Beginnings of agricultural education in America• 1700s & 1800s:• Apprenticeships & Father - to- son

– Was great need for trained people in agriculture & engineering.

• Agriculture was a major export.• Agricultural improvement was

stagnant.• Industrial development was slow.

Early beginnings… Federal Laws• 1862: Morrill Act

– “Land-Grant College Act:– 30,000 acres of federal land to each state

for each member of congress.– To establish colleges for the “sons and

daughters of the farmers and laborers” in agricultural and mechanical arts, military science.

• First evidence of govt. support for Voc.Ed.

Imperial Tech. School of Moscow• 1868, Victor Della Voss established school.• “instructional shops” to teach logic & skills.• 1876, demonstrated it in Philadelphia.• John Runkle, President of M.I.T. saw it.• Runkle established secondary school for

mechanical arts.• Shortly after, Calvin Woodward est. Manual

Training School in St. Louis.

Federal support continues

• 1887: Hatch Act– Est. Agricultural Experiment Stations– To create new knowledge in the

agricultural sciences– Beginnings of “scientific process”

– Flaw: no mechanism to get new knowledge to those who need it to advance the industry.

Expansion of Federal Role

• 1890: 2nd Morrill Act– to provide access to higher education

for minorities.– Northern states made their 1862

colleges 1890 colleges.– Southern states added separate 1890

colleges.

1890 - 1910...

• Industrial Revolution.• Migration from farms to cities.• Period of industrial and social

growth.• Demand for trained labor.• Decline in apprenticeship system.• Advent of child labor laws.

1890 - 1910 cont...

• 1893: USDA promotes instruction in agriculture in schools, grades 1 - 12.

• Few students in high schools.• 1902: Congressional debate on

agricultural education in public schools.

• Period: “demonstration projects” by employees of Land-Grant colleges.

More about 1900...

• 1906: Massachusetts state law est. Voc.Ed.

• Argument, in Mass. And Washington:– separate schools for training children to

be workers, or– integrate Voc. Ed. Into curriculum.– How can knowledge of new agricultural

practices (from Exp. Stations) be shared with farmers?

State of America 1900 - 1910• Abundant labor, few skilled workers.• 1904, 1/2 of population living in

poverty.• Urban development in South.• By 1920:

– number of wage earners doubled.– Wages increased 5 times.– Production increased twice as fast as

population.

1900 - 1920 context for Ag. Ed.• By 1920, only 25% of population on

farms.• Unemployment still 12%, but farmer

labor shortage.• US was money-lending nation.• 2 needs:

– formal education in agriculture (schooling)– non-formal information passing from L-G

colleges to farmers.

2 Needs for Ag Ed, 1910 - 1920• “Extending” information from Exp.

Stats. To farmers and families.– Extension concept

• Formal “education” in agriculture, mechanical arts, & home economics to prospective farmers. – (Vocational Education)

Vocational EducationEarly ruminations...

• Federal debate for VoEd begins in 1906 with Pollard Bill.

• 2 VoEd camps:– Industrial Education:

• separate schools for training working class children

– Agricultural Education:• ag ed integrated into school curriculum,

taught as both a vocation, and a science & liberal study.

More early ruminations...

• 1906 - 1914:– numerous bills offered for

comprehensive training program.– Industrial education concept and

extension education concept less than compatible

– Extension education proponents separate the concepts and plow ahead.

1914: Smith - Lever Act

• Est. Cooperative Extension Service• Link between L-G colleges, & their

experiment stations, with producers.• Concept not limited to agriculture.

– Includes mechanical arts (became colleges of engineering)

• 3 - way cooperative program: – Federal, State, local governments.

1917: Smith - Hughes Act

• Established Vocational Education in public schools

• 3 programs: Ag. Ed., Ind. Ed., Home Ec.

• Bad compromise (my opinion).– AgEd wants to be integrated in curriculum.– Industrial Ed wants to be separate to train

working classes as skilled labor.– Home Ec. Is secondary issue.

AgEd under Smith - Hughes • First federal involvement in public

schools.– Requires states to have federally

approved plans.

• For students 14 yrs., up.• All students must have 6 month

S.O.E.P.

AgEd vs. Ind. Ed. conflict

• AgEd aimed to train entrepreneurs, independent businessmen.

• IndEd aimed to train workers, laborers.

• AgEd wanted to educate free thinkers.• IndEd wanted to train skilled workers

of the masses.

AgEd vs. IndEd conflict...

• Review the current model of agricultural education in public schools.

• Review current model of industrial education in public schools.

• Which camp won?