Perspectives of African American school-based agricultural education teachers toward their meaning of work: A Q methodology study

Abstract

The most prominent group of leaders in the African American community historically have been educators, including public school teachers of agriculture. The importance of African American educators became apparent when the representation of African American teachers declined precipitously during the 1960s era of school integration. This trend of limited African American teachers in School-Based Agricultural Education (SBAE) continues today. This Q methodology study explores the voices of African American SBAE teachers.

The following research question guided this study: “What are the perspectives of African American SBAE teachers toward the meaning of their work?” The concourse for this study was developed using a combination of naturalistic and theoretical methods resulting in a hybrid approach representing a multitude of attitudes, values, or opinions of African American SBAE teachers. The Q set included 45 statements, and 23 African American SBAE teachers made up the final P set. The condition of instruction was, “What does being an African American agriculture education teacher mean to you?” The Q methodology data analysis software program, PQ Method was used to analyze the data for this study. Three perspectives were interpreted for this study: Anchored in Service, Anchored in Resilience and Anchored in Assurance.

Anchored in Service teachers are student focused, rely on deep community connections and faith for support, and are diligent in their efforts to show an affirmative attitude toward working hard to overcome challenges. Anchored in Resilience teachers expressed the pride associated with the history of African Americans in agriculture and strongly conveyed the value of having African Americans in the role of an SBAE teacher despite the challenges encountered. Anchored in Assurance conveyed the feeling African American SBAE teachers have to support their African American students, colleagues and their commitment to using their skillset to cater to the needs of their students.

African American SBAE educators demonstrate a strength in resiliency not often discussed in the discipline. The challenge of retention and recruitment of African American SBAE teachers is on-going. Investigating the experiences and opinions of these teachers may aid in recruitment and retention strategies to better support African American SBAE teachers.