Performing Department
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Non Technical Summary
Project SummaryProject title: Educators Empowering Educators for Global Agricultural LiteracyAFRI Farm Bill Priority Area Focus:Primary: Agricultural Systems and TechnologyNote: The six AFRI Priority Areas will each be featured on each of one of the six days of the Global Agricultural Literacy SummitProject duration: September 1, 2024 through August 31st, 2027 (36 months)Principal Investigator and Project Director: Daniel D. Foster, The Pennsylvania State UniversityCo-Investigator: Melanie Miller Foster, The Pennsylvania State UniversitySubmitting organization: The Pennsylvania State UniversityOther organizations involved in the project: NALocation(s) where the proposed professional development activities will occur: Online and in Hershey, Pennsylvania at the Milton Hershey School.Facilitator to participant ratio: 18 facilitators (teacher teams) per year for each of three project years, making for 54 facilitators of Global Agricultural Literacy professional development programs. We estimate that each teacher facilitator will reach 70 participants.Number of participants per year: 1,256 (18 team leaders and members, 18 mini-grant recipients, 20 literacy project presenters, 1200 possible participants in professional development experiences facilitated by team members, project presenters, etc.)If any international component included: NAProject AbstractThe Global Agricultural Literacy Program is a dynamic professional development program designed to bring together teachers from diverse disciplines into collaborative teams, fostering the exploration of global agriculture's integration into different academic disciplines. Multidisciplinary teams will be empowered to craft and deliver meaningful professional development experiences for their peers focused on global agriculture topics as framed by AFRI Priority areas.The Global Agricultural Literacy Program is guided by the following two objectives:Equip teachers with a comprehensive understanding of the linkages between global agriculture, diverse subject areas, and real-world issues, enabling them to integrate agricultural themes into their curricula, andDevelop a collaborative platform that connects teachers across disciplines, allowing them to exchange insights, share best practices, and collaboratively develop cross-curricular projects targeting global agriculture topics.The Global Agricultural Literacy Program places teachers at the heart of professional development, which research evidences is vital for teacher buy-in and enduring change. This holistic approach will deploy a professional development experience that includes a combination of face-to-face and digital collaboration in order to accommodate the schedules of busy teachers with often inflexible work schedules. The Global Agricultural Literacy Program provides an entry point and broadens access to the discussion of global agriculture to teachers from many different disciplines. The Global Agricultural Literacy Program contributes to the goals of the PDAL program of increasing the number of educators will the knowledge and skills to integrate food and agricultural sciences concepts into their classes.
Animal Health Component
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Research Effort Categories
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Applied
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Developmental
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Goals / Objectives
The proposed project, the Global Agricultural Literacy Program, will enhance integrative global agriculture instruction by empowering teachers from diverse disciplines to develop and share global agriculture knowledge with their peers in a community of practice. The Global Agricultural Literacy Program is guided by the following two objectives:Equip teachers with a comprehensive understanding of the linkages between global agriculture, diverse subject areas, and real-world issues, enabling them to integrate agricultural themes into their curricula as documented by 10% growth in pre/post ag literacy measurement of participants as well as the completion of 3 reusable learning artifacts annually.Develop a collaborative platform that connects teachers across disciplines, allowing them to exchange insights, share best practices, and collaboratively develop cross-curricular projects targeting global agriculture topics as measured by specific sharing of minimum 20 global literacy projects annually
Project Methods
Type and details of immersive learning experiences. The Global Agricultural Literacy (GAL) Program is a dynamic professional development program designed to bring together teachers from diverse disciplines into collaborative teams, fostering the exploration of global agriculture's integration into different academic disciplines. These multidisciplinary teams will be empowered to craft and deliver meaningful professional development experiences for their peers focused on global agriculture topics. Each teacher team will be asked to create a resource that amplify the global connections of one of the six AFRI Priority areas with the following specific outputs:One digital professional development module with micro-credentialing/digital badging opportunity that can be completed asynchronously to be deployed in the Global Learning in Agriculture community of practice.One synchronous virtual professional development session to be delivered through the Global Learning in Agriculture Community and beyond.One face-to-face professional development session to be delivered at a selected state, regional or national professional development gathering of educators.One request for proposals to solicit applications from other educators for a mini-grant program to conduct a global agriculture project in association with the selected AFRI priority area.Educators will apply to participate. Eighteen educators will be selected annually, and three multidisciplinary Teacher Teams will be formed. Each team will be composed of five teacher members, and one teacher leader. The program period is one year, and the program will be repeated three time during the performance period, making for a total of 54 educators participating in the program as members of the teacher teams.Innovative Approach. The Global Ag Literacy (GAL) Program places teachers at the heart of professional development, which research evidences is vital for teacher buy-in and enduring change. This holistic approach will deploy a professional development experience that includes a combination of face-to-face and digital collaboration to accommodate the schedules of busy teachers with often inflexible work schedules. The GAL Program provides an entry point and broadens access to the discussion of global agriculture to teachers from many different disciplines. Educators will benefit from this program not only because of increased knowledge and skills that will enable them to infuse their work with a global agriculture lens, but also through the authentic opportunity to collaborate with educators from other disciplines. Participating educators are impacted through the development of strong communities of practice. Additionally, we will compensate teachers on Teacher Teams for their participation, recognizing that while they will gain valuable knowledge and skills through this professional development experience, they are producing enduring professional development products for other educators and should be compensated for their time accordingly. Finally, it is a key programmatic value that professional development should not be conducted from a deficit viewpoint, but that professional development should be uplifting and inspire educators to return to their classrooms with a refreshed perspective. The GAL Program contributes to the goals of the PDAL program of increasing the number of educators will the knowledge and skills to integrate food and agricultural sciences concepts into their classes.Plan of Operation and MethodologyNature of Participant Activities and Timeline. Please note that the GAL Program cycle is one year as indicated in the annual program timeline below. Each year 12 teachers will participate in the program, and the program will be repeated three times during the project performance period for a total of 36 educators participating in the program.PhaseTime PeriodMilestone DescriptionApplicationSept/OctSeptember 15: Applications open.October 1: Application window to join the program (for both team members and team leaders) closes.October 15: Teachers are notified of application status.Team FormationNov/DecAsynchronously: Teacher Teams will begin to form and norm their teams in the digital Global Learning in Agriculture Community.November 15: Orientation Session - to provide an overview of the program and prepare teachers for the next phase.Design and DevelopmentJanJanuary 3 - 5: Educators Empowering Educators Face-to-Face WorkshopDay 1: Essential Question - What is global agriculture and how does it relate to my discipline? Interdisciplinary AgriscienceDay 2: Essential Question - What are strategies for engaging learners in global agriculture topics? Design Systems ThinkingDay 3: Essential Question - What is our plan for developing and sharing our knowledge? Implementation Action PlansTeacher TeamworkJan to MayTwo times per month January - May:Teacher Teams will meet to conduct project work, including:learn from experts.connect with industry professionals.develop a professional development resource to shareDisseminationJuneJune 15 - 20: Virtual Global Agricultural Literacy SummitDay 1: Focus on AFRI Priority Area 1: Plant health, production, and productsDay 2: Focus on AFRI Priority Area 2: Animal health and production of animal productsDay 3: Focus on AFRI Priority Area 3: Food safety, nutrition, and healthDay 4: Focus on AFRI Priority Area 4: Bioenergy, natural resources and the environmentDay 5: Focus on AFRI Priority Area 5: Agriculture systems and technologyDay 6: Focus on AFRI Priority Area 6: Agriculture economics and rural communitiesSample Virtual Global Agricultural Literacy Summit agenda: Morning briefing session to welcome participants and review the schedule for the day, followed by a networking activity (unique session designed for each day).Two concurrent workshops focused on the AFRI Priority Area of the day in the morning, two concurrent workshops focused on the AFRI Priority Area of the day in the afternoon.Each day will feature a special all-conference session such as the keynote speech, or an informational session for the next GAL Program cohort.June 15: Mini-grant RFAs developed by each Teacher Team are released to educators participating in the virtual summit, and advertised to teachers in the GLAG CommunityDates individually arranged: Teacher Teams travel to present their global agriculture professional development project at a meeting of teacher professional development organization of their choice. Mini-grant competition details will be shared with teachers at these face-to-face workshops.Participant ReflectionJulyAsynchronously: A guided individual reflection on the yearlong GAL Program.Program Reflection & CloseoutAugustAugust 1: Mini-grant applications are due.August 10: Mini-grant applicants are contacted on the status of their application.August 15: Final all-team meeting for program reflection and to celebrate accomplishments.