agriculture as a viable career option.
Therefore, it is the responsibility of classroom teachers to carefully choose teaching methods that will cultivate students’ interest in Agricultural Science and encourage them to pursue it as a career path.
Utilize Suitable Instructional Materials
Using unique, attractive, and relevant teaching aids and instructional materials has been shown to enhance students’ interest in agricultural science and their career prospects.
These materials can be either audio or visual, but regardless of the type, they should be carefully selected to match the topic being covered and designed to engage the students. Agriculture is a subject that requires hands-on learning.
The teacher of agricultural science should use real-world examples and objects to explain important concepts and topics to students.
Visual instructional materials, such as videos and diagrams, should also be used to help students understand the subject better.
These materials can be found online and shared with students using their smartphones and laptops for collaborative learning. This approach can help students choose a career in agricultural science.
Make Instructions More Practical
Agricultural science is not an abstract subject; it is an occupation that many students’ parents are involved in, and the students themselves have practical experience in it.
Therefore, the classroom teacher needs to make the instruction in the classroom more practical, to enhance students’ career choices in agricultural science.
The agricultural science teacher should create and maintain school gardens where students can cultivate crops and rear animals for practical purposes.
The garden can serve as a workshop where students can learn modern farming skills and competencies that will enable them to become specialists in some aspects of agricultural science, potentially leading them to choose Agricultural Science as a career path.
Make Instructions More Understanding
If students have difficulty understanding certain topics or content in a subject, they may develop a dislike for that particular subject.
Similarly, if a teacher lacks in-depth knowledge of the topics or content, their understanding is limited and this limited understanding is also passed on to the students.
Agricultural science teachers need to prepare lesson plans in advance to gain a better understanding of the content to be taught.
Make Instructions More Interesting
“Interest” is one of the most important factors that can improve students’ career choices in Agricultural Science.
Lack of interest leads to a lack of enthusiasm and makes learning difficult for students. To make learning Agricultural Science more enjoyable for students, classroom teachers should strive to make it more interesting and fun.
Interest is an innate factor that motivates people to do things, even when they are tired. Therefore, if students are interested in agriculture, due to the effective teaching strategies adopted by their classroom teacher, they will be motivated to pursue Agricultural Science as a career choice.
Read Also: 9 Contributions of Agricultural Education to Agricultural Development.
Educate Students On The Employability Of Agricultural Skills
Students should not view agriculture as a profession solely for the elderly or destitute, or solely for providing for family needs.
Agriculture encompasses much more than these factors. Students should be provided with guidance on the employability skills that are associated with agriculture so that they can recognize the benefits of pursuing a career in this field over other professions.
Agriculture students should also be advised to treat agriculture as a business rather than solely a means of providing food for their families.
By following these suggestions, students will be able to make informed decisions and enhance their career prospects in Agricultural Science.
Be A Facilitator of Students’ Choice of Agricultural Courses
The teacher of agricultural science should be a facilitator for students’ choice of agricultural courses, which can help enhance their career choices in agriculture.
Moreover, the teacher must have good personality traits and a lifestyle that students can emulate and learn from.
Research has shown that the career choices of secondary school students are often influenced by their admiration for their teachers’ personality and their peer group.
The teacher should be able to effectively convey the benefits of their subject area to students without necessarily counseling them to pursue careers in agriculture.
The teacher’s personality should serve as a positive example for students to model their career paths.
Maintain Good Relationships with the Necessary Community Support System
The agricultural science teacher should establish strong relationships with the community to enhance student’s career choices in the field.
Teachers should be able to organize excursions or field trips to agricultural industries or organizations to improve students’ interest in agricultural science.
Teachers’ relationships with industries will help students connect with agri-businesses. Based on these relationships, students can also gain work experience which will enable them to become self-reliant.
Get Parent Informed on the Observed Agricultural Career Suitable to a Student
Some parents hold a negative view of their children pursuing a career in agriculture. Therefore, teachers should make an effort to educate parents about various agricultural careers that would be suitable for their children.
This can help improve the child’s interest in this field. It is recommended that parents receive counseling on the importance of allowing students to choose a specific area of agriculture that aligns with their interests.
Parents shouldn’t intervene in their children’s career choices. Students tend to excel greatly when they engage in activities that they are interested in.
Therefore, if they express interest in a particular area of agriculture, it is crucial to allow them to pursue it as it can serve as a motivational factor that drives them to succeed.
Expose The Opportunity In Agriculture To Students At Early Stages Of Life
One of the earliest strategies used by teachers to enhance students’ career choices in agricultural science is to introduce the subject at an elementary level.
This approach is particularly common in African countries, where the aim is to develop students’ interest in agriculture from an early age and equip them with the necessary knowledge, skills, and competencies to excel in the field.
The interest of students in the field of agriculture can be cultivated from an early age by introducing them to the opportunities available in this field.
Therefore, the classroom teacher should take every opportunity to instill in the students the various career options that are available in agriculture to motivate them to choose it as their future profession.
Demonstrates a Sufficient Level of Descent Hard Work
Agriculture is a noble profession that requires the necessary effort to achieve success.
The agricultural science teachers should not be lazy; they should work hard. Students mustn’t perceive their teacher as someone who struggles to provide for themselves or their family, or who must beg for food to survive.
Instead, students should view their teacher as a role model in the field of agriculture, inspiring them to follow in their footsteps and pursue a similar career path.
Demonstrate Good Examples by Looking Good
There is an old African proverb that says “The outward appearance of a fish looks similar to the water it is harvested from.” As an agricultural science teacher, one should set a good example for students who are interested in pursuing a career in agriculture.
This means being modest and not dressing extravagantly while being someone that students can learn from and respect. “The teacher of agriculture should not necessarily be wealthy, but rather a good role model for what an agricultural professional should look like.
They must possess good personality qualities that students can emulate. Research has shown that secondary school students often choose a career path based on their affinity for their teachers’ personality and their peer group.
Therefore, the teacher must be someone that the student can model their career after.”
The Agriculture Science Teacher Should be Wealthy
to enhance students’ Career Choices in Agriculture, the classroom teacher should be wealthy. The teacher must not be too rich or poor licking from hand to mouth.
The teacher should average rich man so that the students will be encouraged to take up agriculture as a career path.
Nobody likes a poor profession that is the reason every student in elementary school wishes to be a medical doctor rather than a farmer.
It is because the farmers are always dirty and are seen as the poorest of the poor. The agricultural science teacher in the school should be a perfect example of a rich agricultural career individual.
Take students on Excursions to Notable and Attractive Agricultural Firms
the students of agricultural science should see the life of the agriculturist outside the school environment.
The school teacher should always take students on excursions to notable and attractive agricultural firms to enhance students’ career choices in agriculture.
The teacher must not go on a far journey to other countries or states for an excursion, he should be able to source for any agro-firm within their locality or environment.
The excursion will help students correlate the real classroom experience with what happens in the world of work.
Avoid Using Farm Work as Punishment for Students
Teachers in African countries have the behavior of using farm work as punishment for students who break school rules and regulations.
This practice is a very bad practice that can discourage students from taking up agriculture as a career path in life.
Students who have frequently been subjected to such behavior will develop a hatred for farming and will see farming as punishment.
Students should be disciplined for breaking school rules and regulations but not to act of using farming as punishment.
The teachers of agricultural science should be innovative in disciplining agricultural science students, rather than using farm work as punishment.
Using Modern Farming Techniques
the school agricultural science teacher should fine-tune school farm practicals by using modern farming techniques.
Farming is an occupation that is as old as man, and in some African countries, it has been characterized by the use of crude or simple farming techniques which some students are already familiar with, so using the same methods as used by the parents at home will discourage students from taking up agriculture as a career path.
The school might have all the required modern farm equipment but the school garden must be carried out in aliments with the current prevailing farming techniques different entirely from the student’s parent agricultural farming techniques this enhances students’ interest in taking agriculture as a career.
Teacher Effective Use of Laboratory and Farms
effective usage of laboratories and farms by the teacher of agricultural science and the students will enhance students’ career choices in agriculture.
The usage of laboratories and farms during experiments will allow students to make discoveries themselves.
Frequently Ask Questions
lists of career choices in agricultural science?
There are many career opportunities in agriculture, all the careers in agriculture are grouped under the following. They are:
| S/no | Careers | Sub-careers |
| 1 | Agronomy | Sub Careers under the Agronomy include:
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| 2 | Animal Science | Sub Careers in the Animal Science include:
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| 3 | Agricultural Economics | Sub Careers in Agricultural Economics include:
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| 4 | Agricultural Extension | Sub-careers under the Agricultural Extension include:
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| 5 | Agricultural Engineering | Sub-careers under Agricultural Engineering include:
|
| 6 | Agricultural Food Technology | Sub-careers under the Agricultural Food Technology Include:
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| 7 | Fisheries | Sub-careers under the Fisheries include:
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| 8 | Forestry | Sub-careers under Forestry include:
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| 9 | Agricultural Management Sciences | Sub-careers under the Agricultural Management Sciences include:
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| 10 | Agricultural Education
|
Sub-careers under Agricultural Education include:
|
| 11 | Veterinary Medicine | Sub-careers under Veterinary Medicine include:
|
Which job is best after agriculture?
The best job after agriculture is computer, and computer-related careers like data science, programming, networking, and robotic engineering.
What is the best career in agriculture?
In conclusion
This article aims to help agricultural science teachers demonstrate effective strategies for enhancing students’ career choices in agriculture. Some of the strategies include.
Adoption of suitable teaching methods, teaching effective use of laboratories and Farms, using modern farming techniques, avoiding using farm work as punishment for students, and taking students on Excursions to Notable and Attractive Agricultural Firms.