"Let knowledge grow from more to more, But more of reverence
in us dwell;
That mind and soul, according well, May make one music as before."
- Tennyson
This Chapter introduces the origins, current issues and opportunities for the future of agricultural education as a component of environmental education. It builds on the discussion concerning universities and vocational training in LDCs while noting that past trends of LDC institutions following those of MDCs may be breaking down, and that relations between institutions should continue to change with the advent of new communication technologies.
Formal environmental education in MDCs preceded its development in LDCs. A primary form has been through agricultural education in its many guises. The pressure on agricultural education today can be appreciated through an understanding of history. The university tradition which has developed over the past seven centuries is one of the remarkable features of international life (Van den Bor et al, 1989). The clearly defined culture of universities which allowed peripatetic scholars to roam Europe in medieval times continues to allow modern academics to move between countries, largely unaffected by the limitations of language, religion and politics or culture. It is within this international culture, which potentially extends to all countries, that agricultural education first developed during the 1600s.
An essay attributed to Cressy Dymock published in London in 1651 includes
a proposal ...
for the erecting of a Colledge of Husbandry and in order thereto for
the taking in of Pupills or Apprentices and alfo Friends or Fellowes of
the same Colledge or Society ...
The Institute of Agricultural History at the University of Reading dates the opening of the Academio Dei George in Florence at 1753 (Creasey, 1995) and Beveridge (1991) records a Chair in Agriculture as being established at the University of Padua in 1764. One summary of the early history of agricultural education may be styled The True (1929) History of Agricultural Education.
| The True (1929) History of Agricultural Education
Ferindand Kindermann (1740-1801), a Bohemian, sometimes called "father of industrial education", under the patronage of Maria Theresa, founded an elementary school in which agriculture, music, and religion were taught along with the three R's. This plan was also followed in other schools. In Bohemia an agricultural school was opened at Tirnova in 1791. ... In Hungary agricultural schools were established at Zarvas in 1779; at Nagy- Michlos in 1786; the Georgicon Academy at Kezthely, founded in 1797, was for 50 years "the model agricultural college of Europe". ... Near the end of the eighteenth century Frederick the Great undertook the development of agricultural schools as a part of a broad plan for improving the agricultural condition of Prussia, and his example was followed by his successors. ... Albrecht Thaer (1752-1828) successfully engaged in practical and scientific farming, and when visitors to his farm at Celle, in Hanover, became numerous he began in 1802 to give them instruction, and this led to the establishment of the agricultural institute in that town. "In 1806 he founded the agricultural school at Moeglin, near Berlin, which became famous, and which was raised to the Royal Academy of Agriculture, 1824." ... In 1811 the academy at Tharandt, in Saxony, was founded and a little later than the agricultural college of the University of Leipzig. In Wurtemburg, the agricultural college of Hohenheim was founded in 1818, which had a large model farm. This institution was very successful and attracted much attention in other countries. ... About 1820 Matthieu de Dombasle founded at Roville, near Nancy, the first school of agriculture worthy of that name in France and almost entirely with private means maintained it for some time. In 1829 the school at Grignon and the following year the school at Grand- Jouan were founded by pupils of Dombasle and later became State schools. True (1929) |
Creasey (1995) traces the University of Hohenheim in Germany to its forebear, the Agricultural High School founded in 1818 and the French National School of Agriculture at Gignon to a foundation date of 1827. The origins of agricultural education in Europe appear to be either far-sighted university appointments or private initiatives, such as the formation of the first Italian school of agriculture. The latter, established by the Marquis Ridolfi in the 1830s (Saint-Martin, 1987), served the sons of farmers without the requirement for fees due to an apparent reluctance of farmers to pay for education.
The establishment of a Foundation Chair in Agriculture at Padua was followed by the establishment of a similar chair at the University of Edinburgh in 1790 (Fleming and Robertson, 1990). The first appointee at Edinburgh, Professor Andrew Coventry is regarded as the founder of the Scottish system of agricultural education. He was active in discussions with farmers, landowners, and students and has been described as a researcher and extension worker (Beveridge, 1991). The Scottish system provides an appropriate basis for describing the subsequent development of successful agricultural education systems. It was based on a philosophy that education, research and advisory activities were parts of a whole, an ethos which the Land Grant College (LGC) system of the USA was to progressively adopt.
Scotland: The Scottish system evolved to link colleges of agriculture established between 1899 and 1904 with the universities. The colleges had the objectives of maintaining a teaching institution for agriculture in different regions of Scotland and, providing extension teaching to associated counties. The linkages between colleges and universities continues today through selected joint appointments.
| Private Gain and Public Loss
The most serious cuts are the withdrawal of grants sustaining such advisory work and research and development as directly benefiting farming and industrial interests which, in the government's view, should pay the full cost for what they get. Clear-cut though the implementation of this kind of economy may seem to be, the very strength of the Scottish System, the interdependence of all its activities, suddenly became its greatest weakness as work promoting private gain had to be disentangled from that leading to public good. Williams (1989) |
Soon after the establishment of the colleges, agricultural research institutes were established such as the Rowett in 1912. This completed an integrated system of research, teaching and extension, with staff who could accept responsibilities beyond their nominated institutions. As Beveridge (1991) notes, ... since the second World War a complete network of field advisory officers and staff covering all of Scotland has developed and been administered from the Colleges, while, within the Colleges wide-ranging specialist backup services have been built. ... Recent revisions to the system have led to the privatizing of advisory services, centralizing of college administration, and a commodity focus for research. These changes are seen by some as a Private Gain and Public Loss.
United States of America: The agricultural education system of the USA is widely recognized as having been a major contributor to agricultural development in that country and beyond. The so-called Land Grant Colleges evolved to integrate research, teaching and extension activities within each state. While it is sometimes suggested that the concept was developed with foresight in the late 1700s, the original concept was for teaching in rural areas to which a research function was subsequently added, and later a formal extension activity. As Penders (1971) observes, the extension function was added in recognition of the need to extend educational activities to those unable to attend colleges, and to ensure the dissemination of research results from the universities and related research stations.
| Land Grant Colleges
The LGC system ... has contributed substantially to the economic growth of the nation, led the research and application of science to agriculture and other fields, supported elements of national security and adapted to changing societal needs over a period of some 130 years. It is not possible for other institutions or nations to readily duplicate the LGC system. ... LGCs are so named from the initial federal legislation (the first Morrill Act, 1862) which granted land to States for sale in support of at least one college of agriculture and mechanical arts among other disciplines. A subsequent act (the Hatch Act, 1887) led to the creation of research facilities through the Agricultural Experiment Stations (AES) which were to form part of the LGCs. A further act (the second Morrill Act, 1890) provided a firmer funding base for LGCs and created additional LGCs for black persons in states continuing to practice racial segregation. The Cooperative Extension Service (CES) was added to LGCs (the Smith-Lever Act, 1914) to enhance the application of practical information beyond campuses. The recognized strength of the LGCs in integrating research, education and extension thus developed over a period of some 50 years, not as a single enlightened event ... (Falvey and Bardsley, 1995) |
Malone (1994) separates the development of LGCs into four phases. The first concerns their formation in the 1860s with the objective of developing the human resources necessary to support agricultural expansion. The second phase occurred under the influence of scientific and technological developments surrounding World War II which oriented colleges to research and technology development. The third phase built on the successes in science and technology and accommodated political imperatives to apply these resources to the well-being of citizens throughout the country. This was to be accomplished through continued research, promotion of scientific knowledge and talent in youth, stability of government funding for freedom of inquiry, and integration with wider social development issues. Through this period, an emphasis on technologies which advanced USA interests through the Cold War received priority. Once the Cold War threat was removed, funding for science and technology declined and the relevance of higher education and scientific research came under increasing government scrutiny. The fourth phase is that which is presently occurring - which Malone (1994) sees as ... forging a new social compact between the nations' universities and colleges and the several levels of government.
Both the Scottish and USA systems retain strong organizational links between research, teaching and extension. The separation which occurs in other countries between institutions responsible for research and extension and those responsible for research and education introduces additional costs and inefficiencies in the development and delivery of new information and may loosely termed The European System.
| The European System
There is no formal link between the Agricultural University on the one hand and applied agricultural research and rural extension on the other. This factor is explained by the European concept of university teaching which must be "free", that is, not socially committed. With the exception of Scotland, there is no tie between rural extension and the agricultural university in any other European country. Meanwhile a certain change has become noticeable in this respect: the Agricultural University in the Netherlands strives to obtain more freedom in agricultural research and is developing certain initiatives in order to be more directly concerned in the pre-service and post-graduate training of extension personnel. Penders (1971) |
While the Scottish (and possibly Northern Ireland) system, shares a philosophy with the USA, new systems developed elsewhere, such as in Australia, perpetuated a separation of functions.
Australia: Agricultural education in Australia followed similar developments in the United Kingdom and its colonies. Colleges of Agriculture were established in South Australia [1885] and Victoria [1886] and subsequently in other states. Tribe and Peel (1989) observe that colleges were established to train young people for farming as indicated in a Hawkesbury College prospectus the primary objective ... is to train young men in the practice and science of agriculture, and as far as possible to fit them for the profitable management of farms.
In recent decades, colleges have progressively separated from their forming State Departments of Agriculture to merge into universities, some retaining their focus on vocational education. During the early part of this century, universities began the establishment of faculties of agriculture, an event which in itself had an impact on the development of the existing agricultural colleges. Interactions between Colleges and Universities were initially common as indicated in the statement of Sir Samuel Wadham.
| Colleges and Universities
In Adelaide, Roseworthy Agricultural College became formally associated with the University [of Adelaide] in 1905 when students with the college diploma, who had matriculated, were given status in the Faculty of Science, and permitted to take a B.Sc. degree after passing a special two year course, while science students could spend two years at the college in partial fulfillment of the requirements of that degree. The course did not make much progress until the foundation of the Waite Institute in 1924 led to a great upsurge of interest in the subject. Melbourne went a stage further in 1905 and created a faculty: however, this had no special staff until 1911, when the State Government provided 1,000 pounds a year for five years for the salary of the first professor, the late Dr. T. Cherry, whose appointment lapsed in 1916 while he was on active service overseas. Wadham (1951) |
Linkages between Australia and the USA can be seen in the history of Australia's agricultural education. The establishment of colleges, notably Dookie and Longerenong in the State of Victoria, owe much to local interest in the establishment of LGCs in the USA. However, subsequent events in Australia, in particular economic hardship in the depression of the 1890s, led to different levels of development of agriculture in the two countries. Once universities were established, remnants of USA influence reduced, and Australian graduates entering post-graduate education commonly studied in the United Kingdom, although this shifted gradually towards the USA over time. With the establishment of Ph.D. degrees in Australia, initially at the universities of Melbourne and Sydney in the 1940s, interaction between the systems declined and the proportion of Australian students holding graduate degrees from Australia progressively rose.
In the post-World War II period, increased Federal and State funding led to greater emphasis being placed on vocational courses in the sciences and social sciences and on research. A trend to produce students who were useful upon graduation was seen as inevitable in applied fields such as agriculture, medicine, law and teaching (Rowe, 1960).
Reeve et al (1988) traced the origins of agricultural education in Australia through to the development of environmental education. Rising environmental consciousness among staff and students in Australian institutions produced a bias against study of the physical sciences (Bessant, 1978) in the short term, and in the longer term, influenced course structure and content. Shifts in employment opportunities as well as perceptions of the need for environmental studies affected subject areas such as geography and planning.
The transition from agricultural to environmental courses has not necessarily been smooth and has only just begun. The logic which suggests that agricultural education should conceive itself as a major element in natural resource management education is confirmed by the number of institutions which now offer courses styled as natural resource management. Nevertheless, some persons believe that the science base of agricultural education limits its ability to evolve into the broader environmental sphere. Orr (1994) for example, sees traditional streams of education as biasing the approach which can be taken to an integrated subject such as the environment; he would prefer Liberal Arts Agriculture. The purposeful inter-relationship developed in agricultural courses suggests that Orr's criticism may not be universally correct. It also suggests that, the essential integrity of those agricultural courses which seek to promote interactions between social, economic, technical and political effects on agriculture, should provide a sound basis for broadly based environmental education. However, one impediment to a simple shift from agriculture to natural resource management education is the image of agriculture in the broader society.
| Liberal Arts Agriculture
The modern agricultural dilemma began when agricultural sciences were isolated in research institutions and from there evolved into technical disciplines whose purpose was to do one thing: increase production. Consequently they were not rooted in any coherent and sustainable social, philosophical, political, and ecological context which would have meant doing many things simultaneously. In this setting a great many assumptions about nature, technology, farming, rural life, and the consequences of applying industrial techniques to complex biological and cultural systems went unchallenged. ... It might have been very different had agriculture evolved instead within liberal arts colleges. Instead of becoming a series of disjointed technical specialities, agriculture might have come to be regarded, and rightly so, as a liberal art with technical aspects. In this context of liberal arts colleges, agriculturists might have learned to see farming not as a production problem to be fixed, but as a more complex activity, at once cultural, ethical, ecological, and political. Orr (1994) |
There is a stereotyped perception, as identified by Meyers (1993), that agriculture is represented by farming. While staff within agricultural institutions may view such public perceptions as being based on ignorance and consider that those who care to be informed can see a wider picture, government funding critical to most agricultural education systems, is increasingly influenced by such public perceptions. The situation can reach counter-productive levels with the public believing that Agriculture is Irrelevant.
Gherty (1995) in his presentation to the American Dairy Science Association highlighted the need for industry and universities to work together to counter image problems. However, such approaches as are now becoming more common tend to focus on immediate problems of those engaged in today's production agriculture. There remains a need for recognition of the concerns of the general public in environmental terms and, indeed, a role in educating the broader public about the realities of agricultural production and environmental care.
| Agriculture is Irrelevant
The public, for example, tends to see agriculture as a competitor for natural resources - land, air, and water - and fails to appreciate that these same natural resources ensure a reliable supply of high quality food at reasonable prices. [LGCs] are generally seen as concerned with the special interests of farming and business, not with food supply and nutrition. That is to say, colleges of agriculture would generally be classified as irrelevant by the American public. Meyer (1993) |
Image problems may stem from both current and historical agricultural practices. However, it makes no sense to criticize past practices in the light of today's new knowledge. As pointed out by Egan and Wilson (1995), the best agricultural management practices of any particular time have usually been those utilized. Notwithstanding such a generalization, disasters have occurred. Tribe and Peel (1989) provide a history of agricultural development in Australia and highlight the natural resource disasters which occurred through ignorance of development in a new environment. Rapid levels of innovation and recognition of the need for research and education derived from such circumstances - a case of Learning Fast.
The poor image of agriculture has not been assisted by the relative neglect of farmer education. This has allowed interested parties to criticize the knowledge levels of persons charged with managing the bulk of most countries' terrestrial resources. Campbell (1983) claims distressingly low levels of farmer education in Australia in the face of evidence pointing to its link to the adoption of new practices. In the 1960s, less than two per cent of the 6,000 to 8,000 persons entering farming in Australia each year had any formal post- secondary education. This figure was the lowest proportionally among developed countries (UNCSTD, 1979).
Campbell (1983) anxiously countered the erroneous conclusion of UNCSTD (1979) that low levels of tertiary education and high levels of productivity in Australia indicate that such education is unnecessary. He went further and notes that among the children of farmers it has been more common to take general degrees in the humanities rather than higher agricultural education, because agricultural education was seen to have been picked up by growing up on family properties. While Campbell did not place this in a wider environmental context, if he had done so, he may have been able to make an even stronger case for higher levels of education among those who are charged with the responsibility of managing natural resources. The general public, with its rising concern over management of the environment, will be less likely to allow land and water management to be practiced on the basis of inherited knowledge - it may either require confidence in broadly based knowledge of factors beyond the technical aspects of production agriculture, or insist on the introduction of regulations over the activities of agriculturists.
| Learning Fast
By the middle of the last century the lack of valid and precise criteria for measuring natural resources led to disastrous attempts to over-extend the cultivations into unsuitable marginal lands and these experiences resulted in the first development of scientific methods of using natural vegetation as a guide to climatic boundaries. In particular, Goyder's use of natural vegetation to delimit areas of South Australia for arable farming was a major advance. The importance of seasonal weather patterns and their association with particular crops became generally recognized and with this recognition came the development of State, and later Commonwealth, meteorological stations. The establishment of station networks was particularly important [and facilitated] rural settlements between about 1870 and 1910. ... Prior to the turn of the century, soil and land descriptions were based on simple and variable criteria but, between 1900 and 1910, the first use of standardized soil and land descriptions appeared. Tribe and Peel (1989) |
The importance of informal and vocational education in Australia suggests that statistical generalizations do not provide an accurate indication of the depth of education of those engaged in agriculture. The figures of Table 6.1 which compare educational participation in OECD countries indicate wide variations between countries and should warn us against extrapolation. It is also conceivable that low participation rates of farmers in education may be of slightly less concern where there is a well-trained service sector for agriculture.
Meyer (1992) discusses the historical origins of the USA LGCs and their problem-solving approach to education and research. By implication, one assumes that LGCs have maintained a close contact between the public and universities. However, with the decreased proportion of the population required for agricultural production, an outcome of technological innovation itself, the link with the wider population has also been lost in these institutions. The fact that this linkage has broken down also suggests that the focus of such education is large scale production agriculture. The general public is becoming aware that, as Wofsey (1995) noted ... good environmental decisions require a good knowledge base. While arguing for sound environmental research utilizing principles developed in the applied sciences, Wofsey's comments can be extended to include the need for sound scientific and sociological education in environmental principles.
Table 6.1 Educational Performance in 1991: Selected OECD Countries (OECD, 1993)
| Country | Tertiary Qualifications (% of persons) | Participation (%) in University Education | Natural Science Degrees (%) | Engineering Degrees (%) |
| Australia | 31 | 18.3 | 14.1 | 5.3 |
| Canada | 40 | 20.8 | 6.0 | 6.5 |
| France | 15 | 21.7 | ||
| Germany | 22 | 9.3 | 9.1 | 18.9 |
| Japan | 15.9 | 2.9 | 22.8 | |
| Netherlands | 20 | 9.6 | 7.6 | 13.1 |
| New Zealand | 23 | 17.5 | 8.3 | 4.9 |
| United Kingdom | 16 | 13.8 | 10.0 | 10.7 |
| USA | 36 | 25.5 | 4.7 | 7.1 |
| OECD Mean | 19 | 17.5 | 7.4 | 12.1 |
It is clear that change is occurring in agricultural and environmental education. The further changes needed, particularly for agricultural education to become a primary focus for a natural resource management, are discussed more fully in the next section.
The circumstances surrounding agricultural and related education have changed significantly since the traditional approaches to education for the sector were designed. Changes continue and the need for a responsive approach oriented to client needs is clear. Some of the many changes that are occurring include: declining state funding; allocating costs according to perceived private benefits with state funding focusing on areas of wider public good; possible oversupply as a result of a boom in recent decades in the number of institutions and courses serving the sector; increased public interest in and demand for access to education, and the emergence of regionally based institutions as entry points to an increasingly integrated system.
The magnitude of attitudinal changes and the results of a drift towards agribusiness in preference to interaction with the general public are two of several factors giving rise to concerns about future directions for USA universities (NASULGC, 1993). Anderson (1994) has identified further societal changes of relevance and outlined a reform in an agricultural course which will have ramifications beyond its university in New Zealand. The small and competitive nature of universities involved in agriculture noted in one Australian study (Derera et al, 1994) is a constraint to responding to industry needs and to a unified system to service the sector. The integration of vocational and university levels of agricultural education and interaction with and ownership by stakeholders involving the largest provider in Australia appears to be meeting the challenges of declining government funding and popularity among students (Falvey and Bardsley, 1995).
Gherty (1995) defines the changing context for agricultural education - Change of Life - in terms of economic shifts of the production base, in his example for the dairy industry, and expansion of information availability. As a consequence of change, it is impossible to maintain a curriculum that is up-to-date in all technological areas. For these reasons, industry may prefer to have universities produce well rounded students with such skills as:
| Change of Life
- the speed of change is propelling you toward an even more vital future. Pause, if you would, and think about just how fast things are changing. By tomorrow morning there will be [in the USA] 33 fewer dairy operations, nearly 300 fewer cows in production, 55 brand new food products in US grocery stores, and 246,000 more mouths to feed world-wide, including 7,000 here in the US. And, for those of you working to keep up with your reading, there will be 150 new books on the market, and the total volume of information available in print or electronic form will have increased by six per cent. As the world around us changes and the volume of information increases, we are clearly moving into an age where knowledge is increasingly valuable in the marketplace and in the workplace. Gherty (1995) |
Surveys of the expected future requirements for agricultural education identify the main areas as; closer liaison with agricultural industries, skills in financial and risk management, communication skills and marketing (Falvey, 1996; Kilpatrick 1996). Incongruous objectives appear to arise from such investigations, such as the need for a graduate to be immediately employable equipped with useful skills in contrast to the need for appreciation of general principles. Trends towards informal, whole-of-life and flexible modules in delivery of agricultural courses appear to be common across a range of countries.
Addressing industry requirements while at the same time acknowledging environmental concerns, is an appropriate future role for agricultural education (Shute, 1989). However, this can lead to a narrow focus on minimizing environmental effects within a production paradigm. Perhaps a broader approach of natural resource management might allow more effective consideration of alternative practices on any given area of land. Malone's (1994) solution to renewal in agricultural education is to focus on interdisciplinary activities, industry and new technologies - a Cascade of Knowledge.
| Cascade of Knowledge
Successful global development of this cascade will require: Fostering interdisciplinary collaboration of unprecedented intensity among physical, biological, and social scientists, engineers, mathematicians and scholars in the humanities. Forging new modes of communication among academia, business and industry, the several levels of government, and private organizations at both national and international levels. Marshaling the emerging technologies of computers and communications to create national and global audiovisual networks among individuals and institutions. Malone (1994) |
The decline in need for agricultural workers is not a directional force on agricultural education as much as it is a shift in the mode of agricultural education. From an industry perspective (for example, Gherty, 1995) the primary strategies for improvements in agricultural education may well be; a commitment to a customer focus, development of a clear vision, development of core competencies, attainment of the critical mass necessary to succeed, a commitment to continuous improvement, and a focus on teamwork. However, there is a wider context than industry alone in Educating Future Agricultural Scientists. We must go beyond disciplinary competence and include an ability to integrate all of those disciplines which impact upon the environment. Reassessing the conceptual approach to agricultural education is, what Roberts (1991) has termed the new education.
| Educating Future Agricultural Scientists
For the United States to remain a leader in agricultural production and to continue to compete successfully in an international market into the next century, we must develop agricultural scientists and teachers who are outstanding in their disciplines, culturally diverse, and competent in global issues. American agriculture for the twenty-first century needs a well trained labor force capable of lifelong learning in a world of rapid and variable change. We need intellectual capital from all segments of our society. We need institutional environments that bring together the nation's best scientists and educators who operate in multi-disciplinary modes to address the increasingly complex problems facing our agricultural and natural resource systems. And we need access to knowledge and expertise worldwide. USDA (1995) |
Roberts (1991) argues that the element of ethical behavior has been lost within a Keynesian economic approach to production and markets. Assessments of agricultural education are commonly narrow as a result of their focus on modifying existing systems progressively and accommodating new political imperatives which are commonly financial in nature. Roberts asks: can such values be nurtured by university programs like the Harvard's "moral reasoning and social analysis"? Roberts presents the three challenges of:
These far reaching suggestions may be difficult for some concerned with agricultural education to accommodate within their current courses. However, their genesis may be seen in the well integrated agricultural science courses in subjects and profiles such as agricultural communication, rural development, natural resource management, animal welfare, psychology, and welfare and resource economics. From such beginnings could grow an all-embracing approach to environmental management with some additional supplementation of historical context and environmental ethics. The difference is that between The Joy of Conquest over nature and living within an understanding of nature.
| The Joy of Conquest Men will unite to get everything life can give, but only for joy and happiness in this world alone. Men will be exalted with the spirit of divine, titanic pride, and the man-God will make his appearance. Extending his conquest over nature infinitely every hour by his will and science, man will every hour by that very fact feel so lofty a joy that it will make up for all his old hopes of the joys of heaven. Dostoyevsky (1982 reprint) |
Meyer (1993) quotes Keynes - the difficulty lies not in new ideas, but in escaping from old ones. The old, and indeed present, ideas of agricultural education include such factors as a production bias, inadequate accommodation of social factors - particularly those of the community at large, and consideration of environmental matters as merely a supplement to the disciplines underpinning agricultural production.
Existing agricultural education systems are commonly described as integrating disciplines to provide a sound understanding of soils plants and animals in ecosystems.
Similarly, institutional arrangements for agricultural education reflect a sometimes unwitting focus on production agriculture. For example, organizational arrangements within the LGCs reflect the functions of research, teaching and extension oriented to production agriculture as distinct from institutional integration of disciplines around ecosystem and social themes.
The functions of LGCs which are important to their organizational structure
are; Academic Programs (AP), Research (AES) and Extension (CES). International
Programs was often added to these as a functional area to coordinate the
large inputs to USAID through LGCs. However, with major contraction and
redirection of such USAID programs, the role of International Programs
is being redefined in various ways, one of which is the development of
relations with peer institutions in other countries. Organizational structures
surrounding the main three functional areas have been documented for NASULGC
(1993) through a survey of Directors of AES and CES functions in each state
and territory. Four distinct organizational categories were determined
in the 50 states and four territories. These were:
Focused on Agriculture, Centralized: - in which AP, AES and CES
are equal functions reporting to a single administrator who reports to
the provost or vice president. The integrated structure is commonly referred
to as a college or institute within the university. The structure is seen
to have strengths in its integrated agricultural focus and weaknesses in
entering into interdisciplinary approaches outside the college or institute.
Focused on Agriculture, Geographically Decentralized: - in which
the competing interests of activities and remote campuses are recognized.
AES and CES functions are integrated at each site and form part of a college
or institute while AP is coordinated centrally. The strengths and weaknesses
of this approach are seen to be the same as those of the previous approach.
Partial Separation from Agriculture: - in which one of the functions
is separated from the others, usually although not exclusively, AP. The
structure commonly arises from attempts to bring a function close to related
functions such as AP to other academic programs or CES to other outreach
programs. The system has strengths of building strong internal university
linkages for the function concerned and weaknesses in the agricultural
knowledge continuum.
Full Separation from the Agricultural Core: - in which each of the
three functions are aligned with similar functions rather than with each
other. Each function reports through its own director to the university
president. This system is seen to have strengths of developing each function
to high levels and weaknesses of inhibiting the integrated approach for
which LGCs are well known. The past successes of the LGC system are considered
to be in jeopardy by many analysts today.
Within the USA system, and possibly to a greater extent in institutionally separated systems, recurrent criticisms of the second cousin status (Yabsley, 1982) accorded extension have stimulated organizational rearrangements and re-emphases. Such attention by management to organizational arrangements can cause a shift of attention from the larger evolving picture. It can lead to an orientation of repairing today's apparent problems, sometimes against past injustices, while ignoring significant shifts in the requirements and responsibilities of agricultural education. We are in such a situation today in which we must view the wider framework in which agricultural education is now offered - and must be modified to be more useful in the future.
One recurring argument within agricultural education is the relative muddiness of the boots of agricultural scientists. Campbell (1983) eloquently argues against both this absolute requirement and statements that agricultural education institutions should be located in rural areas. The integrated nature of the natural and social sciences which form agricultural education necessarily draw from a wide range of faculties in large universities. Outside the USA, such institutions are not commonly based in rural areas. Just as Campbell (1983) noted the distraction that outdated arguments provided from getting on with that day's task, so re- organizational arrangements relating to research, teaching and extension, may divert attention from the larger shifts occurring globally. Such a shift today may be a tempering of The Industrial Metaphor. Another change is electronic communication leading to a reconsideration of the relevance of physical location. The direction of shift can lead to agricultural education either being marginalized as a component of business and science, or to it becoming the principal integrator of disciplines essential to responsible natural resource management.
| The Industrial Metaphor
Since 1945, mainstream agriculture, by which I mean that espoused by agronomy departments in Land Grant Universities, the United States Department of Agriculture, and major farm organizations - has pursued a model of agriculture based on the industrial metaphor. Its goal has been to join land, labor, and capital in ways that maximize productivity. Farming is regarded, not as a way of life but as a business. Like other businesses, this has led to highly specialized farmers that grow one or two crops, or raise thousands of animals in automotive confinement facilities. Like other businesses, agribusiness invested heavily in technology, became dependent on "inputs" of chemicals, fertilizer, feed, and energy, and went heavily into debt to finance it all. Farmers were advised to plow fence-row to fence-row, buy out their less efficient neighbors, substitute monoculture for crop diversity, cut down windbreaks, and replace people with machinery. Orr (1992) |
The very causes of the success of USA universities in servicing production agriculture lead to the criticisms that they have not been environmentally conscious and that their services have not been offered on an equitable basis. Hightower (1973) criticizes the promotion of agricultural technology and the concentration of service on the highest income farmers without paying attention to the problems of poor farmers and rural communities. The debate continues in both MDCs and LDCs as to whether organizations funded by a government should be directed towards those who can look after themselves or pay for services or to those persons who are in need of their assistance. In part, debate is stimulated by the structural adjustment occurring in most economies which impacts particularly on small rural communities. The issue is an old one as indicated from statements of Bailey (1911) when he was Dean of the College of Agriculture at Cornell University and noted a bias towards assisting those farmers better able to demonstrate success.
A series of analyses conducted by Meyer (1995) concerning a change in direction of LGCs notes that a general approach to change needs to be based on such common understandings of such matters as :
Instituting change under such conditions represents a challenge uncommon in other institutions. Yet the very nature of universities requires that essential elements be retained lest the universities simply become replicas of professional consulting companies or training schools.
A separate study notes the need for a clear vision and leadership and management skills to effect any change in agricultural education institutions. The bases for the changes considered in his study were population shifts from rural to urban areas, the international as distinct from national character of economies, the declining political influence of agriculture, and the realization that the natural resources of soil, land, and water are not the preserve of agriculture alone. Meyer (1992) questions whether the LGCs of today are, in fact, ... academic crown jewels or country cousins. The need to address issues within the natural resources management sphere, while remaining part of larger institutions, represents a balance which must be managed in today's agricultural institutions.
In testing various missions of LGCs, Meyer (1992) noted wide divergence in apparent approaches to both the present and future. The future represented some conflict between building on the existing agricultural base (52 per cent of respondents) compared to expanding beyond the agricultural base (26 percent). The latter view is represented in the statements of one respondent that the future mission will focus on environmental issues, economic considerations and urban problems, as well as rural and production agricultural concerns. Such responses may cause concern among those who consider there is an urgent need to broaden agricultural education to take a natural resource management perspective. Malone (1994) commenting on the same general issue quotes the need for a broad vision (Proverbs 28:18) where there is no vision, the people will perish. He believes that concerned persons must share a vision before any significant change can be made to agricultural education institutions. The history of these institutions in fact indicates Constant Change and the current groundswell and rising awareness of the need for change suggests that the USA may lead in defining a new role for agricultural education.
| Constant Change
American higher education has never been static. For more than 350 years, it has shaped its programs in response to the changing social context. And as we look at today's world, where there [are] disturbingly complicated problems [such as in] higher learning, we conclude [that we] must, once again adapt. It would be foolhardy not to reaffirm the accomplishments of the past. Yet, even the best of our institutions must continually evolve. And to sustain the vitality of higher education in our time, a new vision of scholarship is required, one dedicated not only to the renewal of the academy, but ultimately to the renewal of society itself. ... Higher education's vision must be widened if the nation is to be rescued from problems that threaten to diminish the quality of life we need scholars who not only skillfully explore the frontiers of knowledge but also integrate ideas, connect thought to action and inspire students. Ernest L. Boyer quoted in Malone (1994) |
Two factors which continue to confound discussions about the future of agricultural education within a natural resource management context are the relative levels of vocationally oriented subjects in agricultural courses, and the rising influence of the urban populace on matters relating to agriculture.
The difference between vocational and university education for agriculture may not be as clear as is commonly assumed. Eddy (1956) noted that the LGCs have developed from institutions which were little more than trade schools. Likewise in Australia, Campbell (1983) noted that agricultural colleges have progressively been upgraded to become degree granting institutions somewhat akin to university faculties of agriculture. However, Campbell applauds the two states of Victoria and Western Australia for standing against this trend and retaining skills-based vocational education as a primary focus in agricultural colleges to complement the integrated science-based offerings of universities. Falvey and Bardsley (1995) in discussing the revitalization of agricultural education in the Australian university system identify the need for distinct and high quality skills-based courses and degree courses with pathways between the two. They also note features from the LGC system worthy of emulation; one of these was the practical orientation to agriculture maintained through industry involvement.
Agricultural education may be perceived as a vocationally-oriented professional education. The separation of funding and organizational arrangements between university and vocational education in many countries introduces an artificial barrier which requires innovative management to overcome. Nevertheless, we must acknowledge the essential difference between skills-based training and the acquisition of general knowledge for integrating a range of disciplines. Universities can accommodate a shift of agricultural education to natural resource management education, while vocational education must adopt a focus on skills known to be appropriate at a particular time for agriculture within that construct. Orr (1994) distinguishes the kinds of knowledge needed to build a sustainable society as either intelligence or cleverness. He equates intelligence with long range aims associated with integration of all components while cleverness takes a shorter term approach which fragments intelligence. He personifies cleverness as the rational technician informed about technologies and methodologies yet unconcerned and uninformed about the wider picture in which these activities take place. If one accepts this perspective, there is a clear need to introduce a wider understanding in both university and vocational courses.
The above distinctions are reinforced in discussions concerning technical agricultural education. Hall (1972) notes that skills training is commonly dropped when cut backs and rationalizations occur in agricultural education within the integrated Scottish system. He also notes that the long term well-being of vocational agricultural education requires an annual recruitment of good university graduates - thereby suggesting that teachers in vocational institutions require a breadth of knowledge to understand the application of skills even if the curricula of such courses is more oriented to technologies and skills. Within Australia, separate funding mechanisms apply to vocational and university education yet recent policy decisions have amalgamated institutions offering both types of education and training, thereby heralding a period of greater integration of courses.
Preconceptions as to the distinctions between training and education lead to confusion as to the roles of institutions. In arguing for strengthening of vocational education nearly 25 years ago, Hall (1972) noted that pressure on university under-graduate training for graduates to be job-ready has already vocationalized university education in Australia far more than is admitted, and that the LGCs of the USA have never shied away from such a vocational orientation.
Fite (1981) has noted a general trend towards better educated farmers becoming more efficient, consuming their neighbors' farms and the associated decline in rural populations. Commercial farmers have become a minority of American society and their political influence has waned as a consequence. This places agricultural education institutions which service that sector in a vulnerable position, particularly when it is recognized that the majority of their funds come from government levies or taxes. Others have presented this in more alarming terms concerning the loss of personal and local knowledge about rural geography, life and indeed contact with the land. The Dean of Agriculture at Cornell University in the early part of this century, Liberty Hide Bailey, believed that it is essential to take special pains that all people, or as many of them as possible, shall have contact with the earth and that the earth's righteousness shall be abundantly taught ... Farm life taught the relationships between work and food, seasonal variations, biological diversity, and the concept of stewardship. The drift of persons from rural to urban areas is associated by many with a shift in societal values. In the case of Australia, Campbell (1983) has noted the benefits of urban and Country Contact.
| Country Contact
.. given the growing scission between city and country .. there would seem to be a need for greater emphasis to be given in high school social science curricula to promoting a better appreciation of the inter-dependence of the rural and urban sectors of the economy, of the role and aspirations of farmers and country people generally, and of the hazards with which they have to contend. Conscious efforts in this direction seem to be vitally necessary in such a highly urbanized society. Campbell (1983) |
It is curious that in discussions of this social phenomenon, various commentators refer to the loss of political influence of agriculture and agricultural education in the same breath as commenting about the value of land maintained by rural dwellers on behalf of society. With such a demographic shift, city-based agricultural education should feel even more confident of its progressive move towards a wider brief of natural resource management education.
Environmental education can be conceived in different ways, two of which are the modification of existing offerings such as agricultural education to meet wider societal requirements, and a completely new way of thinking. The second is reminiscent of the parallel thinking of de Bono (1995) which may give rise to such questions as to the type of intelligence that should be sought within University education. Orr (1992) expresses concern about the manner in which such important areas as harmony with nature are considered in all existing educational structures.
Groups concerned with completely new approaches to environmental education should also be concerned with the influence of government and industry financing of education and research. From such concern arises such questions as - why do we seem to know so much more about chemical as distinct from other means of pest control? These questions are useful means of analyzing the sources of information and biases which may exist in the production and education systems surrounding agriculture. However, such questions evoke strong emotions which may cloud real consideration of their intent. Orr (1992) advocates alternative modes for understanding ecosystems through integrative science supported by personal holistic world-views. This can lead to the dangerous situation of environmental education being classified as a new discipline with specific courses, units or departments created to cater for it. Institutional rigidities seem to favor such structural approaches. This may in fact perpetuate some of the deficiencies highlighted by the movement to introduce an environmental appreciation and understanding in existing education.
In common with a growing group of thinkers, Orr (1994) challenges our conception of nature as something to be dominated, and calls for something like ecological enlightenment through Environmental Politics.
The type of renaissance thinking called for in this approach is difficult to conceive as having institutional origins. Perhaps we should be satisfied if our existing institutions adapt to such new ways of thinking in a timely manner. Thus, the practical outcomes of such deliberations may be some blending of humanities with pure and applied sciences. Some institutions will adapt before others and the more traditional ones will be the slower to respond to such concerns as (Orr, 1992):
| Environmental Politics
Environmental education is unavoidably political. At the heart of the issue is the total demand humans make on the biosphere and the way we have organized the flows of energy, water, material, food, and wastes, which in turn affects what political scientists define as the essential issues of politics: "who gets what, when, and how?" The symptoms of environmental deterioration are in the domain of the natural sciences but the causes lie in the realm of the social sciences and humanities. To assume that technology will absolve us from our own folly is only to compound the error. Whatever its many advantages, technology has varying political, social, economic, and ecological implications that we are now only beginning to recognize. Without political, social, and value changes, no technology will make us sustainable. More to the point, do we equip students morally and intellectually to be a part of the existing pattern of corporate-dominated resource flows, or to take part in reshaping these patterns toward greater sustainability? These represent two very different visions of post-industrial society and two very different orientations to the political realm. Orr (1992) |
In Europe, environmental education is developing at different paces in different countries and institutions (Kuenen, 1986). At some universities it is interpreted to be a field which requires simple renaming of courses and units. Even where the content of courses is changed, the issue of interdisciplinary teaching and research remains a challenge as does the inclusion of political concerns and influences. The absence of such an approach at secondary level places an additional constraint on the teaching of environmental matters on an integrated basis at tertiary level. Moreover, the disciplinary base of universities leads to proponents of environmental education basing it on a particular discipline. Biological Integration, such as used in the biological or agricultural sciences may be an appropriate mechanism for building such courses.
| Biological Integration
Some consider the biological approach and in particular the principles of nature conservation to be the central point of reference for all considerations. There is sound reasoning behind this. Man, being in so many ways comparable to animals, should observe the influence of pollution as seen in animals. Also, it can be maintained that many of the effects of pollution are of a biological nature and that therefore nature conservation and its inherent research, on the one hand, leads to the understanding of the pollution process and, on the other hand warns of the dangers as yet not manifest in man himself Pollution of the environment can be defined as the interference with, or the interruption of, biological cycles. Kuenen (1986) |
The benefits of a closer association with the earth are argued by a number of environmental education thinkers. Such discussions have some parallels in discussions concerning changes in agricultural education and a progressive separation of students from practical activities. The wider societal implications of separation from the earth and manual labor is said by some to be related to underlying changes in societal values which, by implication, are assumed to be undesirable. Such beliefs have formed part of the redevelopment of Israel for example, where physical work and education were combined with Singing to the Soil to apparent effect in instilling such values.
| Singing to the Soil
Epstein believed in physical work as part of national education: "There is nothing like working in the field to develop body movement. The child at first needs to be trained in large, rough movements in order to develop the senses." Hurgin attests to his didactic and national work thus: "Do you know how to sow garlic? - Epstein sings to his pupils in the garden, and, right there, plants the fork in the ground and carries out the act of sowing as he points out the name of everything. And, thus, together with the melody, with the teacher's pleasant voice and the smell of the earth and its secrets, the [Hebrew] language is absorbed into the soul of the child as an experience, by the emotions and brain and all its senses." Dror (1993) |
Six principles important to the rethinking of education as it relates to the environment are (Orr,1994):
These principles form an interesting blend of the philosophies of integrated courses in applied sciences, such as agriculture and the underlying ethic of university education. To some, they will not seem distant from current realities in universities while to others they must appear as radical if environmental education is to be conceived in the manner proposed by Orr (1994).
Meyer (1992) in commenting on the LGCs during the current period of major transition concludes that emphasis will shift from production to food quality and environmental concerns. In a separate discussion, Meyer (1993) suggests that it is now opportune for universities to reduce their dependence on government and to develop self-managed missions consistent with the changed environment in which they must operate. Consultation with urban environmental and consumer groups will become an imperative with food production and environmental quality recognized as dual outputs of the agricultural and agricultural education systems. In striving Towards Relevance, the theme of Meyer's works is that the LGCs will never be the same.
| Towards Relevance
It becomes increasingly evident that changes in the agricultural industries, expanding general interests in environmental quality and food safety, competition for natural resources, and the pressure of a growing population will force the [LGCs] to address a broader interface of agricultural issues and issues relevant to society in general. A reduction in the focus on agriculture must be anticipated, along with an increase in emphasis on life sciences, food quality, environmental concerns and rural - urban interfaces. Meyer (1993) |
These changes are already occurring as is evidenced in the changes in the names of LGCs. However, the shift is not entirely from agriculture towards environment as is clear in Table 6.2. Such changes were occurring as early as the 1970s in the USA with the addition of environment or life sciences to the names of colleges at Davis and Madison, for example (Brien, 1977).
Table 6.2 Changes in Land Grant College Names (Meyer, 1992)
| NAME | 1962 (%) | 1974 (%) | 1988 (%) |
| Agriculture | 86 | 64 | 58 |
| + Home Economics | 14 | 8 | 8 |
| + Natural Resources | 0 | 6 | 8 |
| + Life Sciences | 0 | 14 | 14 |
| + Environment | 0 | 4 | 2 |
| Without Agriculture | 0 | 2 | 6 |
| Miscellaneous | 0 | 2 | 4 |
In Australia, Reeve et al (1988) have traced the origins of environmental education through the development of agricultural education to current offerings in environmental and agricultural fields. The implication underlying that analysis is that agricultural education will continue to expand to incorporate environmental education. A recent policy statement of the National Board of Employment, Education and Training (NBEET, 1995) provides confidence that this may occur through the application of ecologically sustainable development (ESD) principles to research funding in universities. By classifying research proposals into ESD neutral, weakly ESD, strongly ESD related and strongly ESD focused, projects attract differing levels of scrutiny in the application process and additional funding for high priority areas relating to the environment. Such Environmental Research Incentives are likely to be applied for the major research funding mechanisms in Australian Universities, the Australian Research Council (ARC), and may have wider application.
The question remains as to the target for education provided through agricultural institutions. If it is to be for wider environmental education, and if the current trend towards increasing numbers of students being drawn from urban backgrounds continues, then a broadly based natural resource management education may be appropriate. However, the Land Management Task Force in Australia (LMTF, 1995) raises the continuing concern of the low formal levels of education of those charged with managing the country's land resources - farmers. Poor access to formal institutions has been partly remedied through the provision of government extension services and electronic communications may now remove a further barrier - refer to Chapters 8 and 9. The Task Force concluded that higher education conferred advantages in economic terms in farm businesses, and that it did not matter whether it was wife or husband who had such education but rather that an ethos of ongoing learning had been instilled. The challenge to provide relevant education to agricultural producers continues to face agricultural educators. At the same time, the additional challenge of meeting the requirements of a broader education system also faced the same groups.
| Environmental Research Incentives
We believe that a methodology could be used effectively across a range of research programs beyond those funded by the ARC. By using such a monitoring process consistently and nationally, with periodic assessments, it would be possible to gauge the extent to which the national research effort is contributing to the national strategy for ESD. A consistent national approach in this area would provide an information base against which to make assessments of the relationship between the national strategy and the national research effort. Such broad information would better inform ESD- related policy decisions. NBEET (1995) |
Education for natural resource management in MDCs appears likely to develop from the agricultural education systems which have existed for centuries. These courses, where they have preserved their fundamental philosophy of integrating social and natural sciences in an applied manner provide a suitable basis for natural resource management education. Much of the above discussion has focused on the logic of expanding such agricultural education to represent environmental education within the specific interest of natural resource management. The threats of reduced funding resulting from low demand and relatively high costs to the public sector which face agricultural education, provide today's opportunity for such a shift in education emphasis. Agricultural education has shown a steady decline in popularity amongst entrants to university education, probably as a consequence of the major demographic shifts from rural to urban areas and lack of contact between the two. In such circumstances the logic of expanding agricultural education is supported by the imperative to modify agricultural education to serve a greater number of persons in the wider community. Extension and electronic communication are critical to this development.
The changes that will be made in agricultural education in MDCs will most likely influence those similar institutions in LDCs. However, as the pace of change in the world continues to accelerate, we can no longer expect LDCs to simply copy the experiences of MDCs. Developments in LDCs should now be seen as partnerships with MDCs using new communication technologies for peer interaction and exchange of courses and information. Organizations which link MDCs and LDCs in agricultural research and education include many international development agencies and the International Agricultural Research Centers of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) - these are discussed further in the following Chapter.
Transmission of values in all societies, in the form of knowledge, an enculturation, This is the origin of universities, Essential strong pillar of civilization. India's first university Nalanda, like Byzantine's, time can't erase, these great precursors of Bologna, Ravenna, and of Paris', Oxford's and even of today's. But if Padua's first faculty professor, to review today's arts and sciences was retained, he might reveal to his intimate confessor, that Aristotle's heritage was not maintained. That there's an absence of decorum and patrons, replaced by seemingly ungifted student hordes, acting as data-absorbing automatons, as if university no learning affords. That faculty staff are engrossed in paid research, which is not related to everyday teaching, their fear of censure, replacing past's fear of Church, as heights of mediocrity, they are reaching. That the impact of government and merchant power, on teaching, research and behavior scholarly, in requiring outputs, not ivory tower, Making university quite like factory. No longer elite, should he hang-head in sorrow? at access for all, as knowledge cast before breeze, Yet perhaps universities of tomorrow, are those with demanding post-graduate degrees. For of such would he in warm Padua regale, of personal excellence in fields quite awesome, of independent thought, he has sought as the Grail, Integrated with all knowledge, sancta santorum universum.
