Comparing the Content and Pedagogical Knowledge of Alternatively and Traditionally Certified Agricultural Educators

Abstract

The purpose of this research study is to determine and describe in-service SBAE teachers’ perceived Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK) and challenges with non-content related classroom material. In general, PCK is the point where knowledge of teaching meets agricultural content knowledge. With the rising number of alternatively certified agricultural educators across the country, it is important to examine PCK in both traditionally and alternatively certified teachers as well as the differences between the two. Since successful classroom management is crucial to teacher retention, it is necessary to look at the differences in difficulty of implementation of various strategies. Agricultural education is diverse and involves numerous topics within the broad industry. This study also describes the sources of content knowledge among the two licensure types. It is recommended that future studies research the PCK of teachers based on years of experience and licensure route.