Perceptions of Iowa Secondary School Agricultural Education Teachers and Students Regarding Sustainable Agriculture

The purpose of this study was to determine the perceptions of Iowa agricultural education teachers and students about sustainable agriculture .The teacher population for the study included all secondary school agricultural education teachers in Iowa (N=248) .A stratified random sample of 60 teachers (schools) was selected, I O from each of the six FFA districts .Teachers in the sample were asked to administer instruments to all eleventh and twelfth grade students in their agricultural education classes, yielding 464 student participants ,Likert-type scales were used to measure perceptions related to knowledge and impact of sustainable agriculture. Teachers perceived themselves as having additional things to learn about sustainable agriculture practices and students measured themselves as only “knowing a little” about them. Teachers and students alike perceived sustainable agriculture impacting agriculture and the environment in several ways .Relatively high perceptions of sustainable agriculture were observedfor both groups .The findings of this study support the need to integrate sustainable agriculture into the secondary school agricultural education curriculum. Food and fiber production systems that emphasized high yields have been remarkably effective in making United States agriculture one of the most productive systems in the world. This impressive productivity may be offset, however, by dependence on pesticides and synthetic fertilizers, soil erosion, surface and groundwater contamination, and food safety. The public has reacted strongly to reports of water and food contaminated by agricultural practices, concerns for the health of people who live and work around pesticides, and reports of depletion of our natural resources, including soil, water, forests, wetlands, and native prairies. Since th e 198Os, attention has been given to developing agricultural systems so that inputs and returns are optimized, yet protective of our environment (Joint Committee on Sustainable Agriculture, 1991).