Cultivating Futures: Engaging Secondary School Students in the World of Agricultural Careers

Summary

Recent research undertaken by the CQU Agri-tech Education and Extension team identified five resources that careers advisors and classroom teachers need to improve secondary school students’ engagement with and awareness of agricultural careers. This project (Stage 2) will build on these findings and develop, implement, and evaluate a national outreach program designed to improve educators’ and secondary school students’ awareness, knowledge, and perceptions of agricultural careers. The project will (1) further develop and trial the five agricultural career resources proposed in Stage 1 for Year 9-12 students to be used by teachers and career advisors in educating students on the career opportunities available within agriculture. These include short Australian curriculum-aligned classroom activities, 2-3 min video career case studies of industry ambassadors, incursion/excursions showcasing careers, work placement guides for industry and schools, and face-to-face and online educator professional development; (2) deliver the resources in all Australian state/territories, and (3) develop an action research framework to monitor and evaluate the program’s capacity to impact and influence changes that foster students’ and teachers’ increased awareness and aspirations for careers in agriculture. The project team will draw upon its established networks with schools across Australia to ensure wide-reaching engagement with project activities to test resources in remote, regional, and metropolitan areas from government, private, and Catholic school sectors. Feedback from teachers and students will support refinements to developed career resources, ensuring these are ‘market ready’ and that the recommended delivery mechanisms are optimal to support adoption leading to short and long-term change.

Program

Workforce Perceptions Program

Research organisation

Central Queensland University