Essential careers in agriculture

As we all know, there are uncountable careers vital to the growth and survival of Australia’s agriculture industry. I’m not going to list them all here because that’s a waste of my time, and yours. Also to note, I don’t think my fingers would cope with the severe cramping that would ensue from the hours spent typing on a keyboard.

So let’s focus on one career. Teaching. It’s a no brainer. Teachers are pivotal to passing on critical farming and food education to our younger generation and future leaders. And I’m not just talking specifically about Agriculture, Food Technology and Home Economics teachers. I’m referring to ALL teachers. Generally speaking, teachers simplify the complex, and make abstract concepts accessible to students. Teachers also expose children to ideas and topics that they might otherwise not have come into contact with.

The beliefs and mental images that teachers have about agriculture likely influence what and how they integrate agriculture into their instruction. Building agriculture into the curricula brings learning to life. Educators have suggested that adding the concept of agriculture into the general curriculum would help students learn based upon the arguments of experiential learning, and authentic or applied learning in real-life situations. Teachers believe that agriculture provides situatedness, connectedness, and authenticity to teach their content areas to their students. Teachers are more likely to integrate ‘from paddock to plate’ themes into their classes if they have the abilities and knowledge to teach agricultural content, it will help them achieve teaching and learning goals, and the benefits outweigh the costs of integrating agricultural topics into existing content areas of an often over-crowded curriculum. Further, teachers are motivated if they believe they can perform the desired tasks and influence the teaching- learning process with positive outcomes.

Teachers are given the enormous responsibility of helping to open students’ eyes up to the endless opportunities out there in the world. To encourage them to ask: ‘Where does food come from?’ To assist them to make suitable career choices and eat well for a happy and healthy future.

So let’s help the teachers to help our children. From Paddock to Plate offers training courses for teachers who want to build confidence in teaching food education to their students. Our lesson plans include instructions, vocabulary, research, information and facts to ensure teachers have all the tools they need to implement our food schools program into their curriculum, sustainably. And remember, I’m not just talking about Agriculture teachers. I’m talking about Science, English, Geography, Maths, Design & Technologies and History teachers. That’s right… you. All teachers can use From Paddock to Plate.

Image: From Paddock to Plate students from Great Southern Grammar, WA.