Early Career Agricultural Education Instructor Expectations for Professional Development Yields

A wealth of professional development programming exists for agricultural educators, but which experiences provide knowledge, skills, and tools most sought by early career agricultural educators? The purpose of this study was to isolate specific desired professional development outcomes for early career agricultural educators, as well as differences in specific expectations related to CASE certification. This study was guided by Mezirow’s transformative learning theory, which frames learning in adulthood as a transformative, rather than functional, process. The target population was agricultural educators between zero and five years of experience from Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, and Nebraska. A sample of 125 early career teachers completed a survey; descriptive statistics were applied to demographics and professional development expectations. The most desired outcomes included classroom procedures and ideas, practical advice and suggestions from both facilitators and co-participants, and hands-on practice from the student perspective. CASE-certified teachers expressed more interest in gaining practical advice and suggestions from both the facilitator and other participants. Non-CASE certified teachers had more interest in ideas for interest approach strategies, exit ideas, and energizer activity ideas, laboratory strategy ideas, and equipment storage and organization suggestions. These conclusions pose questions about the prioritization of academic integration as well as how experiences such as CASE professional development change expectations for professional development experiences.