Notice: This is the last Friday Footnote until August 4. I have long advocated for agricultural educators to practice work-life balance; so I am practicing what I preach. During early July my daughter and her family from Washington State are coming to NC for a visit, then I will be on the road speaking at the Chautauqua Institution in New York and at the Fountain Park Chautauqua in Indiana. In between speaking engagements I will be exploring the Great Lakes region. So there will be no Friday Footnotes in July. Now on with today’s Footnote.
One of my favorite cartoons is The Neighborhood by Jerry Van Amerongen. For years the cartoon below has occupied a prominent spot in my home study. The reason it is displayed so prominently is to remind me, as I prepare lesson plans and presentations, that I am about “education” as opposed to merely “training”. It is my responsibility as an educator to teach the “Why” in addition to the “How.”
Figure 1. Cartoon by Jerry Van Amerongen.
Is There a Difference Between Education (Why) and Training (How)?
Yes. Google the phrase “Is There a Difference Between Education and Training?” and you will get over three million hits. The Peak Performance Center describes the two concepts:
Many people consider training and education the same. However, there are several distinct differences. Training is the process of learning something with a goal of performing a specific skill or behavior. Education, on the other hand, is the systematic process of learning something with a goal of acquiring knowledge.
In education, a person learns facts, concepts, and theories. In training, a person learns how to apply those facts, concepts and theories.
The Peak Performance Center uses the following graphic to further differentiate between education and training.
Figure 2. Graphic from the Peak Performance Center.
It should be obvious that agricultural educators are involved in both “training” and “education.” One without the other doesn’t truly prepare our students for the future. A question to ponder is “Do you, as an agricultural educator, embrace both roles or do you put more emphasis on one more than the other?”
Are You Really “Educating” Your Students?
During the first class at the start of the semester I often have students ask are we getting out of class early today. I reply with a smile and say “Obviously you have not heard of me. College is expensive and I want you to get your money’s worth. So no, we are not getting out early. I am going to give you your money’s worth.” And that is the tone I set for the semester. Class will start on time, and I will teach till the ending bell. There is so much that needs to be taught, I need every possible minute.
One of my colleagues, Dr, Jim Flowers, is a master at supervising student teachers. If a student teacher stops teaching five minutes before the bell rings, Dr. Flowers will mention that and show that over a 180 day school year, if each class ends five minutes early, you will have deprived your students of 15 hours of instruction which equates to about three weeks of education. So you are cheating your students out of 3 weeks of instruction.
A few years ago I was observing a student teacher teach a lesson on breeds of beef cattle. She taught a rather skimpy lesson about beef cattle breeds. When I asked her about this, she pointed out what was listed in the state curriculum guide for beef breeds. Here it is:
Beef cattle breeds
- Angus—black, polled, origin is Scotland, most registered breed, and high carcass quality
- Hereford—red with white face, origin is England, docile, good foragers
- Charolais—white to light straw color, horns, origin is France, larger in stature
- Brahman—light gray to black or red, origin is India, hump, loose dewlap, resistant to insects and tolerant to heat
- Simmental—no set color pattern, large frame, rapid-growing animals
- Others include: Shorthorn, Santa Gertrudis, Gelbvieh, Limousin, and Texas Longhorn.
And that is it. This is all the curriculum guide for North Carolina has in Animal Science 1 for beef cattle breeds. The student teacher was teaching the absolute minimum. There is no law in teaching that says you can’t go beyond the minimum. I am concerned that in numerous states we teach to the test. If it is not on the test, we don’t teach it. If we are concerned about “educating” our students instead of “training” them, we need to go beyond the minimum.
Since we are discussing “training” as opposed to “education”, I do have an issue with the name associated with high schools for African Americans in the south during segregation. Because of Jim Crow laws, schools for African Americans in some states could not be called high schools so they were called “county training schools.” Many of these schools emphasized vocational training over academic subjects. The Slater Fund published “Suggested Course for County Training Schools” in 1917. For a partial list of “county training schools” in your state you might refer to this document. In spite of their names, “education” was often occurring in these “training” schools. One notable training school alumnus was Maya Angelou who attended the Lafayette County Training School in Stamps, Arkansas.
Figure 3. One of the historical markers across the South for “County Training Schools.”
Photographed By Mark Hilton, February 16, 2014
Concluding Remarks
What I am advocating is that we implement “AG ED+”. On television we have ESPN+, Paramount+, MGM+, AMC+, Discovery+, Apple TV+, and the list goes on. We need to make sure our teaching extends beyond the minimum. We need to make it +.
Over the summer you might analyze your teaching. Are you educating students or training them? Do you teach the “Why” along with the “How”? Are you cheating your students by ending class early and teaching only the minimum content? Think about it.
Have a great July. See you in August.