Georgian educators' perceptions and outlooks on education, agriculture, and agricultural education.

摘要

This study describes selected characteristics of selected educators in Georgia, their perceptions concerning the "importance of" and their "ability to" perform instructional practices and activities, and to assess their views about trends and the future of education, agricultural education, and agriculture in Georgia. Both qualitative and quantitative methods were used to collect data from 13 teachers of agriculture. The participants attended a four-day professional development seminar in October 2006. Participating educators perceived that the "Rose Revolution" had a positive impact on the quality of education, the quality of life for teachers, and the economic status of farmers in Georgia. Seminar topics that participants indicated held the greatest importance included "brain-based learning," "experiential learning," "student evaluation," and "effective teaching". Participants also believed they held the highest ability to implement principles related to "effective teaching," "instructional objectives," "day-to-day learning strategies," and "measuring student and programme success". Analysis of data revealed that the educators were eager about opportunities to further expand agricultural education course offerings and programmes in their schools.