Dianne Stuart

Enhancing Agricultural Education
across the Curriculum
Dianne Stuart
Queensland Agricultural Educators’ Conference
Rockhampton 14 January 2015
Presentation Overview
•
•
•
•
•
Introduction
Background – industry outlook
Misconceptions
Australian Government policy settings
AgriFood response –
– Food in the Curriculum
– Agriculture in Education
• Role for agriculture teachers
AgriFood Skills Australia - national body responsible for skills and
workforce development for the Australian agrifood industry and
regional Australia
• AgriFood works across the entire agrifood supply chain, providing a
nationally comprehensive ‘skills information brokerage’ role, translating
between industry, research, training providers and government
• AgriFood develops and implements workforce development strategies and
industry validated work standards to meet the current and emerging needs
of agrifood enterprises, employees and students.
Vision: the sustainable growth of Australia’s agrifood industry
through world class enterprise capability
Australia is endowed with
natural resources, progressive
farming practices, reputation
for quality produce and
geographic proximity to the
fastest growing markets.
Agriculture Industry Snapshot
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Value of production - $137b pa – 12% of GDP
93% of Australia’s domestic food supply
Exports - $30b annually
126,000 full-time farmers
Ag and related industries – 1.6m jobs
2.8% productivity growth – past 30 years
$500m pa in R&D
Reality Check - Agribusiness in Australia
• World’s driest continent
• Plenty of land, but limited ability to use it
productively – a constraint to agribusiness
• Farm sector’s share of national income down
from one-sixth of the economy in 1965 to just
one-fiftieth today
So, is there potential for optimism in the sector?
Can Australia catch the growing wave of demand
for higher value food products?
• World population – growing by 60 million people
pa over the next 20 years* – from 7 billion to 9
billion by 2050)
• Income growth in key emerging markets is
critical. As income grows, kilojoule demand
increases. Hence……..
• A switch to protein – from grains and cereals to
meat, dairy and vegetables
*Positioning for Prosperity – Catching the Next Wave – Deloittes 2014
‘Agribusiness is Australia’s forgotten
hero. The sector is ideally placed to
capitalise on a world-wide leap in
demand for higher-value food
products.’
(Deloitte, Building the Lucky Country, 2014)
Australia has what it takes
• A lower $A - benefit to exports – could drop to US80c
• Increasing demand for fresh high-quality products from
growing Asian and African middle class
• Food security – reputation for quality and supply reliability
• Ability to innovate – improve yields from poor and dry soils
• Increased productive capability from genetically modified
organism technology
• An expanding aquaculture industry
• Growth of on-food farms eg producing algae for fuel
• Enhanced land use from better managed and priced water
But there are Challenges
• Aging farming workforce (average age 52)
• Attraction of higher paying jobs – for younger family
members/farm workers
• Investment required - estimated $400b for farm ownership
transitions and a further $600b to improve productivity
• Shortage of suitably qualified agribusiness graduates -50% drop
in agricultural qualifications over last 10 years
• Rebuilding damaged trade relations eg live cattle to Indonesia
• Inadequate and inefficient infrastructure
• Pressures on arable land – urban fringes
• Climatic variation – shifting rainfall patterns
• Opposition to foreign investment and ownership of farmland
‘In the next 50 years we will need to produce as much
food as we have in the preceding ten thousand years’*
Generating significant social, environmental and economic challenges, requiring:
• Competent, confident and innovative responses
• Graduates with a sound understanding of agriculture, food systems and
environmental management
HENCE
• Growing demand for skilled graduates with agricultural knowledge
• Increased and varied career prospects
BUT
Many Australian universities are finding it hard to attract students to
their agricultural courses.
* Deloitte corporate video http://www.deloitte.com/view/en_AU/au/news-research/luckycountry/prosperity-nextwave/agribusiness/index.htm
Careers in agriculture are suffering a
severe image problem Agricultural educators have a vital
role to play.
Perceptions of the industry need to change
• Primary production (pre ‘farm gate’) – not a large employer less than 2% of workforce in developing countries;
• Agriculture and related industries – 1.6m in jobs in Australia – in
packaging, logistics, commerce and research;
• 50% of these in capital cities;
• Young people with an agriculture related university degree are
critical players;
• Graduates with highly developed problem solving and
communication skills are increasingly sought after by industry.
Misconception 1 - Agriculture equals
farming
• Hands-on farm related activities – fundamental but
small component of ‘agriculture’
• Just one of many varied processes needed for wellfunctioning agriculture and food systems
• Ability to generate new opportunities and innovation
increasingly viewed as critical skills for the sector
Agriculture is much broader than farming. Is a
fundamental pillar of the Australian economy
Misconception 2 - Agriculture is a single discipline
and can be taught like maths, chemistry etc
• The study of agriculture is by definition multidisciplinary
• It is increasingly trans-disciplinary - combining the study of
all the natural sciences, engineering, plus the social
sciences such as geography, economics, business and law.*
* Holger Meinke – Agriculture for the Curious, 2015
The Imperative: tell it how it is - the value chain
of on and off-farm businesses
Pre-farming
supply sector
On-farm
production
Post farm-gate
processing and
marketing
Associated advisory and financial sectors
Requires knowledge & practice of sustainable
land and whole landscape management
Includes humanitarian work - the International
Aid effort
Misconception 3 – Australia - ‘the future food
bowl of Asia’
An ill-informed notion – must be put in context
• current world population – 7 billion
• Estimated world population in 2050 – 9 billion
The reality:
• Current Australian population – 23 million – 0.3% of world
population;
• Australia can currently feed 60 million people – has land and
water resources to feed up to 200 million people
but this is just 3% of world population
Agribusiness: A Potential Productivity
Driver? Only if we….
•
•
•
•
•
Promote our produce more effectively
Invest cleverly in new business opportunities
Create greater efficiencies
Invest in dryland farming technologies
Attract capital - transition from family to corporate
farms
• Improve infrastructure available to the sector
• Export knowledge to assist those producing the
remaining 97% of world food production
And there are New Challenges
• Increasing productivity sustainably
• Ensuring quality, equity and accessibility of our food and
fibre products
• Maintaining the viability of our farmers
• Complementing agricultural knowledge with
environmental knowledge
• Foreseeing emerging risks and consequences – eg of new
research, technology and management practices
AgriFood Skills Australia Policy Position –
Strengthening Agricultural Education
• Encouraging agricultural colleges to diversify income sources and
provide greater flexibility in training delivery;
• Promoting the need for clear advice and information on education
pathways for agricultural careers;
• Working with governments and other organisations to attract young
people into a career in the industry;
• Facilitating closer collaboration between regional universities,
training organisations and industry to assist create qualifications
producing sufficient highly skilled job-ready young people.
AgriFoodSkills Australia Submission to Agricultural Competitiveness Green Paper 2014
Agriculture and Food in the Australian
Curriculum
Taking Agriculture into schools
A partnership between the Australian Government’s
Department of Agriculture and AgriFood Skills Australia
Agriculture and Food in the Australian
Curriculum
A clearly defined and tested strategy:
– Raising awareness of and enhancing teaching and learning
about the Australian agriculture, food and the supply chain
– Supporting teachers in the implementation of the new
Australian Curriculum in English, Maths, Science, History,
Geography and Technologies
– Raising awareness of career opportunities in agriculture and
food systems to young people
Over its 15 month duration - July 2013 - October 2014, the Programme:
–
Appointed a national team of six qualified teachers;
–
Engaged 14,677 students in classroom presentations - range of topics linked
directly to the new Australian curriculum;
–
Provided professional development to 1,000 classroom teachers and 1,100 teacher
trainees;
–
Produced an initial series of curriculum-linked educational resources;
–
Equipped participants with curriculum focussed teaching resources;
–
Promoted career opportunities in agriculture and food systems
Demand far exceeded expectations
Food in the Curriculum Evaluation
•
•
•
•
Positive feedback from teachers and students
Well designed teacher workshops
High quality teaching resources
Links to Australian curriculum in design and
implementation
• Timeframe far too short – career component
compromised
• Inability to reach greater numbers
Educational Materials
Yr 5 History: Agriculture in Colonial Australia
Yr 5 Geography: Investigating Agriculture in
Australia
Yr 6: So you Think you Know where your food
comes from
http://www.agrifoodskills.net.au
Free resources – print,USB and online
Uniform format across all three Resources
9 Unit Overview
9 Links to the Australian Curriculum – knowledge,
understanding, skills and achievement standards
9 Key focus questions
9 Identified learning outcomes
9 Selection of activities – teacher flexibility to adapt
and modify, cut and paste
9 Hyperlinks to additional resources
9 Assessment and Extension options
9 Suggested background reading for teachers
http://www.australia.gov.au/about-australia/australianstory/austn-farming-and-agriculture
Yr 5 History: Agriculture in Colonial Australia – 1800s
Overview of Activities
- Settlement Patterns in the 1800s - River Road and Rail
- Life on a Sheep Station - 1800s
http://splash.abc.net.au/search?keyword=Outback House
- Where would we be without farming
- Some of us are migrants - maybe farmers too
Yr 5 Geography: Investigating Agriculture in Australia
Overview of Activities
Factors that shape the human and environmental characteristics of places
- Investigating Australia’s Landforms and Climate
- Using our Environment - an Agricultural Perspective
- Visit a farm – http://www.virtualfarm.mla.com.au/
- Influence of People on the Murray-Darling Basin
- Living in a Fishing and Farming Village in Cambodia
So you think you know where your
food comes from
• Suitable for Yrs 4-6
• Inquiry based units,
using food and
agriculture themes
• Powerpoint of student
activities and tasks for
Yrs 4-6
LT1 > Activity 1 > Work Task 1
So What Do
You Eat?
Most common foods eaten by people in your class?
1.
Select a spokesperson for your group.
2.
Make a list of all the food common in your group.
3.
Why do you think these ones are the most common?
4.
Make a list of those that are fresh and those that are processed.
5.
Where does most of the food you eat come from?
(the supermarket, grown in Australia?
if not where is the food grown?).
6.
Collate the groups findings in a table
(sample provided – What are your favourite foods?).
7.
Construct a column graph and/or pie chart to display your findings
demonstrating the most common foods to the least common.
8.
So what % of the food eaten by your group might be fresh or processed?
9.
Write a short piece explaining your groups graphs, which your spokesperson
will share with the class.
So Let’s Talk About The Food You Eat > So What Do You Eat?
LT2 > Activity 2 > Work Task 4 > Assessment
From Paddock/Ocean to Plate
• As a team of four (4):
1. Choose one food you have talked about
eg milk, eggs, bread, meat, fish
2. Create a flow chart showing the steps in the
process from “paddock to the plate”
• You will need to think about sequence.
q
Cook Eat Learn”
So How About
Growing Your
Own Garden
Policy Overview: Australian Government Priority –
Education, Skills, Training and Labour
One of 11 key policy ideas,* focusing on:
– Establishing comprehensive education for an agricultural
career at secondary and tertiary level. Critical role of VET as
well as higher education
– Clear career pathways to attract highly skilled people to
operate the latest technology and drive productivity growth
– An education system that builds the next generation of
farmers
* Agricultural Competitiveness Green Paper. September 2014
Australian Government Priority – Education, Skills
Training and Labour
• Australian Curriculum review: Working towards
ensuring the Australian Curriculum provides flexibility in
teaching so schools can improve understanding of food and
fibre production, agricultural and primary industries in
Australia.
• Teaching agriculture: $2 million - Agriculture in Education developing new resources to help teachers better
understand food and fibre production and processing and
promote the range of agricultural careers available.
Agriculture in Education
• Enhances teacher understanding
of food and fibre products and
processes
• Provides strategies for
incorporating agricultural
concepts in the Australian
curriculum
• Promotes greater appreciation of
the importance of agriculture to
the Australian economy and our
way of life.
Agriculture in Education Videos
Agriculture Facts
Australian Curriculum
Introduction to Agriculture
Paddock to Plate Suite of Resources
Curriculum Learning Area:
Design and Technology Years 3 and 4
‫ ݲ‬Changes - Fresh and Processed
Food
‫ ݲ‬How many Roads has my Food
Travelled?
‫ ݲ‬Get your hands on my Food
Year 5 Maths – Agriculture in Education
Measurement and
Geometry
Money and Financial
Mathematics
Using Agriculture
riiculture in Maths to
design a farm
fa
arm
Designing and Making
Makk a
Financial Plan for a Market
Garden
G
arden
Year 8 Maths – Statistics and Probability Data representation and Interpretation
Curriculum Content Description: Investigate the effect of individual data values,
values
including outliers, on the mean and median ACMSP207
Learning Outcome: Students explain issues related to data collection and the effect of
outliers
o
utliers o
on
nm
means
eans and
and m
medians
edians of
of that
that d
data
ata
Year 9 Maths – Statistics and Probability Data representation and Interpretation
Curriculum Content Description: Construct back-to-back stem-and-leaf plots
and histograms and describe data, using terms including ‘skewed’,
‘symmetric’ and ‘bi modal’ ACMSP282
Learning Outcomes:
- Students calculate relative frequencies to estimate probabilities, list outcomes for
f
outcomes
two-step experiments and assign probabilities to those outcom
mes
- Students
Students construct
construct histograms
histograms and
and b
back-to-back
ack-to-back sstem
tem a
and
nd leaf
leaff p
plots
lots
http://www.agrifoodskills.net.au
What needs to be done?
• Address the misconceptions - ‘walk the talk’
• Generate discussions - importance of sustainable production of
food and other raw products
• Promote the growing range of careers that matter – ie
agribusiness
• Provide a mentoring role to other teachers
• Initiate team teaching opportunities
• Spread the word about new related education materials
• Work together