Think back to your favorite teacher as a youth. What made this educator one of the best? Was it the way they talked or the way they got their students engaged? Was it their enthusiasm and encouragement? Maybe you just liked the subject they were teaching. My guess is that it was a mixture of these reasons. For most people in the agricultural field, their favorite teacher was their agricultural educator. But what might have happened if these people who have made a career in agriculture never had an agricultural instructor? Most likely our society would have much fewer agriculturalists. Currently this is a problem; our nation is in great need for agriculture educators. According to a 2011 article in the Agricultural Education Magazine, the professioncannot continue its current offerings or expand programs on the small supply of new teachers. This is an issue because the future of our society is dependent on growth in the agricultural field. Fewer agriculture teachers means fewer students becoming career ready for an agricultural profession. Thus, highly qualified agricultural education instructors are in short supply but this issue can be addressed by advocating for the career, providing incentives for agricultural education majors, and giving support to current teachers.
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