Elementary School Teachers' Perception of Agricultural-Related Literature

Throughout the construction of the United States, agriculture and education have been closely intertwined?until recent years. In 1981, agricultural professionals, educators and policy makers noted the decline in standard agricultural curriculum and a need was established for accurate, realistic and representative materials of American agriculture for the classroom. This issue of agricultural literacy has become an imminent concern in today?s agricultural industry. With these rising concerns of agricultural literacy and the future of agriculture as a whole, this study was aimed at measuring and identifying elementary school educators? perceptions of the current agricultural literature that is available in their classrooms.

In order to assess the knowledge and perceptions of the agricultural-related literature in classrooms, a study of kindergarten through fourth grade teachers was performed. This study utilized a descriptive summated scale instrument. This study focused on elementary school teachers? perceptions of the available agricultural related literature in their classrooms. This study determined the educators? perceived accuracy of the literature as well as their perceived perceptions of the elementary school students? knowledge of modern day agriculture. The accuracies and inaccuracies of the literature, how the literature affects the students? knowledge of agriculture, and if the teachers perceive a need for agricultural literature in their classrooms were also identified through this descriptive survey. This paper explores these perceptions of agricultural-related literature as well as student knowledge of agriculture and makes recommendations for Agriculture in the Classroom programming.