Sarah Beaver could have opted for a beach getaway for spring break. Instead, the first-year student in Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences dedicated her time to imparting lessons on global citizenship to high school students in Houston, Texas.
“The experience of being in the classroom, engaging with teachers and peers, especially in an urban environment and an unfamiliar state, was valuable,” said Beaver, who is majoring in agricultural and extension education with a minor in international agriculture. “It bolstered my confidence and solidified my aspiration to become an agricultural educator.”
The spring break immersion experience was part of GOALs: Global Orientation to Agricultural Learning, a Global Teach Ag Network project involving Penn State, the University of Idaho, 1890 land-grant institutions (historically black colleges and universities), and the World Food Prize Foundation. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture Higher Education Challenge Program funds the program.
According to Daniel Foster, associate professor of agricultural and extension education and co-founder of Global Teach Ag Network, the GOALs curriculum provides preservice agriculture educators with a chance for professional growth by expanding their definition and understanding of “global” while providing an opportunity for international teaching exposure.
“Students in the program have access to networking opportunities with prominent global figures in agriculture and food security while also honing their teaching skills with a global perspective,” he said.
The year-long program combines classroom learning from two courses across two semesters with immersive experiences, including the World Food Prize Foundation-Borlaug Dialogue in Des Moines, Iowa, in the fall, the applied teaching experience in the spring and the opportunity to travel to Belize to explore indigenous knowledge in agricultural education during the summer.
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Categories: Pennsylvania, Education