Secondary Agricultural Education in Costa Rica: my research

As an agricultural and extension education major and international agriculture minor, I find much interest in global agricultural education. Having been given the opportunity to travel to Costa Rica for three separate educational experiences during my undergraduate education, I am fortunate to have been able to collect information about global agricultural education in the country. This blog post is devoted to describing secondary agricultural education in Costa Rica - specifically, I will reflect upon the data collected from my case study investigation of secondary agricultural education in the Central Valley county (canton) of Turrialba, Costa Rica.

Introduction, purpose, objectives
The investigation of secondary ag ed in Costa Rica began over 2 years ago, when I received a grant to conduct undergraduate honors thesis research abroad. So, in addition to my Spanish for the Ag Sciences immersion experience in May of 2012, I remained in Costa Rica for 2 weeks of June 2012 to spend time in and collect data from local schools that have ag ed programs. What follows is a summary of my entire undergraduate honors college thesis, which completely lays out a thorough description of Turrialba ag ed programs, specifically with focus on the following purpose and objectives:

The purpose of the study is to describe secondary agricultural education programs in the Central Valley canton of Turrialba, Costa Rica. The following research objectives guided the study:

1. Describe secondary education in Turrialba, Costa Rica
2. Describe agricultural education provided in secondary education in Turrialba, Costa Rica
3. Describe perceptions of administrators, teachers, and students of agricultural education in Turrialba, Costa Rica. 

Background information

Education is of major importance in Costa Rica, reflected by over 6% of GDP expenditures and almost a 100% school attendance rate. The agricultural industry is of vital significance to the economy of many rural towns of Costa Rica, especially in the fertile Central Valley - where almost half of the labor force is involved in agriculture. Evaluation and discussion of secondary agricultural education in Costa Rica, however, is not extensively recorded. 

An agriculture classroom with the instructor lecturing from a book

Case studies are developed, using multiple data sources, on populations not commonly analyzed. The purpose of this case study was to compile a general description of secondary agricultural education programs in the Central Valley town of Turrialba, Costa Rica. 

Data collection

Data was collected to: describe the scope of the schools; discuss curriculum standards and courses; and assess perceptions of agricultural education by administrators, teachers, and students. Data collection methods included interviewing (informal, semi-structured, unstructured), observations (simple and participant), physical artifact collection (student statistics, curriculum standards), and photographs (of school structures and student work environments). 

Results

Of the many secondary schools in Turrialba, two offer agricultural education courses. The Liceo Experimental Bilingüe de Turrialba (LEB) which directly translates to “Experimental Bilingual High School of Turrialba,” is a 5-year semi-public school with emphasis on English courses. Students graduate with a general high school diploma (bachillerato) and proficiency in the English language. The agricultural education program is a secondary focus of LEB instruction and includes mandatory agriculture courses for students’ first three years. The one agricultural teacher at LEB does not have mandated curriculum because the option to have an agricultural program is under the discretion of the principal, not the government. In addition to lacking curricular resources from the government, LEB agricultural education is limited by a lack of resources and space for experiential learning in agricultural education.

The only agricultural facilities present at the time of study in LEB - some planting beds and work areas (not much in use)

The Colegio Técnico Profesional Agropecuario de La Suiza (CTP), which directly translates to “Professional Technical Agricultural High School of La Suiza,” is a 6-year public school that offers a specialty technical degree to graduates in addition to the 5-year bachillerato. Students take electives for the first three years before selecting a specialty area for the final three years. Three of the five specialty degree areas offered at CTP relate to agricultural science. There are twelve teachers of agricultural education at CTP, dispersed evenly within the three agricultural specialty areas: agroecology, agricultural production, and food processing (agroindustry). Teacher backgrounds vary with regard to universities and past experience but generally reflect the teachers’ instructional area. Agricultural curriculum at CTP is mandated by the government’s education ministry (MEP) because of the school’s national technical affiliation. Curriculum standards exist for both the exploratory years (1-3) and technical years (4-6) of CTP. Agricultural facilities at CTP are expansive and include: a large farm with gardens, dairy, poultry, and goats; a forest farm; and a small farm with rabbits and poultry processing areas. The following photos are all of CTP students and facilities. 

Several animal husbandry facilities allow students at CTP to have much experiential learning opportunities

The CTP facilities are diverse and include a large organic garden

8th grade students in a plant science elective work outside to plant plantain cultivars

Students of the agroindustry specialty area prepare foods for their practical exam

Students in a 7th grade exploratory elective class are butchering chickens they raised

Summary and recommendations 

Perceptions of agricultural education are positive, yet enrollment is a concern. Generally, people recognized agriculture as being important to the community and nation, but were not as knowledgeable of the connection between agricultural education and workforce growth. There was, however, a noticeable lack of interest of students who are taking agricultural courses to pursue agricultural studies or careers. Additionally, retention in agriculture programs and school in general seemed to be of concern. Therefore, recommendations are as follows:

Local Turrialba students who are interested in a career related to agricultural sciences should pursue study at CTP due to its strong agricultural education program and resources. Recruitment programs in secondary agricultural education should be better identified and established in order to make aware the secondary educational opportunities of agricultural science in the Turrialba region. The economics and career opportunities in agriculture should also be exposed to students who are selecting their secondary education experience. Proposed improvements of the education system therefore include: strengthened recruitment and retention programs, promoting agricultural job markets to students entering secondary education, and greater resource provision for agricultural experiential learning.

Further study

Many areas of further study may be pursued to strengthen and expand upon this descriptive research study:

• Data should be collected at the national level (MEP) with respect to local educational programming: specifically, how local data (needs, economy, etc.) are reflected in secondary education programing.
• Further studies, similar to this in nature, should be conducted in Costa Rican secondary agricultural education programs in order to develop a greater picture of nation-wide agricultural education. 
• A study should be developed to more clearly define national-level goals and regulations of agricultural education curriculum and successes. This would be conducted by visiting the Ministry of Public Education, especially the professional technical sector, and gathering data through interviews with national administrators. 
• In relating occupational opportunities and agricultural education, research should be conducted to identify the career or post-secondary decisions of Turrialba agricultural education graduates. These decisions will better develop an understanding of the preparatory nature of secondary agricultural education in Turrialba. 
• A descriptive study of recruitment and retention in agricultural education programs should be developed to understand perceptions of students who either decide to enroll in agricultural education or drop out from current programs. 
• Perspectives of secondary agricultural education should be gathered from the following parties: 
• Parents and families of students involved in the educational programs 
• Individuals in the local agricultural industry 
• Individuals in higher agricultural education. For example: professors, researchers, administrators at post-secondary institutions of agriculture in Costa Rica. 
• Recent graduates of the agricultural education programs in the study, both in post-secondary education and the workforce, to qualitatively measure the successes of the programs in the study. 
• Third party community members who are not directly connected to secondary agricultural education or the agricultural industry to develop a greater understanding of the community’s awareness and value of agricultural education. 

Summary and reflection
While I only have been able to capture a snapshot of secondary agricultural education in the world, I still have a broader view of its diversity. More importantly, I am thankful for the ability to see how education can and should reflect industry and workforce needs. I appreciated the chance to work with the students and hear from them, a potential indicator of the superb student teaching experience I had while teaching students in Wellsboro. While I sadly could not complete my Costa Rica student teaching experience at the CTP school, I know I will always remember it as one to be admired when it comes to experiential learning in agricultural education. 

There are still a hopeful amount of individuals interested in agricultural sciences in Costa Rica - at least from what I have observed and come to know during my 3 agriculturally-related experiences here. I now have visited 2 primary schools, 3 secondary schools, and 3 universities in Costa Rica and have grasped a bigger picture of education in the nation. From these experiences, I have developed an increased interest in how educational systems and agricultural education functions around the world and hope to continue to build on to my experiences in Costa Rica to contribute to the global definition of agricultural education.