University of Nigeria Research Publications

MGBEAHURIKE, Maureen Nkem

Aut

hor

PG/M.ED/98/25140

Title

Skill Improvement Needs of Agricultural Science Teachers for Effective Management

of School Farm in Secondary Schools in Imo State

Facu

lty

Education

Dep

artm

ent

Vocational Teacher Education

Dat

e

February, 2001

Sign

atur

e

SKILL IIVPRUVEMEN'I' NEEDS OF AGRIClJLTURAL SCIENCE

TEACI-IERS FOR FFFECTIVE MANAGEMENT

OF SCHUOL FAlikl [N SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN

Ih40 STATE

A THESIS SCJBMI'TTE'I) TO 'f HE DEPARTMENT OF VOCATIONAL

'l'EACI IER EDUCATION

IJNIVERSITY 01' NIGERIA NSUK.K,fL

bIC;LlEA I-IURI ICE MAUREEN NKEWl (MI<S.)

E'Ci/MED/98/25 I40

MGBEAHURIKE MAUREEN NKEM (Mrs.), a post gracluale studcnt ol' the

department of Vocational l'eacher Educafion with Registration Nunlbcr

PGlh/lED/98/25 140, has satisfactorily complctcd thc requirement Sor the tfegrec

of masters in A~I-icultural M~~c;i t ion. 'The work embodied in the prqiect is

original and has not bcun submitted in par1 or in fir11 Ibr any other degree of h i s

or any olhcr ~ ~ n i ~ c r s i t y .

Head of Department

Supervisor

I?KO1CATTON

This thesis is dedicared to my lovitlg husband, Ms. J .E . Mgbcahurikc and

my children, Chin\vcnctu. Chibum. Chidicbere and Chiorna.

AKNOWLEDGMENTS

In rcvcrencc and adoration, the lwwarchcr gives thanks 10 AhligRty God Sor the

protection. Provisions and \visdom hc gavc hcr tliroughout this work. Hcr sp-rial

gratitude ~ o c s to licr projccl supervisor Profcssor S.O. OIaira~l [or his prokssiona! and

fa111erly advicc during thc work. I Ic was a source of inspiration hroughoul 1 1 1 ~ period or

lh1s \\cork.

She also acknow!cdyes thc con~ributiotis of all thc lecturers in the doparhlcnt o f

Vocational teacher ccluealion parlicularly Prof. J.U Okor~e, I'm!: hlim E.U. hnyakoha,

prof. i\;..J,Ogbazi, Dr. Osincm a d Dr. R.U. Mari~ali. SIic will cver rsrnairn gl-ntcft~l 10

Ekoi~g A . 0 Lor his ilnmensc contributions toward the complclion of the ivork.

Fondly remcmbcrcd are thc rcsenrcher's parents and brolhers, espccrally C'hicf

Isclorc h4bah and his w~f'c. who proviclcd a transit liotnc at Enugu I'or k r as shc shu~t lc t l to

and urom lnio slillc, VaknLltlc, C i l ~ ~ t ~ n l l . Cal l is t~ ts as \vcll :IS rlr. Oguari fnr I[& suplmrl.

Slie spccialIy h n k s hen- darling husband h4r. Johnny h4gbcahurikc and her

childrcn for thcir paticncc and s i i p p i ~ i during tllc work.

Also to be acknowledged arc hcr colleagues and hicncls in ~ h c office, cspxially

Ndomi, B. All. She also owcs a lot of gratitude to sislcr Mercy Nwake who sus!aincel licr

physic all^* and spiri tuall~ ~hroughour the duration oi'1his work.

TAIPCE OF CONTENTS

......................................................................................... TITLE PAGE i . . ............................................................ ............... APPROVAL PAGE .. I I

... ................................................................................ CERTlF1C:A'TION . . ~ I I

................................................................................ DEDICATI()~\J., iv

.................................................................. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ..\I

................................................................... TABLE 01; CONTENTS .vi

............................................................................... LIST 01; 1'ABLES ..ix .r ........................................................................................... ABSTRAC I' x

CHAPTER ONE: INTHODUCTION

..................................................................... Background of thc study I

........................................................................ Statement of problem .G

........................................................................ Purpose of the study ,..7

................................................................... Significance ui' the study ..S

........................................................................... Research quest ions.. .9

........................................................................................ Hypotheses.. i 0 . . ................................................................. Delimitations oi' the study 10

.......................... CHAPTER TWO: REVIEW OF LITERATURE.. 1 1

........................................................................... 711c conccpts ol'slcill I I

.................................................... Skill acquisition and dcve!opmcnl 13

The school l31.m and its relevance in skill Acquisition and

............................................................................ developnent 17

...................................................... Management ol' the school farm .2 1

Skill nccded by Agricultural Science Teachers for improved planning.

Organising? direcling and Controlling of school fir1.111 . . . .................................................................................. actiwtres -37

......................................................................... ( i ) Crop production -37

................................................................... ( i i ) Soil ~l~ar~agcment -42

....................................................................... ( i i i ) Animal production 43

.................................. (iv) Management of hrrn eqt~ipment and tools 45

Need Assessment and thc Necd for Improvement on skills of Agsicult~~raI c 7 ................................................................. Science I cachcrs 48

Strategies f'or improvernc~~t of Agricultural Scicnc.e Teachers Fn~m

............................................................................ Management skills -53 . . . ........................... Some Studics on fmn ~ila~aagcment and ut~lrsatron 56

................................................. Summary of Literature Review 57

CHAPTER THREE: METHODOLOGY

................................................................................ Design of thc sti~dy 60

................................................................................... Area of the sludy 60

........................................................................ Population of ~ l l e S I E I ~ ~ 61

........................................................... Sample :and san~p l i~~g ~cchniclue 0 1

............................................................... Inslr~~rnent ibr data collection 61

.................................................................. Validation oft11 c. instrut~~en~ 63

................................................................. Reliability ol' the Instl-ument 63

................................ Administration of [nstrunrent and data callcction 63

..................................................................................... Data analysis 64

CHAPTISR FO U it; 1'13113SISNrI'h'P'~ON A N D ANALYSIS Ol? IIA'I'A

.......................................................... Rcsult of' I<usc;~~.cll cliicstio~i I .OS

- . Major f~ntlrngs o r h c study ................................................................ 10.5

I

LIST OF TABLES

Table I :

Table 2:

Tablc 3 :

Table 4:

Table 5 :

TabIc G:

Table 7:

Table S:

Distribution of' Agsicultusal science teachers in thc tlirce

cducahnal zoties in Inlo Stak .................................,... 6 1

Ilistri but ion and Return of' Qucs~ion~xtises ..................... ..G4

il~enn ratings 01' Responses of' teachess on farm

managcment skills scquiretf [or cflkctive managctncrlt

of lhc sciiool f i l m ............................................................ 69

Mean ratings of responses or teachers on skills in f a m

mnagenwnt already possessed Ibs uficctive usc in the

................................................ ............ school faarm ..,.., .73

Mean ratings or responses of teachers on farm

managcment skills needed Tos improved pcrrosmmcc:

in the school f x m ................. ............. ............................... 77

ANOVA for tcsting the incan ratings of teachcrs on

managcmcnt skills scquired for effective iilnctioning of' thc

................................................................ school farm 82.

ANOVA for ttsling the mean ratings of tcachers on

mn~~agcmenr skills possessed for effective usc in

t l ~ c school fann ................................................................ 83

ANOVA for lestir-rg the 111ean ratings of ~cacher-s on

matmgemcnl skills nccdt.4 for improved pcrfosmance

i l l ~ h c school Vasm ............... .. ......................................... 85

ABSTRACT

Vocatiorlal Education lays emphasis in ski11 acquisition and

developrncnt. For skills to be acquired and developed in agricu1tui.c which

is a pre-vocational / vocational subject in secondary school, managcmcnt

and ulitisa~ion of the scliool fxm is inlpcratjve. This study focused on thc

detenniriatiol~ oi' skill improvement nccds of agricultural sciencc kachers

to cnablc them Inanagc and utilise the school Farm for psychoproduc~ivc - 7 teaching, for t11c benefit or s~udcnts. I hree resea~.ch questions and t l~rcc

hypotheses ~vcrc chn\vn f'or the study. The area of the study comprised of

a11 the secondary schools in the three educational zones in Imo Statc.

Survcy design um cn~ployed for the study covering a targct population of

583 comprising of 330 Ikgree holders, I94 NCE holders and 50

ND/HNU 11oIclci.s A. Orlc hundred and eleven itcms-structured

questiolinairt. divided inlo four parls (1, 11, 111 and IV) was devclogcd,

validated, l u s ~ ~ I t'ur ~vliabillity and administered on the enhe population

and 500 instru~nents wcrc completed and rcti~rned, frcqucncy. rnean.

starldard dc\fiatio~-1 and Analysis or variance ANOVA wcrc used liw data

analysis.

The hypothcses were testccl at 0.05 level of significat~ce. 'rhc

findings oi'thl: study revealccl that.

( 1 ) Thirty-tI11.c~ S a m ~nanagcment s k i k ~ 1 - c requii-ed lot* cll'cctivc

fi~nctioning of thc school farm.

(2) Agriculrural Scicnce teachers in secondary schools possessed less

than fifty pcr cent of' the f .L~~mi illatqc111~1it skills ~ w q u i ~ u i l i ~ r

effective i'unctioning of the schooI farm.

(3) Agricultural scicncc teachers need improvement in more than f i fy

per. ccnt of tlic i i r m ma~iagemcxit skills for improved pcrfosrna~icc

in rhc school f a m ,

The ANOVA ixsults revealed slatistical difrcrence in l t l ~ mean

ratings of tcachcrs 011 skills:

- ~quirec i for cf'fcctivc firnctioning of the school farm

- alrcady possessed by teachcrs for eff'cctive me irt h e scliool

fa 1.m

- needed by [eachcrs for improved pesfurmance 3.11 lhc school

Sal-in. 7 hc implications of thc findings of [his sludy w . rc

IiighlightccI and three recommendalio~is werc ~nadc .

C ~ ~ L S S ~ . < ) O I I ~ ;IIY cIe~l lo~is~~*;~icc~ and pracliscd. The icicil of' p u l t i ~ ~ g lhcor!; illto

practice ill tlle scllor~l t'arm Iias also been 11ighlight.ed by cxpez-ts like

(Olaitiiil i~nd Ogbazi I O S 8 ) .

11-1 h c carly scvcntics, recalling ~ I I C expcriciice 01' rhe rcscarchcr as

sr~ldc~lt parricipan~ in scl~ool farin act ivilies, 1arm1s in schools sccrncd Lo

have bce11 ivt.11 I I I ; I I I ; I , ~ C C ~ then. Gardening fcatwxi ~)l-ominerifly i n 111~ '

pri~ilaq. schools \ Y I I C I ~ ~ vegetables ant! crops like niaizc werc g r o \ v ~ ~ t111dcr

tlic g u i r l n l ~ c ol' :I g,a~.clc.t~ ( c?g r i c~~I t~~ ' a l ) nir?s[er, lzupils L I S C I ~ to 11ai;r SOIIIC

3 ;h .c 111'tlic' ~ ; ~ I . V C ' S ~ S . 'I ' l~is \vas 81s0 ;~ppIic~~blc ' 11) scco~i~lary schools whrrc

1 1 1 ~ ; I ~ I . ~ L * L I I [ L ~ I - ~ I scicncc ~cacliers ~CIII:ILJLY! !he s~l1001 1.ar111 in a way ~ I I

s t ~ ~ d c n ~ s had heir o\\ll~ i n c l i ~ i ~ l i ~ d ridges ;mt1 S C C ~ beds n~11~1.0 t h q

prxticccl crop pmclr~c'tiol~ skills illcludi~lg siri:h praclices like crop

~-c~lnlio~i. 13111 sincc ~ l i c cightios, 11ic1-c Ilncl bccn gradual clrangc i l l 1l1e

tc; lchin~ and Ical-niny ol' agricultural scicncc ill scl~ools. I 1 i11iSh1 1101 bc

\vl.r)llF 10 ;~ i~ r ib i~ t c the. s i l~laiou io the cl'fccl or 11asly crash progl-alnmc of'

Tcxlzr.~. .l.rainilig introtluccd lo prvducc enough teachers for thc Uni\/el*sai

P I .~ I I I~ I . J , I ;d~~ca l io~i ( \ , : . l ) .L ) , TIIC S C I N N I I.;WIIIS \\WC 1 1 0 I L I I I ~ C I , \.~fcll

1 1 1 i l l l ~ , d 11) 1 1 . 1 ~ ; I Y I ' ~ C L I I I I I ~ . ~ I I S C ~ I I C C ' I C ~ C ~ C ~ S , I I C ~ ~ ~ C I . WCE'L' thei'c c110~1gh

lime I;)r tlw S \ L I ~ C J ~ L S 10 inv01wCI i l l I I I C pra~lic;~I ill thc Frinn. /\ s ~ l ~ d ? ,

by Aybulu ( 1 W 8 ) 011 111c ~~lilisalion of school ihrms ibr incprrvci~lenl 01'

the r c x l ~ i ~ ~ ~ nl 'nyici~l~urn! science in 13c11uc Slate to~incE r l ~ a r 111e school

hl'llls \ \ i . ~ c 1101 ~llilisi'd liir i~n l ) ro \ ! i~ i~ I ~ C l ~ a ~ l i i l l g of ' ~ ~ ~ L ' I I I ~ I I I . ; ~ ! .

teac11cr.s. The findings d 5 0 I-cvealcd that tcachcrs \aught onlj thc

~ileoretical ly aspects o f thc subject i n h c classrooln.

thl-ough planning. organizing, dirccting and controlling for thc

purpose of accomplisliing organizational oL>,jcctivcs.

In h i s opinion Oiukcvu (1993,) defined hrm n~anagu~i~ent as a skillill

treatment towards c r ~ p and livcstnck production as well as the arl of

contsoll'ir~g thc raoirces oTproducing crops and livestock. 1nc.orporating

specific i~ctivi~ies into r managcmcnl practices, Olai tan ( 1 984)

includcci ~i~ai~llclna~~cc 01' soil I'crlil i ty. cot~~lul or sui 1 CI-osion. f~c..cd pcsl

and disease control and Sccclirig af liveslock as part of' Sam manrlgc~ncnl. r . I he agric~iltural science tcachers therefore in actclilion lo 111~' possessio~~ of

rhesc skills are supposccI to I w c skills in soil managcincnt, plants and

animal PI-oduc~ion, thal wuuld liclp him co-urdinate aild wntrol available

~CSOIII 'CCS and activities i n 111e school Faim f'nr psycIlvp~.oduclive orimteci

teaching of a l ~ ~ subjcct. Eftkclive tnanagclnci1t of the school fi11.111

therefore 1-cquircs basic skills ibr planning, organi~ing, d irccting and

con~l-ollirig. The ~ d c v a n c c ol' managerial slcills for eff~ct ivc rnanagc~l~ent

01' h e school Li~m is buttscsscd by the obscrvalion of" Upto11 ( 1973 ,j ~ v h u

11otcd that physical I-csourcrs ol- land, labour ancl capital c i~~ i t i o~ hc

productive unlcss t-11cy arc organized and co-o~.ditmccl by someone tvhu

makcs thc necessary decisions and carrics them out. 111 the case 01' 11ic

schuol farm rnanagel~lcnt. ~ h c agricultural science teacl~cr is suplmsed lo

be the decision maltel-, the organisel- and co-ordimfor OF the lt':m~i~y

cxpericnccs and activit ies his studcrits w u l c l bc csposed tu, in orclcl to

acI~ieve set 20als. Tho estcnl to which the teachors can pe1.1im11 1 1 1 ~ ~ ~

functions clepends on their posscssion of the relevant managerial skills.

Most of the agricultural science teachers havc bccn obsc~.vcc! to

bc deficient i n the ~nanagei-iaI skills rcquirccl for managing the scI1oo1

fiirni. This obscrvation sccms to bc agrccd upon by Ol,ekc (1991) who

highlighted that one of* thc reasons why avaiIable Tar111 resource analcrials

are not utilizcd by tcacl~crs in the scconclary schooIs is that they lack

necessary skills to opcl-a~c hem. I-Ie further remarheel that tcaclicrs should

understand how lo usc and control resource matcriaIs such as the school

farm anel othcr facili~ics that could bc derivcc! ~hcrcfiom. Si~iiilar

obsci-vation I V ~ S made by Nkajcimjc (19%) d m obscrvcd that lack of

practical compcrcncies o n rhe part DL' agrica~ltul-al scicncc tcaclie~*s \vas 21

factor inhibiting crfcctivc farm operations for educational benefits o f ~ h c

students.

X3i*csentiy some established sc11ooI farms in some secondary

schools arc some how matinged but surficc it to state that cvcn \\lien

managerial skills arc applied by reachers in managing the school Ihlsrns.

quite often. tlic desired r~stllfs seen1 far fctchec!. Thcl-c is therefore 11ccd to

find out what ivoulcl be tlic cause ( C ~ U S E S ) of t l~c no11 realisatio~i 01' h c

cxpectcd results of the school f x m projects. Could i~ hen bc thnl tlic

skills applied by the I C ~ I C ~ C ~ S arc clefcctivc? Ir thcrefo1.e beconlcs; relcvant

for s o w concerted c f h l 10 bc made toward idcntiryimg lhc s c h c ~ ! fill-m

managcrial skills, agricultural sciencc teachcss need for imp~oucmrntx .

cmphasiscd as a yardstick of success in West African School C'crtificate

Gxm~inalion, hcncc bolh teacl~ers and pupils canccn!ratc rm thcory of

agi-iculture at the expcnsc of ming s c h d fain1 as a lcarnirlg f'acili~y.

I t i s observed that Inany sclrml graclluii-ltes whci laaw no jobs

could have berrcfifec! lqmm making a living in agr-icul~urc i f h e y had

clevcloped entry lcveI skills in agriculture whilc in school. ncver the less,

the I1110 State Govcl-nmenl has now supported a IXW direction ol'

providing qualitative education lor evcry child in thc s t i~ tc and l o make

agriculture onc of the disciplines in which pi~piLs c;ln 1 1 0 ~ devclop entry

level skills for Economic survival in the future. To make goverimcnt

objectives rcalisable in agsicultul~ rhcrc is I X C ~ for tenchcrs lo i ~ l i p r ~ v c

upon tlleir skills to cnablc thcm malragc rhc s e l m r l far111 as cf'rccli\,c

laboratory for pupils to acquire cnliy lcvel skills fu r occupa~ivn.

Purpose of the Study , - I hc purposc of' this study was to identify Ihe shill i m p r ~ ~ c l n ~ n t

needs of agricul~irrA scicncc teachers mairrly for iipgrading ~ l~e i r . skills for

effective management d the school farm for thc h e f i t of thc a~r icu l t~~sa l

sciencc students.

Specificallv The Stnrlv sought T o Achieve TIIC Following

1. Dclcr-mine farm managcinent skiQls r e q u i ~ ~ l by fcachcrs f'or

e fkct iw fimc!ioning of the schoo! hrm;

2. Uetcnuine C a m ~mtiagcmcnt skills alrcacly possessect by

the agricultural s c i t ~ x x tcachcrs;

Sienificnnce of the S t i d y

Tlic Ibllotvi~ig ~\/ould b e n c l i ~ from 1hc s l ~ ~ d y . .l'licy inc l~~t le 11ic

~cachers. students, curriculum pla~incrs. he s m yo\!cr~lmcr~I. and l l ~ c

t e a c l ~ c ~ " ~ trainers.

Tlie texhers \vould rcalisc ~ h c farm managemcnl ski l Is they lack

or arc dcficicni in and h s under~illtc a ~ ~ t l - a i n i ~ g proy.arnmc. to acquire

or irpgradc thcul. Tlic actluisilion/ insprovc~ncnt of' tiicsc fn~w

managcinent skills would equip thc tcachers with skills to conlrol the

scliool farm and i ~ s c i t for in~parting prnct icr~l skills 10 lhc s~udciits.

f h c s[iidcnls \voi~ld benel i~ from thc sludy i f ' I I K rcsult is

i1iip1c.mcnlc.d Icading to iriiprovc~iien~ or1 ~llcir tcacliers' skills and

co~~scquent ittilisatior~ ol* rile scl~ool I'ami by the I ~ " ~ C I I C I . S 10 i~ilpar-t

przicrical skills to ~ l ~ c n l . This svoa~tcl help ~hc ' smderrrs, i~ 'c1~1irc skills in

111anagi1.r~ [heir o w hrni enrerp-iscs for a Iivir~g after sclmoling.

The cw-riculiini plannci-5: u x ~ ~ l c l also bcnefil TTOIII lhc study. 'I'lic

1-esirll ot'die skills ~~cccled for i rqmvc~iw- i t by teachers if ' considel.cd and

actccl upon cvould enable tlicm 1.~~01.111 heir currict~luns in line wit11 L I I C

praclical ilerds n!' the ~enchcrs especially in I;II-ITI 11xmgc1.i~ie1~1, .. . I hc collegcs 01' cclucalicm and educulicm Iici~lt ics ol' univclsi!rcs

as \vcl l xi poiyrcch~iics in c1ia1.g~ 0 1 " ti'i~clicr ~rai~i ing, L \ O I I I C I li I I C ~ t l ~c I . L S L I I [

of' thc study uscful a ~ ; the itlforn~ation on skills ~ q u i r e c l f o r effective farm

lnanagement would liclp them impmvc their training progl-a~nnics to ccliiip

in-coming reachers with ~ I I O S C rclevant skills.

Thc yermancnt secretaries in the ministries of education a11cl

supervi~sors in the arca of agriculture would find the S ~ L I ~ Y LISCSLII as they

would be PI-ovidcd with relevant inlomation on skills ~ ~ c e d c d by

agricultural scicncc teachers for impr.ovcmcnt and thus havc i~ipuls for

organising workshops and retraining progranmcs f'm !ha ~caclms. 'l'llc

govcrnnicnt MUIM also have a direction i l l Sunding scl~oul 11~111

p rogrmmts sirice improvcn~ent o n loachcrs skills vmrlrl kad ro ~K'UCI-

Inanagmcnt ol' the scliool h sm and consqucnt increase i l l output of t l x

f i rm.

Rcxea r-c 11 q l~cs t io 11 s

Thc Rescarch Sot~n,ht T o Ar~swcr The followir1.p; Qlrestions

1 . M h t farm manaycnwlt skiIis are required by teachers Tor

cffectivc functioning of the school f a m ?

2. What are thc skills in farm managment already possessd by

tho tcacl~crs for cf'fuctivc use in the scliool Ihl-m:'

3. Whar farm managmcnr skills arc necdcd by tcncl~crs Tor 1 ~ 1 p r w c ~ I

~xr fomar i cc in llic school fami.

Hypotlirrsrs

The following l~ypothescs werc testcd in thc sludy a1 0.05 level of

l'herc is rm significatit difksencc ill ~ l t c mean ratings of*

ruspmses of'teacl~css 011 rnanageimnt skills sequirccl for

cf'fcctivc Siinclioning of !he sclml h n based on qudi!ications.

l'licrc is no significant dilfe~*c~lcc in fk Incan ratings a!'!eachess on

inanagement skills possessccl for effcctive usc in h e school thrm

bascd on qudifications.

'I'he nlcan ratings of tcachess on ~nanagcment ski! 1s ncccleil

for impi*c~vcd per~oi.111ance in tho school farm do not

differ significantly bascd on quaIilications.

Delhi tat ion nT t h e Study:

'I'his study was rcstrictcd to teachers who posscss Nntio~ial

ccr-tiiicatu oE cducation, N.C.E, National and I Iigllcr National Diploma

ND&IND, and r k g c c qualifications i n agricultural scicncc, and arc

engaged in scco~~ciary sc11ools it1 Imo State. It had a nmihl focus ol'

determining skills in~pmvemcnt tlceds of the agricultural scicl ICC teachers

for effcctive management of [tic scllool t;cl1.111. I t was also concer~~cd wilh

the clcter~r~ination or l'arnl rnal-myc~nc~l t ski1 1s ~-rqui~-crl Ii)r ct'l'ccri\ c

f'unctio~iing of thc scl~ooll hrm as well as r a m manngcmcnt skills

p s ~ s s t . d by ~cachcrs for cfSective i~sc in thc sc lml Tat-m.

CHAPTER TWO

REVXEW OFLITEltiATU13E

?'he literature for this study was revicwcd under the rollowing headings:-

'fhc Cmccpt of Skill.

Skill acquisition and dcvclopment

rflia Schwl ii~rm a n d its relevance in skill acquisition and dcvclopmcnt

Management of thc Sclmol r a m .

Skills needed by agricullural scicnce teachers for improvcd ylmriing?

organking, directing and uon~tolling oTscIiool farm activities in:-

( i ) Crop pimli~ction.

( i i ) Soil ivlanagcmcnt.

( i i i ) Animal [hcstock) h h a g c r n e ~ i t .

(iv) bhmaging Sai+n~ cquipmen~ and iools.

Nzcd asscssmcnt and need for improve~ncnt on skills of AgricuIt~lral

Scicncc teachcrs. Shqat~gics fbr inlyrovcrncnt of f . d m ma~iagcme~lt skills

ot'tcaclic'rs.

Somc studics on flwm mariagcmcnt and utilimtion,

S~tm~nal-y of ~cv i t i v 01' 1i1cral~11.e.

1'1

(1963) defincci skill as thc ability to expertly carry o ~ t an operation,

dexterity and h s k . t I ~ i l l ( 1 972) defined skill as the tilalmil dcx~crity

through !he rapeti~ive perfurrnancc of an aperafion. Okol-ir. and Ikcji

( 1988) remarked t h a ~ the possession of skill is to dcmonstrntc the habit oS

acting, thinking or behaving in a specific activity which has become so

natural lo the individual: tl~rough t-epctition ol- practicc such that i l

becomes automatic. l'lrc Webstcl- Erlcyclopcdic 1Iiclionat.y ( 1 994) tlcfinsd

skill as the ability coming fioin oncs knowledge. practice, and aplitilcle

c.t,c. to do something wcll. Central among thcsc delii~itiolls is rllc idea

that skill could be regarded as ability, which is an outcomc of Ic~rlling arid

practicc to the point o£ n h o s t perfkction, ~vhich could be applied

subsequently by the Tcarr~ur. 'Thus i t is expertise or accuracy in carlying

out a task throiigh organised learning and repetitive practice. I;or skills to

be acquired tlwcfore, thc learner should bc cxposed to the specific skills

or relevant activities e~nbodying the skill. In the contcst of Ai:riculrurc,

skill acquisition by students emphasizes their cxposurc to lilt rclovant

skills to cnable them develop and bc-comc profkicnt in !he applicatiui~ uf

the skill.

Skill acquisilion and clevelop~nent: Skill acquisition may bc

regarded as thc proccss by which a n individual is osposcd to thc I G I I I I ~ I I ~

and continuous pracliccs i n a par~iculal. task t i l l 1 1 ~ learner hucunics

proficient in thc operation and can pctforrn rhcrir when scquil-cd. Skill

develop~ncnt is thc art of buiiding upon the skills accluircd to a morc

advancecl or effective stage. Skills are t l icrcr~m acquircil lirst and

ilcvclopccl subscqucntly, throi~gh u~ilimtion and practice. Acco~ding ti3

Okorie (1998) skills arc acquired when procedurd i~;lstr~etiuns arc

marchcd with pcrformancc activilies, llepetition i s the W ~ ~ I I W O I - C I . F(>r

skills to be acquii*ed, aild developed tl~crc nlust k opp~r.furaity for

participation and prac1ic.e oS such skills under rcal li fc condi1ion. Phipps

and Cook ( 1965) stated Ihat the clevclopmcnl of abililics a1x1 skills in LI-111

work dcpcnds upon rnclivid~rnls having real situation on the farin as a basis

ol' dcvelopirlg sound judgenlen!, aud clear cut nivdes oi' act iwl. rclat ivc to

standarils o r good fill-miiag. To acquire and develop skills, Okosic a d

F k j i ( 1988) said lhat thrcc filctor*s are involvecl. thcy illcIudc imitatit3n.

repetition, and participation.

Imitations - -1'0 imitate i ~ ~ e a n s to rnin~ick or copy tlic bchaviou~* or

acts o r thc teacher by students. As tIicy watch thc teacher, perlbrrii certain

acts, thcy gonsciously or unconsciously rollow and practice the cxamplcs

of thc tcachcr.

Kcpcrition - 1'11is involves thc gcrlor~~ianc.e o!' a11 act malry tir1lc.s tw

mastcr thc act Okorie and Ezqji (10-88) Irigl~ligh~cd that aflw acquiring ;I

skill. thc learnor iili~st repeal the action uaany h c s 0elo'ol.o lie kttrains 31ily

usel'u 1 degrcc of IT- tic 1' iness.

Parlicipation: In agriculture his involvcs the Jcartrcr praclising

mdcr t11c acti~al production conditioi~s. Okorie ancI E x j i ( 1 988) adclwect

that both thc imitation o f a n~astcr and ficquci~r p-acticc IYI sl-lor[ (sf'

I ' I

cornpletc prcpnr-ation for skilled vocational prncticc. hcncc tlic nccci for

practice by the leartiei- in the actual production conditions.

I-Iauston (1970) put down the fdlowing as prxcsscs of skill

acquisition.

O b s ~ ~ w l i o ~ i : I n obscr~ati~1~1 S L U ~ C L I ~ S watch rhl: skiU opcratio~i

perfonnecl by thc teacher in real lire 10 cnabk t l n u lhl-111

concept. Observation is inuahabk in the development uf skills.

Imriiita~ion: Studcnts follow exampk of what thc tencliw has done

tl~rougli c!en~ot~sf~*ation and lcarnhg by doing.

blanipulafion: This mcans to operate, lla11dle fbr c x ~ m p l e in ~hc.

canclling 01' q s s , stiidcnls after thc appropriate Icarnin~ aticl

dc~nons~rntion pracliccs are allowed to hnndlc t i candling,

equipment. - -

Pcrfoming: 1 hc studcnts carry out thc aclivities they have

becn tau&( and have been guided on wha1 to cfn.

Ik-ftxtit~g: This is t11c highest form oS ski!! acquisition pmccss.

l ' h e S I U ~ C I I ~ S aftcr much p r a c h x bccot-rte conw-sanl w i t l a the

dcmands and tasks of the qxl-alion. 'I'lwy become cipcrts and

s d ~ a b l e . Olaitan (1984) explai~~cd that in Ille coursc of'developirig

skills in an occupation kno\t~lcdgr: and ability rcquircd li)r succ~.ss

in t h a ~ occupation shoulcl be tauglat.

This is becausc skills consist of' habits, which mirs! wst~l-c

adaptation. l 'he acquisition and development 01' skills i s i ~ ~ i p r t a t ~ a in

v ~ a t i o n a l education sincc i t is occupational oriented. The rclevancc of

skill acquisilion in ngricul~ural science canml be over-c~~~yhnsizcd.

Ukorie (1988) said that if cducaticsn is preparation for !ilk and il'

practicdly evcry oncs life and opport~lnities fo r selr c-xpl-cssioi~ arid

fim!fillrr~ent include wrw.h: and skills posscssccl, then only the swxd'u l lq

employable are successfully educated and skillcd, ' I 11~s acqu~bition and

developn~enl of skills in Agriculture could help the h . n c r 10:-

- Cullivatc ri right attitudc lo \vorli

- Have cl good sense of duty and respcct for the dignity of labour

- I k sclr-sufficient, that is prepare thc Icarner to bc \\wlInvl~ilc

agricul!urul business o w c r

- Acquire saleable skills needed to improve thc protluction of c rop .

aniimls and olher raw mate~-ials for man and industries

- 1)rcparc the learncrs to bc effcclivc emploqecs in ag.icult~~~.al hrms

and industries.

Olaitm and Agusiobo ( 1 '381) said illat t l~c acquisition oF skiPIb preparc

students far agricultural occupation and progressive ~ C ' Y R I O ~ I ' I I C ' I I ~ in it ,

Hence the wed far dcvc!qmenl of acquired skill in agsicuFt~rre is

necessary, as one may possess a skill yet t l~c skill is not clcvcloped, The

nattlrc 01' skilk and ale cunditiol~s rcquircd for thcir clevdop~rcirt should

always k givcri considcralion. Skills are built 1111 throirgh wpc~ i~ ion a d

parlicipatiors. Okoric ( 1 998) observed hat repctilion a t ~ d pal-ticipa t ion

should always be provided clse i t will result In yrrxlictio~~ of ha1S-bakc~l

rathcr than skilled perfornier. Olaitan (1984) opined that instructio~i is not

co~npletccl until students h a w uscd h e abilities and eonlputrncics k i n g

taught.

?Pie relevance of develop~iicnt of skills on thc part of ; ~ ~ r i c u h ~ ~ r a l +;

science reachers is h a t i t cquips tile [eachcrs 1veII enough to be able LO

apply the relcvant skills acquired and devcioped in rhc Inai iagenw~lt ul'thc

school f n r m Only dcvelopcd skills can be effcctivcly applied.

U~ldcvcloped skills lcave thc teachcrs at unproductive lcvel.

Skills in school farm practices that can bc acqui~-cd and devclopctl

upon can be in this area o f

- Pre-planting opem~ins-land selection and preparation fur. planting.

decision on cropping systems, selecting of planting n~n!el-ials.

- Planting operations - seed planting vcgerat ivc prol>ag,itiorn.

- Post planting operations - mulching, weeding, fcrti lizer

application. irrigation erosion control hanlcsling, processing and

storage‘.

- Constructing aninmi pens.

- F c e d i y and watcring animal

- Soil ~nanngcment and consorvation pract iccs.

With a l l ~ h c releva~lce ol' skili acqirisihion and devctopnicnl ill ngricul t i w l

sciencc in secondary scliools in Nileria, the stale of aI'hSrs is that

student's dotl't sccnl to be cxposcd to the right corlclitions ur~dcr which

skills in Agr ic id tu~~ can bc acquircd and c\cvclopecl. '['his could bc

attributed to the agricult~~ral scicnce teachers not being ablc to rnanasc the

school f m n effectively, to orgmisc and use it Ibr the bcncfit or students.

The agictrltural science tcacl~crs have not also availed t l~crnsel ves 01'

opportu~~itics of dewloping the skills, which they might h a w acq~i rcd

during their training. Thus t h c r ~ is inadequate practice and pal-ticipation. " - 1 lw 1-esuil would he the product ion of agricui tural sciencc scliool I cavw

with littlc 01% no practical skills that would enable them fit in ap.icultu~.al

occupations.

Tlrc School farm arid its Kelmtairce in skill AequisitFcll~ ;ind -

Dewloprnerr t,

The school farm can be defined as a selected area of lancl on \he

agl-ic.~~I\ural science classes. where principlus and t11co1-ctical nspccts ol'

agricultural scicncc I m - n l in the classrcw7n1, are de~nonst~xted fix students

lo pracrticc so 3s to acquirc manipulaliue skills. k i n g specilic i n his cwn

submission Ekmg 11997) slated that the school farm is a ilesigrratcti and

preparcd area of land for the cultivation of orablc and field crops anti or

for h e rcal-ing of'livcsloclc.

O n the rclevancc o f school hrna i n skill acquis i t io~~, i l (;horild bc

notcd Ihat Agricultit~xl scimce as a vwntional sub-jcct lays c ~ ~ ~ p h a s i s on

the acquisilion of practical slcills by the Icar~icr. Skills can only bc

imparted and acquired i11 the right and relevant cnvil-onmcnl, IWWC thc

role of school farms ill scconclary schools b r agrici~lturai praciiccs a t ~ t l

de~nonstrations. The rclcvancc of the school farm had bcen n ~ ~ ~ i c ~ ~ l a t e d by

many experts; Leap11 ( 1 97 1 ) and Phipps ( I 0'72) in tclms rlf spccific

purposes wrote as follows: - - . 1 0 provide students with valuablc experiences

. '1-0 d e ~ ~ ~ o n s t r a t c approvcd p ~ x t i c e s in agricuItut-e

. '1'0 conducl quasi cxpcriment,

, I'o provide oppnr-tmi~ics Sor co-ordinatins class1-oo111 t11cor~~

\villi practice.

- T o provide cxpericnccs in working and coopernling will1 nthel-s.

Ola-ti~an (1984) gave the abjectivcs of the schaol f'arm as:- -.

. I o pi11 thcoxy into praclicc

. To improve backgrou~d kno\vlcdge

. To solvc ind~vidi~al iiit.~ning problems - . 1 o providc f'acilitics h r cxyerimcn[ation

. '1-0 cwn money for the school which can bc used to provide lhcilirics t'o~

the students.

Putting Theory into P~acticc.

'fhcorics in Agricu1lu1.e can be regardcd as approved principles and

methocis utiliscd i n ngricultura! ~ X F B ~ ~ O I I S . Many agricdtilral activities

arc learnt theoretically in thc classraon~. Thesc tlm~sics can bc applied in

thc school F~r111 ihus pulting thc theoretical Icarning into practicc ill the

school farm. I'his idea was buttressed by Okorie (14194) who pi11 I'onvard

that maniptllative skill taught literally in the c~assrwm coulcl be praclised

on thc school faim Contrib~ting 10 the iden ol' thc school f-arm as a

ground for pmcticalising what is tausht in the classrooni Farrcl (1983)

described tlrc scl~ool firm as ail cxcellcnt place Tor teachirig ag-Fctrh~raF

scicncc modules, fcaching crop prdluction teclmiqucs, crop r o ~ a l i a ~ ,

krtilizer trials, ilmsc'c! P L ' S ~ S and iiiscasc as well as wecd contrd in rhe

doins phase through dcmonstra~io~~, obscrvntinn. par-ticiparicm and

learning by doing.

Improving Baclcgrou tib k't~owlcdlr,e of Agricaltrlre Sciencc.

l'he sclioo! f?~rni providcs opportunities by ~thich stidcnts ticvclop

thcir farming skills in crops and animal production as wcll as managemen!

of farm entespriscs. According tu Udo (1960) the school fhl*tn ~)mvicles

T X K I background fnr st~ccessful future ngricdturists. lwuanyanwu ( 1 986) a

pointed thar studcnls pariicipntion in fanning activities e.qmsed them 10

the identil?~ati~n and corwct usage oi' hrm tools that nlcse available ancl

thcis 1naintcn;mc. Juma (1987) in his own contribution stressed that to

prove students background knowledge, each of them should bc proviclcd

~vith a piece of land to plant and maintain as vegrtable gardcn.

Experhen ta t iori

Experiments in crop and animal pr.oductions such ; IS cross-

paflination, artificial insemination c.t.c, can be carricd oul in the school

Farms. Accordin: to O l r ~ i ~ a i ~ (1984) many s~ndeilts k l i e v c r h a ~ scl~ool

agricul~i~l-c had no~hing new to add to t i i t : prwiices 01' rhcir p l - w s ar

home. Espcri~~ici~talionn in IIIC school I'ar111 GUU~C! liclp corrcct this nolion.

Such experinicnts like thc effccts of fertilizer on growth and yiclcl of' crops

e.t.c. shoidd be carried out on the school hrm and this coulcl Iielp 111c

students acquire the relevant skills.

Solving Individ~ral fnr-ming P r o b l ~ n ~ s

Somc stirclents arc from ~II-ming families. Such students h a w

experic~ice in lkmiiig and according to Olailan (1984) migh~ come to

school with problerns \vliich they expect the scflool to I ~ l p solve.. Glass

and T~UI-SEOII [1W8) contemlcd that practical p-rsblcrns could imt bc

solved ro~nplctcly in the classroom ahus thc school Ihrni was ~ h c .bcsi

placc fo r solving snch practical and individual fnrmirzg pwblems. Such

problems arc testcd and solutions dcmonstratcd aml praciiscrl.

/lgusiobo and C)laitan (1981) put forward hat the school f i r m is

both a resourcc and a slrategy I'or molivating interests in the teachins and

learning processes of rrgic~rlture, that i t would make studcnrs placc a high

value on the principle of self activities and will hi cffcct p e r n ~ i l ~ c a c h e r s lo

associate with students lifc esl~eclations.

The I-clcvance 01' t l ~ c school hnn in the tcaclring and Ican~ialg or agricultural science skills in schools canno1 be ovcrempl~asised. l l ~ e fi11.111

is the ecpivderit of chcn~istry, biology and physics la2loratories in school.

As put f'orwnd hy waits (7980) practicals at pos! primary school Icvel

iuiig on lire basic prillcipfcrs of practical tmiuitrg md lhese skills cannot be

imparted to thc students dfec!iveIy witliout using lhe school land as ;I

l n b ~ r a t ~ r y for. the ~xperimcnfs.

Managenlent OF thc School Farm

Managcmcr~t may be regarcled as a way af gctting Ihingfs done

through, a i d with people i n foni~ally 01-gnnised goups. According to

KFIOWT, ( 1 963) aimnagcment may be viewed as the responsibility

irchic-ving daircd oh-icctives. l'lris wi!l rcquirc the selection 01' the Incans

rto accomplish ~ h c prescribed goals and which iqAies a dcgrcr of'

rationalhy llra the allocation of resources. Cunrcnriiiy f i r r h r Knrm~, saicl

that manage men^ is thc art or crca~ing an environment in which people

could perform as individuals and yet co-opemte tcrwarcl tl~c a t tn inmen~ of'

()soup goals. 'I'his implied thc responsibili~y of !hc ~lgliculrural science 3

in the management of thc school farm, thc major li~nctions of' ~ l l c

agricultural s c i c ~ ~ c !cachet- (manager) are planning, wganising, dircxiiug

and controlling available rcsourccs (shtdenls slid un~?tc~ials] l o aclliuvo

desired goal. I f the motives of the school farin are to be rcalised thercrore,

nood managelncnl is i~nperalive. This point is burlresses by upton ( 1973) b 6 L w

begins with setting objcctives and ends wit41 delcrmining how well they

inclividuals responsible for carrying out h c obj jeotives should have a rolc

in scrtins ihem, sinec they arc closest to !he sifualion and gcllerally h a w

the h a t inforlnatinn conccming what is achievable. 'T'his irnp1it.s rhar ~ l l c

agricullural science leachcr should bc skilft-11 in formulating ob.jor'lives ot'

the school f i ~ r ~ i ~ to enable him plan well. Q ~ h c r si~ills involved in serring

ob-icctives includc thc fbllowing abilities;

To state reasonable spccific and challenging ob.jeclives for thc f 'xm

To state realisable ob-jcctives in terms nf intcrnal environmental

'1'0 rcvise the oL>jjt'cti\~cs yearly.

To dcvclop productivity objcclives-dcvclo fidctol-s f b r f a r m opct-ations

that can bc utiiised as a measure of operating efficier-rcy and economy.

To dcvclop hrdgct~ry objcctivc - dcvclophg reliablc financial data on

n flcsiblc budgeting basis that can bc used to rsf a b M ~ecfor~nancc. r . fo ~111p1oy 111magcntenl by objwtivc (h4B0) which invoivcs ability to

- sct objcclives

- dcvclvp action plan

- cicfinc and dividc inlo stcps a11 activilics of tllc film

- ckcide on who is I-csponsiblc Tor .each activity.

To detcsmine which 1-csourccs are neecied for csan~pIc in crop prcdrrction

programme.

To providc inpuls for scl~eduling the starting and cnding claks l'nr all f i l m

activitics (targelins).

To conduct pcriodic reviews of farm activitics,

To establish control system ~vhicli ~~~~~~~~~s the activities being perfbnncd

through pr iod ic rcvicws.

To appraise ;znnual pcrfoninmx of rhc k11.111. The spccifica2io1-r cll'

objectives guibcs ylalurizlg process.

Planning i s defined by IJwing ( 1 904) as lhc job of making !!lings

happen tliar wouId not otht~wisc occur. To Thicrauf ct a! (1977) phsning

is an analytical process which cncotnpasses an assessment of tlic fi11u1.e.

dcte~mimtion of desired objcctives in tlic conlcxt of the future. thc

clcvclupn-~cn~ of altel-nativc courses ol' action to nchicvc such ob-iccrivcs

and a selccrion ol'a course or COLII'SCS of action Si-ov among altc~mlives.

In ~ l ic contcst ol' whool Sam nra~ragclncnt, planning hvolvcs t l~c

process 01' fbr-ecasiing how dcsircc! ol~~uctivcs of ~lic fium will I x I-eal isecl

through careful selection or ctroicc of bus! alterisativc C O L I ~ S U of' ; tctiu~~

among many courses of action. Planning is a fh!ur~oricnted activity and

therclbrc implies scheduling and spccifYhg to detcnninc and acco~npIish

s t a id objcctivcs. strategies, progtlmnics, ~;srocculu~.c~s and s~nnclarcis sct

fbrth by thc plan. Skills rqrrirccl to develop good f i lm1 plim i~icl~~cle

abilities to:

- makc assun~ptions

- Sorcc:tst and col!cc[ i ~ ~ k r t m i i o r ~

- consider altcrnatives in ~ l w phnning process

- cl~oosc best tlltcrnntivcs - one which will ~nasinrise dcsirabte ~ w . ~ l t , n ~ i t l

minilnix undersirablc ones in prduct ions in the Cmn.

- make flesiblc plan

- e n w e a n adcqurttc inreritoly system

- draw u p progra~nnic plan Tor. the farm activities

- slate yroccdurcs for accomplishing specific farmi11g tasks

- adopr parlicipntive platitling npproach in (enlisting thc co-operat ion

of s~udcnts a d 11ic schooi administration in (he planned ~ ~ r o p r n n ~ m c ) ,

- set standards for tile fhm (sclectec2 crikria against which E ~ c ~ L ~ ; F I

1.esu1t can bc measurecl to cvaluate pcrfonnallcc ).

- budget for the f'arn~ operations

- assure that p!ms arc in accorda~xc with the pogrammes, strnlcgies

and procedcrrcs of !hc school f i ~ r t i ~

- establish new and challenging standards of pcrfonnance for thc

farming activities

- assure thar ncccssa~y rcsoiII-ccs li kc p1mt ing materials, touls. kcds

c.t.c arc' available wlacn nceded sc, as lo accomplish ~11012 to !ong

tern1 pians.

- analyse thc future of existing operation and ro r e c w ~ ~ i l ~ ~ c d

progran~nies of growtrth in llrc farm

- devclop financial sta tments as ncccfcci to detemline the feasibility

of various lime period-plan in ihc fhnn activity

- estnblish syecijic ca~tral proccdurts for anlicipating ur

dctccting differences bt~wecn plans and rcalitics

- makc short and long term plans

- analysc profit a d fnss statemcnts cash flows. operating and capital

budgets of the Farm.

O r ~ ~ n i s i n a Thc Schovl Farm: Organisi~rg is defined as the process of

establishing relationship amtsng available resources so that thcir str~tclurcs

facilitate accomp!ishing sf organisational objectives (Thicrauf et a1 1 977).

Official focus of organking is on the establishment of a fomal

organisational structure. In thc context oS sch6ol farun, organisi~lg will

involve arranging the f'au101.s and putting the resources, both lncn and

materials in place for opration toward achieving set goals of tlic I'nr~n , .

activities. 1 he reIatkmship in tlic organisation stsucl~~re centres on

rcsponsibility. authority and accountability. Rcsporisibility I-ul'crs to the

obligation oi' an individual to perform assignccl duties. I t is the obliytion

of the subordinnte to acconiplish the duties assigrlcd to 11in1 by tllc

superior. To achieve this, thc ngricultural scicncc teacher ~-uquirus tiic

abilities to bc able ro lead \ v d l and assign ~*esponsibilitics to thc s~udents.

Authori~y: I t is a dcrirative of responsibility. I t is l l~e right to ysrforni

certain assigned tasks. I t is tlic power to ordcr and co~~lmatid and is

delegated from I to the subordinaled to dischurgc his

responsihility, Authority is chatnctcriscd by scrvice, and competence.

According to Blackiew ( 1974), good authority rcq~~ires abiii ty to

- Inspire freely - givcn support wit110~it having to ordcr.

- Command pcopIr not so ~nuch as ti-om the coinp)ianse as fm~m

their 1-cspcct.

hccountabiiily: OIIW responsibility has hew assig~lcb nnd h c

corres~midit~g anlounr OF authority has bccn dclcgatd, Ulc iinnll pl~asc of'

orgairisational relationship is ro hoId surbodinates answerable to the

superior for ixxdts. 'Thus ac~onntability is defined as :I nianagemcnt duty

of assigning certain responsibilirics to pcolsle a n d in turn holding them

accounlable for the achicvenmlcn! 04' predcterinined objectivcs witllin their

nrca of' lmponsibility (I-oscl~neimcr 1972). Organking according to

Osuala ( 1 995) represcni ihc way resources connect logethcr to achieve thc

objectives af the business, rnuch hc said, depended on the ~nanage's skills.

thc grcatcr thc skijl of ?he manger, t 1 ~ bctter thc management. Skills.

involved i l l organising of rhe schwT farm therefore inclucle t11c abiliiy to:

- assign farm responsibilities to students

-beIcgatc autlmrily to stuclent leaders and farm 1aboul.cr.s

- Fonn cornmitkcs for specific fanrr activities.

- Fo1-111 fimn p17qjcct ~I'OLIPS.

- cnsilre accountability fro111 students

- be accouritablc to tlw school adnrinistration on thc ~ ~ i ~ t i n i ~ ~ g 11f 111~ '

sc110wl farm.

Rirccting: 11 i s a nunagcrial function ~f provicling instrttclion and

g~ii~ling,. I t is the process of initiating action according to prc-clete~.tnincd

plan ('l'hierairf et a1 1977).

Once the plan has been Ibrmulated and the organisa~io~i has been

propcrly struchmd to accoinplish thesc plans ~nanagewxt fi~nclion of

rlirecting stimulate thc organisation and members to achieve tile desired

objective. Directing deals wit11 Icrtcier-ship. Acceding to Thicr-nuf' ct al

( E 077) IJe3dership is Jciiued as a way of stimulaiing and 11 m~iva~ing

suhi-dinalcs to accomplish assigned task. In the contest uf alh: school

f'mn ir could be defined as thc ability or the agricul~ural sciencc tzachcr to

rnotiva~c and itispire Ihc sludents to p r f o l r m thc rasks lic had assigned to

tlicm on the f i r m . 8-lcle the teachcr is supposed to p i c k m i coildl~ct the

students in carrying out the school farm activities. Managemen[ skills

involvcrf in dil-ccfing includc thc ability to;

- Mot ivate and inspire students to acconlplish crop and a n i ~ n d

pmduction tasks to acl~ievc: xt goals

- t2 wide students' activities in thc hnn

- conduct school farm practical with [he sludents

- lead effkctively in [Re farm by example

- makc obscrvatiuns, absorb ilsformation

- develop imagination, ca1ci-r ideas whik they arc flying

- bc rc~cp l iw !O i i ! ~ i i ~

- valuc tinrc and ~ F S C it skitlfully

- adopt yarlicipative approach in Icadcrship

- com1nuni~atecffec~iwe2y, so as to influence actions to enable

thc ~cachcr achievc desirxd goal.

Controlling Functions: Controlling according to Fay01 (1949) consists

of vcrieing whcthcr cvcrything occurs in conformity with the plan

adopted, the i l~sfn~c~ion issued anil the principles csfablishecl. Tt has as its

purpose, to point out weaknesses and en-ors in order to rectify and prevent

recul-~.o~cc. To Recuts and Woodwarcl (1970), controlling is rhc task of

ensuring \hat S C I I ~ U I C ~ aclivilics ~ C I ~ ~ O ~ I I I C C ! are p n ~ ~ f i ~ i n g I I W dcskcci

results. In the contctl of school hem managemcnl, i t invc~lvcs somc

checks by thc agricullural science teacher to find out whc[l-~er thc

planning, organising and directing of thc fu-in activitics have yiclded good

rcsi~lts or desired results in teruns of students acquisition of prac~icd skill.

This will help the teaches to bc able to detect poinrs of' weakt~ess or

ineffic icncy so as to cor~*cct 111e11-1. Therefore controlling could Ix regnrdcd

as the ~ ~ g u l a t i r m of work activiries i l l accordance ~ 4 h prcclc"fw~~incd

plans, su as to c~rsur-c ~ h c ncconlp!isl~merrt o f objccrivc.~. Sliillc Ibr

pcrSo~.mancc of co~~tralling func~ions i i ~ l u d e ihe ability LO:

- elims'narc ohsracles blocking the attainment ofdesirccl objec1ivcs oi'

the school Tam.

- establishing standards for he school farm

- superviuc (overseeing thc farm activitics according to the set

stancinrds)

- initiatc and carry out corrective action (col-reel dcvintiorls I'm11 thc set

standards)

- monitor thc outco~ne or activities on tAc Tam

- review f'ecdback i~nforn~:do~i about thc o ~ r c o i l l ~ Sor aclj~stnlcnt w11e1-c

necessary.

- determine the unclcrlying causcs of the deviation

- apply disciplinary action. C n n t d i n g through comparism rc(1uil-c I ~ L '

nbilitics to:

- reccivc data

- accumuln~e; classify and record thc inrort-na!iou

- carry our pcriodic cvaluatioll uScmnpletcd action.

Decision making process: In school farm manngen~cnt, dccisian nlnkitlg is

a manaycrnent activity. which cuts across the fu~~ctions of pEannh3.

organising directing and controlling. I t is often assoc iakd with rnalci~rg a

choice alnong alternatives. Simmons ( 1 960) has srrgg,esterl h a t ~mwgcr-s

divide h i t - time into il~rcc.

a) Finding occasion to make clccision

b} finding possi blc coiirsc oS action and

c) clioosir~g aninng a1 tcri-raliuc COIII-scs o f action. Exphilli~ng

decision, Ofstcd (196 1 ) asserted rhaz k r a p a + s o ~ ~ to makc a dccision i t

may mcan

1 . 'That such a perso11 has madc a scrim of bchavioilral reactions in

hvour of something.

3. 11 may also mean that 11s has made i ~ p his mind to do cer-tail1 action

cvhicli he has no doubt that hc ought to do. Ofstcd stressad that rhc

most colnmonly i~scd of ifre term "to rnake a clccision mcans" to

make a judgement rcgwdity what orx oughl lo do in a .c-critui~l

sitiiation after having dciibct.atcd on sonw alknlativc ci>ur:;cs 01'

actions. In his view chi-clmm (1C168) held that thc illanagcrp has

the ~~csponsibil~ly of deciding among altcrnativcs. IIe d ~ i d l z s 011

wl~ich ol' tlic operations tic will facilitate the al ta i~~rnet~t of drsirccl

ob-ject ivcs.

l ' h i e r a ~ ~ f et ill (1977) gave n genera! dcfinition of decision nuking proccss

as a series US stops thal start ti-O~TI an ~tnalysis of h e infor~nalion and

ui t i~~mlcly c d n i n a ~ i n g i r ~ n resolu~icr~r, sclectio~n ti-om the scve~.n\ awailablc

altcrnativcs arid verifica! ion af the selccrcd altcrna tivc now and at sonic

time in rhe fu~urc . to solve the prablcsn undci-study. D x i s i o l a - i n n k i l ~ is

veiy in~porrant in f a - n ~ mnnagenlcnt. The : rg~icuhral sciciscc leacl~er. is

placcd in the psition of nrakhg decision in rclation la ~ ' 1 ~ 1 crop and

aniivars 10 produce among other alternntivcs, wl~ci-e r~nd huw to scwrc

I-cquired inputs. when to start and cnb planring of crops among otlicr

availabk time. The ~ e a c l ~ e r tl~crefore requires skills in the decisioi~ making

proccss. Such skills as outl i~~cd Iy Qlaitan a ~ i d Ekong ( 1999) incl~zclc the

ability oP

- identifying tlic problc~n for easy dcl7nitiola

- defining the prob1e1-n to make it clear and precise.

- collecting a d assemblin~ of infornration or. relevant facts about

thc p~xhicm

- cictennining tllc suitability and relevance of llrc fx!s obtained, bascci

011 rhc prsbhn to be solved

- dctr~~nrining the different coi~l-scs of x\ ions a v a i h b k for the in soivirig

thc p r o b l c ~ i ~

- appraising [he courses of'nctian Sur sclcckn ohappropi-iatc uncs i'or

thc yrobleiu to be solved

- s e l e c ~ i n ~ the most suitnblc c o ~ ~ r s e of iiction for Fm~nurablc rc'st~lts,

- Gathering the nraterids required for the probleni solving activity.

- Imple~nenting the selected strategy nu solve tlx problcm.

his students could not carry out (hc budding operations, h n s a problcnl

sitiration tias ariscn and thc ability to ilctcct the problem is a skill which

thc teacher requires and this coritributus to cffectivc tnanagcmrnl ul' I\ic

school farm. Obtaining relcvanl infbl-mation. UJhen pmbletn is

recognisccl. the ncxt step is to scek irltbrmnlion that \voulcl Iiclp ir l wlving

i t . Thc Agricultin a1 sciwcc tcachct- rcql~i~.cci shill to sort nncf nblair~

information to solve thc problem.

Considering wailable altcmativcs: l'hc teacher nccds 10 i m p i s c

the information obtained and use it to compnrc thc altcrnalive WLII-sc of'

action that could bc take11 r m w d solving t l l c probkm. Making c!ccEsion:

is a choicc 01- sclecrio~r fiom among various ways of' getting a particular

rhillg done 01- goals accumplished. Acc~rd 'F~~g TO Ohitan and Eko112 I( 1990)

making decision is the ability to nlrtke clioicc or juclgclnents instanfly and

acting on thcm with firtnncss. I t i s a conmitmen~ to a certain causc 01'

action.

Taking action: Unlcss conviction is rnnrchc.tl 174' a c ~ i c m , infmnntion

and analysis arc oS little value in auanagmet-it. I~npfrlncnta~icm or

decisions requires c~rergy and orgnnlsatisr~a! ability. T h i s is w \ w c r he

agicuItural sciencc tt'lzcher needs skills to get things dow. 'flx: firla! step

in decision making pr-mw is cvaluatio~~. 'fhc clecisior~ nraking plnccss is

1101 complctu until t k outcornc has bccn considered. 'I'his involves rc-

evaluation of thc decisions on l11c basis of outcome ;~chic\/cd.

Forccas\iog: 'This is thc ability of the agi.icultul-;rE seiel~cc

tcachcr to predict what is likely in his firming activities. To

achicvc a good forccast the teachcr ~ w e t l s the follo\ving skills

of:

Obsci-vation

Collection ol'rclevant informatior-i

Anaiy sins the infarmat ion

Planning: 'This cnfnils sltifls on proper cailbinalion of'

Prod~rdon factors and orhcr inputs to ensure cf'lkcti\~cness

Rccord Kccping: This involves skilIs in proper

documentahn of a11 relevant transactions, assets and

liability of the fa rm business.

Uudgctir-ry and Rccuun~ing: Farm ma~aapwwilt also i~ o l\.cs

skills in budgeting and acco~ru!ing. i[Jlairan, N w ~ c h u k c + ~ l . Isba nrd fCkong

(1999) saw budgeting and accounting as a conlbincd proccss nf ~ n a k i ~ l g

estimate, 01- plan of income and espenditut-c o r progrnnmc 01.

p s o g r a ~ n ~ ~ ~ c s cr-znclemctl or I? busin.c;.ss. It explains t l~c Itecping of slatcnwnt

of incoine and expcnditurc to cnsure efkctivc zmplementation :111cf

managc~mrrr of a project. In the management of' h c school r a m the

teachcr rcquircs skill to lnaltc estimates or pIans allcad, he necds skills to

estimate ahc ft~rurc. outcome of- a plnr~ in quanti ta~ivc terins. Skills

inuolwd in budgeting in school l'arnr manrtge~nent il~cludc:

Specification ofnhc proposed plan in ~crms of-~hc:

. arca to be covered hy each crop

. nimtbcr of crich class of a n i n ~ d s to be produ~cd.

. me~hods of pl-oduction to be adopted

. estimating the cspectcd costs and rctuuns.

Co~ii~i~cnting on thc uscfiifni~s sf budgeting and accm~nti~sg in f:mn

mnnagemcnt. Anilion~a ( 1979) said that " l ' l q arc fi~-raw'ral nleans ...

wl~icli gcncl-all givcs 11ic h r ~ n c r a fundation of cmrs a d I-cvcziir~ rllwri

ivliicli 11c can build his gi*ojcct into lirti~rc and ninnagcmcnt h l r can Ix.

controlled or ~(31.rccr~d bcfijrc tlicy go out ul' canrrol". Irr limsl

~~sanagerment, skills in bucigeting anti accounting a;t. r e lman~ for the

tcachct- sincc tlicy providc iuformation on cost input and dcriwblc

bciicfits in cash and kind a1 a particular pcriod of time. Prcciscly ~ I - I I I

ma~~age~ncnt cntds all tlsc activities ~mderf?lk~i'11 by thc ngricu1ti11-al

scicncc tcachers to achievc desired objcc!ivcs o f serting up a school T a m . . .

These ac\ivilics incluck plannirig. organrslng. diivc~ing and control ling

operations in the school hrnl. I11 carrying out these activilies, thc teacher

ilses cerf a h t u c k

L Obsenja~iun, collection and nnalysing infom~ation, taliins

decision bascd on !ftc annlysis madc. t fc finaPZy implements and t i aluaic;

~ h c docision taken. For succcssf~rl m n a g c ~ n c n t of rhe school farm t l~c

teacher needs skill in b~dpetilig and kcepil~g accaunt of rhc ~ ~ ; ~ S ; ~ C I ~ C I I I S .

'I'hus tlic agricdrura\ scicncc rcaclrcrs as 1-cvcnlcd inclcpcndently b/

Charles and Gilbcr~ (1070) and IIorscy and L3lar1cl1al-ct (1972) arc

managers of spt'cific !,?I-m-lcarning cnvironil-rcnt. l ' hcy control ilic spccif?c

inputs necessary [or h c Icarning process. plan, dircct and co-ordi~lalc l l ~ c

specific activities of'studcnts on t he [arm.

Skills nccdcti by the wr icu If II r d scicrnce tc;;lchur for irnprtsvcrl

pl~nninc organising, directing :,ad controIling of school farm

activities

Agricuitural production involves thc application of m ~ ~ a g c ~ t ~ ~ n t

a) Crop production

b) Soil managewent

d ) manqcnlenL of Farm cquipnicnt and tools.

Thc ~gricidtural scic~icc reachers nccct tllc ski:ls to enable tl~cni bc

efkctivc in managing ~ h c scIrvol farnms for the berlefil of the stutlen~s. 'Ille

relevant skills in thcsc production arcas arc as !bllo~s:

Crop prodertion slcills: Crop i~roductinn nlnnal;crncn! involves

planning, organking, directing and controlf ing clop prodnction activi~ics

in 11% school f i r m . Crop procluction is co~~ccrned with cultiva[ion and

raising of crops for fi~od and other purposes. In o r d c ~ In get 1naxi11li1111

input cflicicncy arlci optimu~n yields from crops, a thormgl~ krrawledgc

:mcl application o r '~ l i i I I~ in planning, nrganising, clircctitq and ct)nlrolling

thc various activities in\mlvcd i r ~ crop procluctio~~ arc ilnpostant. Bear

(198.7) stated \hat for a Irig!~ crop pmluction to be obtained ccr ' tai~~ ticiors

from thc pre-rcqi~isitcs. siich as skills ~rceded in crop pmriuctio~~ \\/llic11

incluclc, ability to prepart' land nrtd plan fiw school fa-~n, abili[y to

organise or g o u p crops, ability 20 iise bmcr fertilizer a11d app1icaric.w

nwthrxls. adoption of good cu1tu1-al practices likc ~vcedi~lg ~ i i u ~ ~ l l i t ) ~ .

il-rigah11 and abili ty lo I I ~ W C S ~ crops cffectiwly. 111 his O\\V ol>in ion

Olaiton ( 1984) o i ~ t l i ~ ~ c d some crop lmdiiction skills to irlcludc skills i l l

land preparation, nursery prtparation, crop propagation and ~nairltenancc.

weeding, fertilizer application, ptsfs m d disa~se control awl scecl storage

for next planling scasun.

Cas~lt.. Decker and N c l s v ~ ~ ( 14187) ol?sctucctl that r=mp prwl~rcric~~~

nxmagerwnl iiwolves intertclatccl decisions regardkg cmp selection, soil

tillage, cropping sysre~n. ferlihting, w e d , pests and discasc conlm!, 111

r~ddition to fhc skills tnentioncd above Agbulu 1(1996), identified I J W

f o l h ~ i n g as accepted slci!ls in crop productio~~ i n scllool Fxm.

- selecting suitable site Sol cropping

- cl~ocrsing the bcst pianling m a t c h 1

- processing harvcsfcd Ifil1-m prcducts and keeping Ewn records. TIIC

agricul tiwal scicncc tcachcr rcqrircs shiIls in tlscse arcas liw efli-live

managcnlcnt of the school h m . Taking some of ~hese activity LII-ws for

csamplc, selcctix~g suirnble site for cropping, skills :IIX ncedcb to identify

enviro~~mcntal I-cqi~ircmcnts of particular crops to be gmwn Ixfot-e

selection is made. 'Thorough knowledge of soil and climatic rquimnents

like I-aint'all, teinpcrature c.t.c. of' the crops to be ptanlccl i s cmphasizcd.

Kznccfa and )3cachcll ( F 974) nbscrwd that zht. tcnipcrata~rc rc i j~nc y-ct';\ t Sy

influence nut onTy rhc ~rowth duralim of crops but also the y.ro\vth

patlcs1-n o t' ~ h c crops. I n his own suim iss iw~ Walron 3 1 ~ 1 1 101 t ( 1 984) s t a [~d

hat ~nany crops c.g. rice arc: v c ~ y scnsitivt. to Icn~pcl-aluse variaticms. I-Ic

noted thnr rice g x ~ n h a t c s hsr a\ a tcml~erature of 2 l k . Bcsidcs. hc said

ferti lity 1s redwed if fhc ~etnpcraturc falls I-tclow 24% during the Ilowciing

period. Me fbrther pointed o ~ t that in some ricc gttnving areas, the niost

limitins factor i11 rice pr.oduc~ion is tcmperalurc i l l thc growing scason and

ttvailability of water. 'I'hus wateis availability is also a pl.ercquisitc Sor

crop pnducrion, the a_~ricultural sciienct' feather I I C ~ S t ~ ) k110\\~ [ I I C n'ltci.

status of a place as well as nmis~urc rcquiremcnt of' tllc crops to be grown

before selection is n~ade. Onwuci-r~c a d Sinha ( 199 1 ) obscl-vcd that 111c

chief limiting factor to the growth of some plaits is water supply.

A l h u g h lack of watcr Is rhs primary conslraint to high and stabic y ieltls.

too much water is also a problcm that could m u l t in watcr logging a~ lc l

otlies negatlvc eSfccls on the soil and crops.

Skills in Land Preparation: 1,anrl prcparation is i~nporta~l t . 111 crop

production, skills arc i r~vudv~cl i l l p-eparing thc h t ~ l Ibr- ~Iio platiling o f

crops, and for rhc reacher to bc cffcctive in ~-mingin_c ~I ic c r o p w l l . I K

must posses the sk'nfls required to srganise and dircct I m c I prcparation.

Thc aim of' preparing l a d fc>r crop production is to desiroy weeds, clean

the vegetation. obtain a c!can surfacc laycr i n which the c i q x would bc

s o w to 111c dcsircti d c p h and provide conciilions that arc favoul-ahlc fbr

good germination and normal sccdling devclop~iicnt (IRRI 1073). l a d

preparittioii invoiws clearing. removal of cut matcr-ids lillagc, ~-itfgi~rg and

or sccd bed niaking. 'The type of tillage to hc clmphvcrl dcpeixls 015 I ~ C

iypt of c l u p h . Some crups lrkc h c ISW crops m d I IJEX~S rt'rplw c l e q

tillage ivhilc other C I ~ O ~ S like the ~ ~ ' i l i l l ~ IICCCI sf~allow ti!lagc. In ricc

ci~ltivation for csrzmpic intensive soil ti1l;lgc i r l Iosvlar~rE ice i s to cl-cntc

puddled condition. Budtrlai~ a d Rubin (1970) said rha\ puddling i~rvo!ves

workins i ~ p \he soil to tllc constituciicy of a linc s o f ~ mud by mcans ol'

repeated hctrtmring and trampling. A s plaster ( 1 992) obscrvccl, to g ~ m v

crops, a growl. places sced in contact with the soil and to do this involves

some form nl'tillagc. 'Thcrc arc many ways to work tlic soil. and difrcl-cnt

situations require diffescst methods. Each method has an cSticct on llic

crops and the soil. The agricultural scicnce tcnclier rcquil-cs skills in

tillage to bc able to nnnage crop protlucrion ei'l'cctivciy. Ski 11s t-cq~r ~rcd rn

tillage include; ability 10.

- Plan for 11ic tillage operation

- Selcct the appropriate tillage syslcm to adopt

- Secure 1iElage equipment

- Determine the tinling and depth of plouglii~ig

- Carry out conservational tillage

- Idcntify and take care of tile problems of conservational

t i I lage

- hrccas l the eRc ts oftillage on physicrtl conditions of soil.

- Control the c?dvc~sc uffctts of tilhgc on the soil.

Skills are also needed to plan, organise direct and control the following

activities in crop prodcrction crop -ptopagation by seed ard vegr.!ative

part, n~aintenance af crops in the field, though wcecling. fertilizer

applicalion, ~nulching pests and disease conrrol, harvesting. p~-occssi~lg

and storage of p~+obuct..

Froln \he forc'g~ing, it could bc found that in the ~nanagcinwt of

the scliooi farm, skills ia planning. organising, directing, and con~rolling

crop p r o d ~ ~ t i o n are rcslcvan~ for the tenchcrs to manage thc production of

crops in thc school farm, the inaskiy and application of thcse skills are

important. ?'enchcrs of agricul(ura1 scicncc i n sccoiidaly schools t l w e f i ~ r c

req~lire tlicse skills for effectivcncss in the performance of rheir

~nanagcincnt fiinctions and in the drilling of the leal-ncrs.

Skill NcedcrE by Tcac11ct-s in Soil Mana~erncn t.

Skills involved in soil inanageincnl awl impmvcmcllr have t ~ ~ c l l

identified by experk Ohitan ( 1 984) or~tlined soil managel~lont sl,'l \I l s to

include

- identifying soil types

- ~nainlcnce of' soil f'ertility

- control of erosion and

- tillage for crops.

Other skills identified by Ifartmoun (1988) include thc sltills of:

- determining soil types and properties.

- ciclcrmiuing nutrient mailability ill the soil.

- IcIcn\ilj'ing soil drainage needs.

- rcplcnishing plant nutrient in the soil. (Manuring, I-,i~ning.

Mulcliing, Fallowing)

- Dcterrning activities of soil organisms (soil flora and Fauna)

- selecting soiIs for crop procluction

- testing soil for soil acidity

In additioll to thc above castle ct 31 ( 1 987) included t l~c fc~lloii'ing

as soil munagc~wnt skiM

ulldei-srn~lding of land ca;lpdbilities which is the ability of -

so i l s lo suppo1.t crops under varying c~dlivation pracliccs

applying soil conserva~ion practices like good tillage, c o ~ c l * -

cropping;

- using good cropping S ~ S ~ L ' I I I l ike crop rotation

- using apprqxiate rficth~~ds 10 C O ~ I S C ~ V C so i l \wtcr and

nutra'cnts. -. 1 he soil is a vciy inlpm!ant factor in any farin opcmtion. -1 llc j icltl

of crops dcpencls on how well the soil can support its grwvth ;md

production. I t is also kno\vn that the soil is a fixed cntity and its nutrients

status is ~ m t constant. I t is often clep1et.ecl OF its nutrients thereby reducing

its suyportivc role lo plants. I t then means rhat good manageinerr! of thc

soif is ilnlwt'ativc for n~caningrd h - ~ n operation in rhc schwl ~ X H . I 'hi~s

the skills Pisted above are relwant f-)r soil marsagc~ncnt as \ v d l as good

crop production. 'I'hc Agricullural science teacher tllcrcforc sl~oulrl

possess soil n ~ a n a g c c ~ e n ~ skills for cffectivc nlanagerncnl a11t1

improven~cnt of soil in thc x h ~ d farin to enable hirnlher u l i l i~e i t i n

helping agsicultm-c science stt~bcnts develop the rcquired skills.

Skills Nrrericcf hy T c d ~ c r s in Managiny! Livestock in T11c School

Fn rm.

Onuchego (1987), identified the fbilo\ving skills in animal

production;

- Selection of animal stock to kecp.

- Construction of livcstock pens.

- Identification of fcecl typcs 1-cquired by dil'f'crc~~t a~iimnls.

il.1

T i ~ n i ~ ~ g of' feeding

Delel-mining the quantity of' feed to be Ted to the allin-lals.

Watering of the anilnals

Controlling pests and diseases in animals

Culling animals

Sale of animals and animal productions. Agbulu ( I 9%) also

identified skills in animal prodr~ction to include;

Selecting desirable fbu~ldarion stock

Determining system of nmmgelaxmt to adopt

Raising yomg animals

Feeding the stack

Prod~iction s f high quality beef, egg, milk, c

bacon, n~utlon, veal

- Contiulfing parasites ;~nd disease,

- LMaintnining animal shelkr and equipment

- Kccping records.

:hicken, pork,

Agricuitural sciencc teaclxrs require these relevant skills in

planning organising, directi~tg anci controlling the product ion of the

aniinals to be able lo help sludcnts develop the skills

Skills in Managing Farm Equipment and Tools.

'The maintcnancc oS material resources such as li~rtn 1001s and

ccluipmcnr alicr thcir use is important to t .~il~ancc their d~~~ ,ab i l i l y .

According to Olaitan, Nwaclii~l.;wu, Onyc~ixichi, Igbo and Ekong ( 1990)

tools can be dcfiricd as [lie inslrirmelits, cleviccs that can bc ha~idlcd easily

while carrying out spccial operations as well as insttuctional ~ I I I C I Icariiing

activities. Cot~tinuiilg. Olaitan el al (1999) dciincd equiprncnt as ~wrtahlc

or hcavy ~iicchanical dcvisc for opcratio~is in ~ h c laboratory, i v o ~ ~ h s l ~ o p or

field laboratory. Lkluipmcnt is ~ m r c sophisticated than tools. Its i ~ s c i5

mainly 011 technically spucialised ski1 l practices in thc instructioria l ;111cl

learning situations. Accorclinp to Olcorie (1983) tools milst be clcancd and

stored after use, hc contiliilcd Lha~ sxjmsu~% of tools to wcallicr coilld

cause 111c fbllou~ing I iam on h e tuck Metal parts \ \ i l l 1.1151 111 I ~ ~ I I .

wooden parts may bc attacked by ~cnnitcs. w o o d c ~ ~ Iiandles way cl-ach 011

exposure to rail1 and sun. To avoid the datmge according to O1;oric. rhc

followi~ig inarugcnictit practicc (s!;ills) slioiilci be u t i de r~ako~~ .

- I'rovision of'suitable shcd or store lo kecp tho tools.

- i landlc tot,ls \sit11 carc.

- 13lados ol'tools should be sharpwed I-cgulal-ly.

- Iicri~ovc soil sticking on ~ h c hlade afrc.1- use

- Grease or oil the rnetal parls of tools that t 1 1 i I I not bc used 101-

a long tiriic to p~-cvc~i t rust.

c . I hc managcmcnt ol' I i rm 1nacIliner-y is mow ssophislicnted than thar

of simplc fiwm tools duc lo thcir complcx nature. Nlassic, and Ilouglas

( 1973) and stone ( 1075) indcpcndcntly put thc ~nanagernen~ skills in l i ~ r m

~iiachine~y LO include:

- klnming the machincry when nut in LW.

- Follo\ving tnanu!aclurcl-'s instrcrctio~~s for LISC a~ld

nlaintcnance.

- L,ubricaling moving parts.

- Ikguiai , inspection.

- 'Fhoro~igh clcaning after rlsc to avoid corrosion lium

Fcrtil~~cr slid PC.;! icidcs

- Oiling n~ctal parls to prcvent rusting.

- 13aintins wooclcn parls to contl-cl tcimitc danlasc. o n tllc

manage~iicnt of fa rm s~ructures, (animal pens), Olaitan, Agivubui1,e and

Altubuilo ( 1 99 1 ) co~~tcnded that ~ o o d ~iianagemtnt gualmtwc; n ~ a x i ~ n u n ~

prodidon at min imum cost to thc farmer or school. Skills involvcd in

nianaqernenl - of f'ar~n st~ucti~l.cs 3s idc~llificd by Y O L I ~ C ' ~ W C ~ , I<a r l~ga~~ l r~ ,

Ogbazi and Adcsiya~i ( 1 957) includc:

- Painling tlic mclal part of thc farm struclurc w i t h oil paini lo

prcvent rust.

- painting h c woodcn p ~ t of tlic buj!ding will1 coal tnr (11-

so l i yu~~n to protect h e wood fi-om tlmagc by termites.

Occasions l l y changing skaw beddings or l i ttcr to sccluce tlic

- Coating silos with almiiniu~ii paint to prc.vent siist.

In additioi~ to tlie above sltills on managcmunt of farm qu i l~n ic~ i t

and tools, Agbuln ( 1 996) includccl the Sollowing skills.

- Sclcctil~g rqyxopl-iatc qi~ipment

- Chccking parts oS ccluipnient

O bscrving saScty precautions in using iism equipnicnl.

- Icleniil'ying fced equipment for vario~~s farm animals

- ~Mai~itaining farm cquipmcnt (washing and c t r y i ~ l g clca~iing.

lubricat~ng. replacing wornout parts)

Using thc h r m tools to pcrfortn their i'unctions

- Carrying out h1.m survey with the appropriate tools. I'osscr;sion

of these relcvant skills is itnportant for h e agsicultural science

teachers to enable tlicm manage and utilisc tlie school Fa-ni l i l y

Psycho-productive teachirig of t l x students.

Need Asscssrnent a n d T h e Neccl for Imprnvcn~ent o n Skills of

Ajykrrltrrrnl S r i ~ n r c Tcaclicrs. - 7 Necti Assessn~ent: Ihe svorcl nced is synonymous with want.

requiremenl, necessity arx! objigation (Adedoja 1992). I t is dcfi~rcd by

Oxford Advanced Imrncrs' Dic~ionary of current I117glish as

circumstances \vhich [nay corn@ one to act in a c e t ~ a i n way (l lo~mhy

1979). I t thcn implies that need is a ciisclqmcy or gat, k h v e c ~ l a11

existing situatior~/circu~~istance and a dcsirablc state; the difference

betivecn "\vhar is" and *'what ought to bc". It can Ix also scen as lhc drivc

or push [hat molivatcs an i~idividual to achicve thc goals hc a sp i r c~ to 01.

things he desires to have.

Thus nced rcprescnts an imbalance, lack of adjustment or gap

betwecn t l ~ c present situation and a new or changed sct ol' codi t ions

a s s u n d Lo bc more dosii-able. Clnazi ( 1974) observed that available.

resources could only bc better utilised and made more productive nhcn

d a t i v e necds arc clctc~-n~incd anti appropriate listing or pricwibies

establislicd. 'I'l~crc is thcrct'orc nced for assessment of arcas ot'nccd h c k w

i rnp~uvomcnt siratcgics can bc ~~nclcrtakcn ro nchicvc. r h objcc[i\'cs.

Nced assessnlcnt according 10 Uhitan and Ali (1907) is a data

gathering and analysis process technique far prcsviding ini'ormutiori Ibr

programme eva l~~a t io~ i and modification as prop~~scd by V f i lkin ( 1 9773.

Otic p~ri.posc of necd assessnlcnl among orhers is to cicto~.~~~inu ~ h c

needs oi' tcachcrs for additional training. Aclcm-cling to Olnitan and Ali

( 1997) Need assessment is done Ibr various reasons in the cducatio~lal

sctting and for the purpose ol' identifjling di f'ferent types of needs.

- training; Icalning e.t.c, served by a particular educational systctn,

therefore, they continuccl, the mcthods to be usccl in conduc(ing such

a) .Job description

b) Organisation, 0pera~ic-m and man analysis

c) Critical incidcnt tcchniquc.

lob analysis: ?'his is a detailed description u f thc ctutics ; ~ n d

responsibilities a givcn position (job) cntnik

Organisation analysis clctemiws where, wilhin rhc organisation:

training cmpllasis s h o ~ ~ l d be placed. Operation deals with \vhat an employce ]nust do to perform a job

cffectivcly, I analysis e~nphasiscs the inciivicluai cmploycc:

determining the skills, knowledge m c l attituck he will n c d LO dcvelop.

Job dcscsip!ian, ~cx-ganicnrio~s and man a~~alys is arc d a t e d and cannot bc

used separately.

Critical incidcnt technique is n set of procedures for collecting

direct obsel-valion of behaviour in order to solve practical problems and

develop psychological principles. Conmenting still on ~ntlll~ods of' 11evci

assessment Nzewi ( 1985) put that available literature rcvealecl tivo

di ffcrenl ;~pp~-o:~ches to nced assessmerlt which it~cludc: thc classical or

methodj identihcs tlw compcfcncics desirable for effcctivcncss: on rhr: job

and measuring thc trainees with rcspect l o thc level of perl'ormancc n f ~ l ~ c

idcnti liccl important co~npetencics.

Nccd ssscssmcnt using thc compctcncy bascd .~pp~+oacli include tlw

following p;~ltcrris.

1. The perception of cspcrts, teachers, administrators and supe13isor

of' [he skills needed for ef'fcctivc performance 011 thc job is obtaincc!

through intcrv icu s/qi~estiolinaircs/ I-CV~C\\J I I ~ 1itc1.ati11~:

2. A preliminary list of these skillsl competcnties i s ccru~pilcd

3. 'I lie co~npctc.ncics/sltills are rcdwed inlo :cries uf task clcsc~'ipto~.s

cor~.esponding to thc job of Ihc Iargct papd3lion;

4. The task dcscriplors are critiqued and 11m1 validated by cxpcrts:

5 . A competency - nccd invcntoq is Ibl-~~~ularcd.

The task descriptors can bc used as qi~cstionnairc items lo clicil 111c

Competencics/skiIls possesscd by inclividuals already on the iob, and an

analysis of thc data thus collccEed wiE\ irdicatc thc skills, ~vllicll the

indivictual lacks. 111 scrviccs training can thercfosc be orgnnised on thc

basis of this inforinntio~-, lo improve on their sl\ilis on the job:

'I'hc abovu patlcr11 was uscti by Zul-ub and Rubba (1983) ill heir

deiclopmcn~ and validation of an inventory to assess scicnce te;~cllc'r's

needs h- cfSectivcncss in thcir jobs. Fro~n the foregoing it f'01luv.s t h r

nced asscssnicnt is important iS imp~wcmcnl is to be achicvd t h ~ ~ g h

training. Melhods of necd assessment according to Olaitan and Ali ( 1907)

vary i n relation 10 thc purpose of the assessment. Thus in the case of

agricultural science ~oaclicrs skill imp~wc~nci l t nccds a list of skills

impo~.~ant for cfl'ective mana~cnlcnt of school h - m will be obtained

throu,gh rcv iw o!' rclwtnr Ii~cl-a~ul-c.

( 1994) as 111c act oi.' bringing into a more desirable or otcellcn~ concli~ion;

to bcco,llc htler. till i~i~pmvcnlcnt in this contcxl can ix: regarded as a

process by w1rict-t [hc ogricullural scicnce tcaclwrs' ability lo plan-

organise, direct and control the activities of thc school fa1111 is made

better. '1-hc1.e has bcen C V ~ ~ C I I C C fi-om expcrts that teachers of a g r i ~ d l r r ~ a l

scicncc a1.e not utilisiny ihc school f i rm in teaching pracrical skills ro their

st~ldents. Okoric ( 1974) m d Eteng ( 1980) indcpc~xle~~t ly abscrwd that

schooi ::druns ivcre not usccl 101- improving tlic lcanring of a g r k u h r a !

scietice skills in sccontlnry schools. Expericncc ol' the I-csearclier (311 the

Lrse of school farm in teaching. sllow non- utilisatia~i 01' tlie scl~ool larnl

for tcacliing prac~ical agt.icultural scie~lcc skills and this is d~re to poor

~nanage~ncnt ivliich may be :wociated with inadequacy of rcleva~lt skills

by ~hc: tc~ic11c1-s. As ~lotcri Ibm the backgi-o~~nd of ihc strlcty Nkajcinc.jc3

(1988) statcct lhat ap-iculrural science 1cac1wr.s ~ ~ c r c o w of' l l ~ c LICI~I.\

inhibiting cSfectivc farm npcr-ations f i )r educational hetief3s. 1 lie obsen~rd

lack o f co~npctcr~cich rund skills due lo iraining clefkiency as a tiiajor

causc. As ~ O L I I I ~ w i t hy LIIKI ( I C)77) i l l hcr study on thc p-oblc1115 o i

management of tllc school far~n, schtlnl agricullural PI-ograiimc cuuld

only bc enhanccd through effective manayement ol'thc school I'rtrm. 1'11ere

will bc effcctivc Inallagerncnt if agr icul tu~~d scicncc tcnchel-s possessed

tlic rclevanl I-nanagunciit slti 11s. Based on tlic abovu subrt~issio~is, i i c.oulcl

be secli h a ( hhcrc is need fbr improvcn~cnt on thc slLills d r l l l c agric~~lt l~ral

sciencc leacllel-s. 'I cmkn ( 1977) said [hat thc plufi=ssional sk~l l s ol

yesterday and today would not be zdcquatc for fu l~~rc . Ezeugu ( 1 98.3) fell

that there should bc re-training of agricultural science ~ c a c l w s to enrzblc

them irnprove their skills to mccl the cltmands oi' lllc 6-3-3-4- system 01'

education which is uocntional (skill) oriented. Kluin (1985) in his

submission contcnclcd that teachcrs would bc dcemccl as having bwn

succcssfn~l only after esprcssing intcl*cst in further dcvcloping 111cir

professional skills. I t is obvious from the fbregoing that there is nccd for

improvcmcnt on the f'arm ma~~agcriaf skills of :ig-icultural science

tcacliers t o mako rhcin more uffcctivc in I ~ L * mmagemcnl o f school farm

for I E W ~ C E I C ! ? ~ 01' sti~dcnts and {he schuol. Okelie ( I99 l j submiltcd that

teachcrs necd sltills necessaly to make thc fullest usc of resource n~aterials

in scliools for clusired ob.jective.

2. Strategies for Improv~lnent of Agr-icri!ttrr;iJ Sciciacc l'e;wfrcrs'

Farm ~nnnrr~rmcnt skills:

In order tu irnprovc o ~ i t l~c Far111 managelltent skills of thc teacl'ws. the

following s t ra te~ ies coulcl go a long way la I ~ l p ,

1 , Rctrainine: Retraining in this case could be ~ ~ g a r d e d as a proccss

by which teachwi are mads l o upgrade their knowlc.dgc ant! skill i n

agricultural managcrwnt through short or long-tcrm usposurc lo

s p x i f i c arcn in agricult~rral Educatioo. T R c benchts 01' ~.~ l t . i~ i t~ ing

are such as:

- Exposing thc teacher to recent findings a i d new improvcrl

metllods in spucific areas of agricu1tui.e.

- Upgrading the tvachers knocvledge and skills

- ASforcling ~ h c tcachcrs thc opportunity to mcet experts in lhc

ficld and intcract with professionals coileagucs which can

become smr-ces of rclevmt information in and ~cnclling

business. The rctait~ing progi-amiue could bc tl~rough the fi)llowi~~g:

- In-setvicc PI-ogrammc: 'I'cachc~~s could apply Tor somc

progranmcs which would cnablc: rhcm under%kc s n m

[raining in relevant arcas. Siich progran~rncs rike 131e

('I I ) are

t l~cn~:;clves of

sing sandwich

skills in the

and knowledge teachurs would bc I-equircd to ucc a variety ot' resousces

such as cxtcnsivc involvement in W~I-ksliops.

- Attending confurcnces: Another way to improvc tllc shill of

agricultural scicnce teachcrs is by their attcnciitig conferences organisod

for agricultural sltilIs tlevclopment. This will givc thcm thc opportunity o f

learning and improving their skills.

Other mcthods that could bc used in improving tcacl~cr's skills

arc the use of modular approach of teaching in Lticir* rclraining

programme. A modulc in [llis context- is a unit ol'curl-icuiunl br~scd on tlic

clc~clopmcnt o f entry Icvcl coiaipetence of the Icarncr (Olaitan and Ali

1997), .?blod~~lcs arc dcsignd amund the necds and dcsircs of lhc Feartlcr.

In a nodular dcsign. thc sr~~dcnrs and their occ~~pational goals Ibm~ r l l ~

basis for programme planning. Cllivia (1976) clcscribecl a naalulc as a

segment of an insh-uctional programme. Olaitarl ( 1975) c o i ~ t e ~ ~ d d (Ili-t[

practical skills in agriculture could be effkctively ttrugIat, IVIXFI

instructional packages are structured into modulc with adcqmtt. r h c

alIotment. '1 hus tlic psychoproductive activities i v i l l be siruc!ured in line

w i~h the concept of modular rlcsign for the asricultural science rcacbwtrs

during their ~raining.

- Counpctency approach: According to Ol;ti(~m ( 1978) C O I ~ I ~ C I C I I C Y

approach lays emphasis on knowlerigc, ski l Is, attilucles anrl

.judgement wliich are generally requircd for the successful

pfor-mancc of a Iask rather than a11 the components con~lxising

t11c task. Can~inuing, Olaitatl said tlial this approach can be uscd to

train t h s c r h a ~ arc. capable of'using thc knocvlcdgc, skills, attitudes

and dbilitics in their various disciplines.

7'hc Agricul~usal scicncc tcac hers hereforc can avai l t hctnsclvcs of'

somc of these opportunities to improve c)ti their s ~ L I I s . LO cnabk rl~enl

manage school h - ins eflectivcly, to thc benefit ul'the studenh.

Some Studies on Farm Marwg~rnent and Utilizntiorr

111 rht: tcacliil~g and learning ofagriculturitl science. cml~hasis is laid

on t l ~ c acquisition o S skills. 111 vwac?tional Educalion, skills arc acquircd

~vllcn the- Ical-ning environment is a I-cplica of t l~e mpectcd job situation.

iicncc thc umphasis on thc usc oi 'scl~ool Far111 [;\I- teacl~ir~g a11d I c a ~ m i n ~

r C ICI'S agriculrural science skills. As idcntiiied it1 ~ h c l i t c r ~ l u i ~ I'CVCWL"~ te.1 .I

are no1 using tlic school 1111-ms lo tcl~clm practical skills to IIIC stuilents.

Some expests lilw (Eicng 1980 and Okeke 1986) atlribukd [his to lack of

skill by teachers. Many stzrciies had boon underlaken by scholars on the

nlanngcmcnt m c l utilisntion o l ' k school h r m . Aclclckc ( 1 098) worked on

improving thc management of thc school farm. In his study hc li)cusccl on

thc factors t11a1 wouIc1 positively in fl~rencc scl~ool Sam tnanx;erncii~ or

which skillccl and co~npctel~l agrici~Itu~'id scicncc leather. was icler1tiITcc.l

among other factors. Uko (1997) w~skecl 011 the problcnrs nf nrarmpncnt

of school fi1+111. IIe also idcntificcl lack 01' skillcd agricultural scicncc

teachers among olhcr factors that constitute p~*obicms in managemcnl of'

the farin. Agbulu (1996) worked on the utilisation of the school Sm-111 i l l

teaching agricultural sciencc in secondary scl~ools. 1-Ic focuscti on tlic usu

of modular instruclion for thc irnprovcmc~~t of teaching a~riccnl~ural

sciencc. I t could be obscr-ved [ha\ none of those studies was conc.erwd

with the skills possessed and needed by he agr-icult~~ral science teacl~crs

fol- improving the management ol' thc school I'arm. Thus a study cm h c

improvement of managcmcnt skills of agricultural scicnce teachers will

rcvcal some bcnefit in el'fixtivc tnanascnscnt and ulilisatio~i of the sol~xll

farm in tcaching psychoproductive s k i k to learners or students of

agicul tu~*o.

;Cr;rrrnrn:~i~~ of Lit~r;~trrrc licvicv.

llue to the paramount importance ollthe sc11001 IN in t l ~ t~ ' i l~ l l i l~g

a n d Itarning of agricultural scicnce in schools, its utilisrttion and

managrment have attracted the a~ir t icrn af ngricullurists. teachers and

researchers. This has r11crefo1-c lccl to thc ava~lnbility oS ~natcrials Tor

review on lhc managcmcnt and utilisation of thc school far-111. P - 1 he liler.a[u~-c reviewed, 1-cvealcd thar the acquisiliot~ and

cicvclopment of'skills involve imitation, repetition and parlicipalior~ on an

cnviron~ncn~ rclevant for the skill lxing Ical-111. I t was also revealccl that . . .

t11c a c q u l s ~ ~ ~ o n and dcvclopnlcnr cf skills on the parts of agl-icullural

sciencc reacl~crs will equip the tcnchers wcll cnough to bc able lo apply

the relcvant skills acquired and developed to rnanagc \he scllool fal-n~

effectively.

Litcraturc revealed that thc school lam is v~1-y te leva~~t i n

imparting agricultural science skills to sludents. I t i s ho\vcvcr

d iscovused ii.0111 thc literature that the school Sarms ace pcxlt-ly ma~iagccl

and utiliscd by ngricultu~.al scic~icc teachers in dcvclnping slutlcrits'

practical ski1 Is. Farm nianagcrnelit was however cmsidcrcd being

important if' dcsired objectives of making h e students to accluirc and

resources. I t ivas also rcvenlcd \hat decision-n~aki~ig process i s a 111aicv

skilii11 area in !arm managcnrent which cntails obsesvation, collection or

information. analysis of irnfornration collccted and thcn taking dccision.

These atid othcr skills in the literature arc required by [he tcacliers.

O n tlic skills nceclcd by tcachcrs in !mn:rging the scl~oul fh-111

activities, litesaturc revealed that skills in planning, organi~ing, r l i rcstrn~

and con troll in^ crop p r ~ h c f i o n , soil managcmcnl, aninla! pwrluctiorr as

1x11 as managemcnl of fa-111 equipment, and tools fan11 slrrnclures arc

important fbr uf'tcclive ~nanagcnicnt 01- tlic school I'a~ni. /Ig~.icl~l\wdl

scicnce tcachcrs require these skills 10 be able to managc the school farm

cffcctively for psycllo-prochctive tcacllillg.

Some stidies on management and utiIization of !he SCIKKII farm

reviewed, I-evcalcd that thc school farm is no[ bcing u[ili~,cd b,, t l~c

agricultural sciencc teachers to teach practical skills to studct~is. Also

revcaled \\;as thc fact that lack of skillccl, competent agricultural scicncc

reachers is one of' thc mr~jor problems hindering succcssf~~l management

of schwl farms, hence the need for* impl-ovc.n~ent lor1 the skills of'

agricultural science teachers as revealed in the litcraturc. Such

improvement strategies as identilied in the literature includc. I-ctl-aininy

prograrnmcs through in-service, sar~rlwich, prograInme, attendance at

worksl~ops and confcrcnces, and adopion of nlwh~l:u- approach of

teaching in thc retaining programme for the tcachurs will hclp clevclop and

iipgradc the teachers' skills. This strrdy is thcrcfore intcncled Lc: identifjl

the skill improvcmcnt 11ceds of' aguicultural science tcact~crs. the

improvcmcnt of which will cnablc them manage thc schc~ol Iirin

cffect i v d y fbr the bcncfit of students.

CHAPTER THREE

METHODOLOGY

'I'his chapter described thc Proccdurc for data collection awl

analysis. I t speciiically focuscd on tI~c dcsign. arca of the study.

population. sample, validity and reliabilii\l of the instnrn~cnt, data

collection and r i d ~ a d of data analysis.

Ucsigrl of the S t d y

This study employed a survcy dcsign. A survey, reseal-ch is one

which invr)l\/cs rhc assessnwni oi' pcoplc opinion sing questiotmairc and

popuIation or sampling n~cthods (Wolman 1973) in (Ezcji 19C)9).

I'hc rlesign was therefore suitable for this study. sincc i t so~rgh~

infm-marion li-om a~ricultura! scicnce teachers 011 thcir skill impl-ove~nc~it

nceds for effcc.tive management oi'school farms.

A r m of the Sttidy

The study will cover the three Educational Zones in Imo State,

namcly Owe~.ri, O r l ~ , and Okigvc.

Population of-thc Study

The target population of thc study was 583 ag-icultt~ral scicncc

tcachers in secondaiy schools in the three educational zones oT 11am Srarc

Table 1

Distribulion of Agricullural scicnce teachers in the thrcc educa t io~~a l

zones in Imo Stntc.

Number of teachcrs 1 Educational

I zone

Total

I Number of

SCIIOOIS

Sourcc: S.E.M.R. stalktic un i t (2000)

S a r ~ ~ ~ l e and sanipling technique: 'l'herc was no sampling 'I'l~c cntii-c

population of 553 teachcrs was uscd ['or the study. Thirty tcachurs werc

iiscd for test of rcliabiliiy.

Ins!r~irnent for data co!lectiou:

A s(ructi11-a1 c~uestionnairc was developed and usccl Tor collecting

data for this s t ~ ~ d y . T11c q ~ e ~ t i o i m c ? i ~ - ~ ' was diviricd into four paris. Part I

was usccl to obtain itiformarion on pcrsonai data o r thc respotidcnts. h1.1

I1 sought infomation on 111c managcmenl skills rcqui~-ed for cffcc~ivc

f i~nct~oning oi' the school farm. For this section, the rcsponsc options wcrc

based on a 5-point rating scale o r Vely I-iighly Iiequired (VIIR) = 5 ,

Highly I<cquirrd (HI<) = 4. Averagely Required (AK) = 3, Slighlly

Required (SK) = 2, Not required (NK) = I

Part 111 \vas used to idcntify farm managcincnt skills nl~xxidy

possessed by agricullul-a1 scicnce teachers. The rcsponsc options Tor part

I11 were Very Highly I'osscssed (VI1P) = 5 . Highly I-'ossessed (1 I f ) ) - 4,

Averagely posscssed (AP) = 3, Slightly posstsscd (SP) -- 2 md I IOI

posscssed (NP) - 1

Par1 IV was used to identify farm manageencnt skills ~iucdecl by

teacl~ers fbr i l n p r ~ ) v ~ d p ~ r f o l ~ ~ l a n c c in the school lhr111.

For part IV, the rcsponsc optians were Vcry highly Needed (V1 IN)

= 5, IIighly nccded (HN) = 4Avcragdy Needed (AN) =3 Slightly Nee~kx~

(SN) =2 Not Needcd INN) = 1

Validation of the 1nstr~mcnt 7 - I hc inst~xmcnt was validalcd by thrcx cxperns (Lcclt~l-crab in

Agricultural Education in the departrncn t of vocations! Teacl-1c.r

Education. Univcrsily of' Nigcria Nsukka. A fact: validation o r the

instrumcnt was carried out by the validafors ar.d h e i r inputs used 16

rcconslrvuct and update the instrument before hc administration. .IIIC

validators were r&pcstcd r i> hcit validntc the instt ument based 011 whcthcr

items were clearly statccl. relevant il11d could cIicil fhc rig111 I.CSJ>OIISC.

Rdiabi1it-y of the Tnst nr rncn t

Thc tcst, re-test approach was used to delcrmine ~ h c reliability ol'

the instrumcnt, 111 this case thc insti-umcnt was adn~iniutercd to 30

teachers; from Icn scco~~clary schools in 0wcrr.i Zonc 11110 \ \a-e not

invo1vt.d in the st~lcly as sub+iects. Thc queslionnair+e was 1.c-nclniiniste~.cd

on thc same teachers aficr two wecks. The dala oblaiticd from the IIVO

administrations wc1.c analyscd using I'cimn P L ' O ~ L I C ~ MOIIIC~I[ C"me'l;ttio~i

coclficienl. COI-sclniion coefiicicnts (r) oblaincd rncude: Parl [I r - 0.9 1 .

Part I I I r=O.SS, Par! IV I-= 0.96 (scc appctdix 111)

Administration a r d Collection of Instrtin~rnt.

Thc instrun~ent was administered to the respondents with h e aid of

somc research assistants. Out ol' 553 copies of the insil-ume~~t that wcre

given out 500 wcrc completed, collectccl and used for analysis. 'l'his gives

a pcrccntagc r x ~ z i t - n of (90.4. 'l'hirty teachers were uscd to dcwrninc 11w

reliabilit~ of the inslruincnt and h i ~ s were not used for h c s ~ ~ t d y .

Scc ~ablc 2 for distribution and return of'tllc qucstio~inaire

TABLE 2

( Group of Respondents ( NQ of Questionnaire No Rel111-ned -I I I Administered I I

h q r c e lh!ders 1 3 15 1 z;; -- 1 I I Total 553 i

Teachers with N.C.E:

Qnta Ana tvsis

Thc data collcctecf from the study werc analyscd using fi-ecl~tency

counls, mean, and siandal-d deviation lo ans\vcr the 1-esearch cli~c~tions,

~vhile Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used for testing [he hypotheses.

1 84

Use of the Menn

All thc itcms in pal-r 11, 111 and IV of the qwstionnairc wcr-c

NDfHND Teachers k-- 154

analyscd using the illeat1 score point. Nominal values were assigned to the

50

dil'fervnt scaling items as follows

Vciy highly rcquircd (VI-l R ) -. 5 Highly required (I-IK) = 4 Avc~*agely 1-cquired (AR) = 3

Sl ighrly required (SR) = 2 Not 1.tlcjuirec1 (NR) = 1

--

15

Vcry Highly Ibssessed (VHP) Highly Possessed (HP) Averagely I-losscssecl (/1rJ)

Sl igh t l~~ Possessed (SP) Not Possessed (NP)

Very I-lighly Needed (VHN) = 5

Highly Nceded (11N) 4

Averagely Needed (AN) = 3

Slightly Needed (SN) - 2 Not Needcd ( N N ) =_1_

I5

'l'he mean ol'cach item w a s calculated by tnultiplying thc fn:qucncy

of the responses unctcr each response with thc nominal value or h e

response catcgoryT and the sum of the p~.orluct obtained was divicluct by h e

numbcr ol' respondents who responcled to the item concerned.

- Where X = popula~iun meat?

X = Nominal value

F - Frequency of' respondents.

N = Kuinbcr oi'respor~Ients to ttic items

Z - Suinmatio~~ sign.

Determining ttic cL~r - off point

Thc Sollowi~ig limit of' acccptancc was uscd by the I-escu-cliei to

arrive at decisio~is on thc rcsearcl~ questions and hypotheses. Using thc

interval scale of 0.5 and thc mean of 3, the upper limit of thc cut off poitit

is 3,0 i- 0.5 = 2 .5 , w11ilc thc lower l i m i t is 3.0 - 0.5 = 2.5.

Decision rule I : f'roni part I 1 of the instru~ncni, any itclii ivith a Incall

value of 1.50 or abovc is rcgardcd as nlanagemc.nt skills rccluii-erl for

cffcctivc li~ncticming of thc school h im while any item with mcan value

of bclow 3.50 is rcgardcd as mai~ngemcnt skills no1 rcquired for cf'rectivc

functioning of the school farm.

Decision rule 2: For ilems in part III of thc instl-umcnt, any item wit11 a

mean value of 3.50 nnrl abovc is rtcccpted as Ttlrrn ~nanagc~ncril sl,ill

already possessed by the agricultural scicncc teachers, ~vhile any item

with mcan bclo\+ 3.50 is rcgrrlcii as farm manaycrnc~it skill not posscssod

by thc ~ C I L C ~ C S S .

Decision rule 3 : In part IV or~lic. i~is~r-uti~ent, any item with 3 Inearl V I I I L I C

of 3.50 and nbova was rcgardcd as managcmcnt skills necclcd by tcaclws

Tor improved perform~~ncc in thc school farm whilc items with tiloan ol'

bclow 3.50 was farm managcnlent ski!l not nccded for impruveincn~.

CHAPTER FOUR

PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS OF DATA

'I'his chaptcr pl-csents and analysc thc data collcckd for rhc

resear-ch. The data were used 'for answering the research q u e s t i o : ~ ~ and

testing of hypothcsis. The findings arc also prcscnted based on tllc rescarch

qucsfions and hy pnthcsis tested\.

Noto:

X = Pop~~!a[ion mean

ST) = Standard deviation

7 6

Data in ? i b k 4 revcalcd thal thc teachcrs idcntilicd I6 out of lhc 33

farm management skill as the skills they possessed for effective use in he

school farm. The skills possessed by h c tcachcrs had mcan values mnging

between 4.07 to 3.52, suhich were above the cut off point of 3.50.Thc range

of the standard clcvialion fbr thc skills possessed is 1.6 1 to 1.45. 'l'his implies

that thc ~~e~ponclcnrs arc not I'ar from 1 1 1 ~ mean.

l l ~ c 17 I'irr~n Inanagemc~it skills Ibiind as no1 posscsscd by the ~cacherc

had rmm-ts ranging horn 2. 96 to 1 .S6 an4 standard dcviation ol' I . 06 ro I .

23 . lnkrcncc from thc analysc inciicatcct that more than 50 pcrccnl tile

farm management skills identilied are not possessed by the np-ic~rlll~~ral x i -

cnce teachers .

Research Question 3

I .6G

1 .G 1

2.28

3.84

32)

33)

Nu1 I ' O F ~ C ~ F C ~

I~osscsscd

of deviation from set objectives

Adoptiiig altcsnatiw c o t ~ t a ~ o r aciion lo achicvc

set 013jccti vcs

Applying disciplinary action

Supervising of students work in tllc farm

Applying appropriate fcrti lizers to crops

Supcrvisi ng the mainzcnance a d storage of

I'arm to& and equipnlcnt

leternline soil types and preperties in relation

ta crops to bc planted

%cdingol'Pives~ock wilh Ihc riglit fcccd and quantity

3ontrolling wccds, pcsts parasites and diseascs

of crops and Farm animals

Making, and iniplemcnting ciecishns

Cmtro!lfr~g rhe s d ~ o o l farm incluck [he skills of:

Makin2 shscrva t io~~ on thc pcrformancl: of stt~dents in thc farm

Making poper inventory of thc fi~rnnn assets

Keeping accurate rccords of the fir~ancial

~nvolvcments of the famm

Monitoring the inovemcnt of farm tools during

practical work it1 thc Sarm

Carrying out periodic evaluation of completed

tasks by students

Determining the unclcr-lying causes

Selecting oSsoit conservation programmes

to bc embarked up or^ in Ihc scliool f'arm

Planning breeding pingrarnmes Ibr 111-ITI animals

Budgeting for tllc school farm

Plaoning for the procurcnlcnt of fa1.1~1 inputs

Org,',iinisii~g ull'thc s c h r ~ l r a m i~iclutlc ~ h c skills of-

Arl-angins h e prodiiclivc resources availabIe

Sourcing for and procuring fa1.111 inputs

Assigning spccific tasks clutics portion of the farm to il.idividud sludcnrs

Preparing annual firm calcndal-

identifying and malysing thc problen~s emanating

during the running of the scIiouI fhm

Enstrring Accoi.intabiIity to the school administration

ou bhc 1-1111ning CIS lhc school fam

Directing of the sc.11ooI k ~ r m includc thc skill of:

7 3

Table 4

Mcan Rating of Responses of teachers on skills in farm managemcilt al-

ready possessed for cffec~ivc use in the school fartn.

Ma~~agement skills possessed for

PIanning of the school farm

include the skills of:

Formulating specific objectives for the farm

Choosing the bcsl fwming and cropping

systcms

Selecting suitable soil for planting crops

Determining what crops and tivcstock to

produce

;electing desirable foundation stock for

husbandry practices

Selwting chemicals for use in c.ontrol1ing

weeds, pests, parasites and diseases of crops

and animals

Note cut off poirll Tor skills require 3 . 50 - X = Population mean

SD - Standard deviation

Data presented i n lables 3 above revealed that ~ h c ~cachers idenlifiecl 33 out of

the 37 managemenr skills as those recluired for effective fumtioning of lhe

school1 farm. The idcnlificrl skills had a mean range of 4. 40 to 3. 50. \vhic.l~ is

abovc the cut o l ' fpuin~ and a slandard deviation sangc of' 1.70 ro 1 .25 I-weal-

i t~g f h t fhc mean rehponses are not very Far from the tilean.

34)

35)

36)

37)

Kesearch Qi~cstion 2.

What are thc skills i n h r m mmagcment already possessed by the

teache ~....fb.r cfkctive use in thc school farm?

Ilara for ansxvct-ing thc research qucstion arc presenlcd i n table 4

3.66

4.20

3.96

4.40

3.93

practical work in thc farm

Carrying ou t periodic evaltration of cornplctcd

tasks by students

Determining the ~indcrlying causes o f deviation

liom sct ob.jcclives

Adopting allel-nalivc course of aclion to

achievc scl objcctivc

Applying disciplinaty action

1.28

1.47

1.5 1

1.50

1.45

Requirccl

Required

I<ccluircd

I2cquircrl

ICcquircd

;upet.visirlg of students work in lhc farm.

A p p l y ~ n g appropriate fertilizers to crops.

Supervising the maintcnancc and storage of

farm tools and equipment

De\ermining soil ty pc and pl-operrics ira relation

to crops to hc planted.

Formularitq, fecds for difre~nt types of livestock

in the !'211'111.

I k t c r ~ n i n i n ~ nutrient availability ill soil tl1~0~1g11

soil tests

Fucding of livestock with the right ked and

quantily

Cunaroliiiig weccls pesls parasites

and discascs of craps and animals

Making a~ ic l implementing decisions

Managci~~cnt skills requircd for conhulling thc

school h r m include 111c skills for:

h/Inkitlg obscrvatio~~ on thc pedorrnancc of

students in thc farm

Making proper inventory of the farm assets,

ICceping accurate rccorcls of financial

i r n ~ o i ~ c n ~ e ~ r t s in t'hc farm

Monitoring rhe n~ovcmcnt of'farm tools during

Management Skills Requited for

Planing of the school farm includc skills in

Fa'or~nulating ol'spccific objectives for the F ~ I I I

Choosing 'Thc best Farming and cropping

systenrs

Selecting suitablc soil for plantingcrops

Deter mining what crops and livestock to

pt'oducc.

Sclec~ing desirable foundation stock for

hiisbandry prnc[iccs

Selecting chcmicak Tol usc in controlling weeds

Selecting of soil conservatim progrnrnrnes to bc

embarked upon

Selecting app~.opria[e reeding stuffs for Seed

foimi11atio11

Planning breeding prograinnles for farm animal:

Budgeting 1'01. thc school farm

l-llani~irig for !he p r w ~ l r e m e n l of fxtn input:

Skills Required for Organising The

3chooi Far-rn i~lcl~rdc thc skills Tor:

Arr'an~ing 'I'lic Productive- rcsour-ces

available for el'fec~ivc im.

Identifying the needs of students

Sourc i~x - For and procuring farm inputs

Assigning specific tasks duties portior~s

of the h r m to individual s t~~dcnts

Irganizing brccdi ng programmes for

h1.m animals

Preparing annual farm calendar

Identifying and analysing the problcms

: ~ n a n a ~ i n g cIur in2 thc 1-ulini11g of'thc school

firm

Forming committees fbr spccific Farm

aclivilics

Ensuring accountabitity to thc school

~ d r n ~ n w r a l ~ n ~ l on the running of the

school farm.

hlanage~~icnt skills Kcquired ibr Directing th(

sclioul farm I I I C ~ I L C ~ C the skills fbr:

What farm management skill arc needcd by teachers for improved per-

Data Sol- answering Research Question 3 are presentcd in table 5 .

Tdble 5

Mcan Raf ings of Res~mt-~ses urteachcrs on farm managcnwnl ski 1 Is needed

for improved performance in thc school farm

- - -

~Manage~nent skill Needccl rul- improved planning

of thc school farm include:

( 1 )

(2)

:3)

(4)

15)

(6)

Formula\ing of S P L ' C ~ ~ ~ C ~bjcctives for the Sam

Clloasing tllc best cropping, m d f m i ~ i n g systems

Selecting suitablc soil lor planting crops

Determining what crops and livestock to producc

Sclccring dcsivablc f o ~ ~ ~ d a l i m srock Ibr husbandry praclicc

S e k c l i n g clicmicals for usc in controlling

w e d s pests p a s i tcs and diseascs af crops

and animals

' l an r t i n~ brcccfing programmcs Sor Tam animals

Budgeting for the schaol farin

Planning for tho ptacurcment o f fa rm inputs

Irnprovud Urginizing ~L'EIIc schwd l'orns includc

he ski'll oC

Arranging the pi-otluc~ivc rcsourccs available

for cffectivc usc.

Identifying the needs of stiidcnts

Sourcing for and procuring farm inputs

Assigning specific tasksf d ~ ~ f i e s f pmions of the

Tam to inrlividud stuclcnts

Organising brccding programmcs for f a r m

animals

Preparing annual S a m calendar

[denlif'ying and tir~alysi~ig the problenls

mana t ing dtrring thc running of [Re scl~ool

-

Nor nci-dcd

Ncedrd

Kceded

Not ~iceded

Neecled

No1 ~lceclcil

No1 necdcd

dut nccJc'd

N c d d

Nceded

Needctl

-

Ensuring accaun~abiliry to thc school adininistration

on [he rwnning of h e school farm

I m p r o d direcling of thc school Tam incl~~clc

the skills oT: Supcrvishg s!udcnts work in the h r n ~

Applying appropriatc fertilizers to crops

S u p c n l i s i ~ ~ ~ h c niaintenancc and storage of farm

tools and equipment

Dctclmining soil typcs and propertics in rclation to

crops to bc planted

Feeding o f ' livcsrock with ~ h c right k c d and qwntity

Controlling w e d . pests. parasites and discases

of crops and animals

Malting and implcmcnting clecision

Impl~ovccl controlling of the sct10o1 farm will in

cluck tile skills for:

Making obsc~.vaiion on [hc pcrrormance of studenls Ir

thc farm

1 Making proper inventory of \he farm iiSSetS

Keeping accurafc rt.curds of ~ h c financial

involvements of thc farm

Monitoring the movemcnt of hr-m tools during

practical work in ITic [arm

Zal-I-ying out pcriodic evaluation of completed

iasks by students

ktennining the underlying causes of deviation

from set ot?icctives

idopting altcsnative course of action to achieve

hct objectives

lpplying ciisciplir~ary action

Note : - S - I'opulation mean.

SD = Standard deviation

'The data on rable 5 revealed that ~cachers identified sevenkm ( l7) out

of thirty three (33) hi*m nlanagement skills as those they need fur irnpl*oved

pci-rormancc in tliu sclioal h rm. Thc skills needed had mcan r a n g oF4. I3 to

3.55 which wcrc above the cut off point of 3, 50. Thc range of standard

S I

deviation is 1 . 64 to 1 . 43 implying that the responses arc not vely far frnm the

Incan.

The ski 11s not necdcd for improvement hacl a mcan range of bctwec~l 3. 02

to 2.00 which werc below Ilic cut off point of 3. 50 and a rangc of standard

deviation of 1.53 and 146.

!t implies li-om the data analysed that agricultural scicncc tcachc~ nccd

improven~ent on more than lifiy pel-ccnt of the skills idcntiiied for effwtivc

management of the schoot farm .

Hypothesis 1

Therc is no significant di f i rence in the Ineiln ratings oSrcspons~s d k a ~ l l -

crs on management skillls ~ q u i r e d Fir efictive functionirig of h e school Tarn1

based on qualificalion

Data required {or testing thc above hyptlicsis werc pl-csentcd i t i t abk G

S 2

ANOVA for testing the nleali ratings oC tcachess on rnanagemenl skill re-

cluircd for effective f~~nct ioni l~g of the scliool hrni .

Source of

V,fd<Y ATS ON

Bcrwcn

Groups

L'ciithin

Groups

( K e s i d ~ l )

Total

SQUARE?;

z m e 2

S= Significant at I' = 0.05

E Z = O . 19

-. I hc resul~ in tablc 6 revealed that the calculated F - valuc of 5 5 . 86 was

greater than the tablc I;- valuc of 3.00 at 0.05 Icvcl of signilicancc and c k -

grecs of freedom 2 aiid 497. This showotl that thcsc was a signi licarn! cliffer-

cncc I r i tlic mcan ratings o f thc responses d teachers on Tam ~ l l a ~ q c i n c n t

s ld l s required for effective functioning of the school farm.

'Ilw cosre!ation ratio (L2) = 0. 19 'I'his implies that the predictio~i on t l ~

observation irl table 5 is in~proved relatively by 0.19.

8 3

From the rcsult of the liyputhesis i t is i~ifcrcd that NCE, NDIHND, and degrce

teachcrs differed in thcir perception of lIic skills required fbr effective fi~nction-

ing on the sc.hool I n n .

Hypothesis 2

There is no signiiicant difference i n the mean ratings of responses oSteach-

ers with Degree; NCE, and NDfI-1ND on managemeirt skiils ~>ossessecl for rffcc-

tlve use in tlic school farm.

'I'lic. clntrz rcquired for testing the above hypothesis are found ila lable 7

'I'ablc 7

ANOVA for I C S L ~ R ~ he ineitTI ratings of icachers OII nianagement skills posscssccl

for effwtivc usc in the school farrn.

SCIIIIICE 01

VARIAIIOP

Between

Group

Within

Groups

:Residual)

Total

SUM 01: DT: MEAN

S = Significant at p = 0. 05

E 2 = 0 . 13

Tho result i n 'I'ablc 7 rcucaled that thc calculated I;-v;~Fuc of .;7.83 was

grcat ~ h a n h e table S- value of 3 . 00 at 0.05 lcvel of';igniticancc and dey-ccs

of freedom 2 and 497. This rcvealcd thal there was a significant cliffucc~~cc in

the mean ratings of responses of thc respo~~dents or1 farm ~nanagemcnl skills

possessed for eRcltivc use i n tlrc school hrm.

'Thc corrclatim ratio (L?) = 0.13 this implics rat the prcdicliorl un 111c

obscr-v,~tiot~ in table 7 was reiatively improved by 0.13

I t co~ild IX infcrreci ji.0111 the result of the hypoflwsis f e s h g [hiit t l~c

lewl oSsk11 Is in farm ~nanagement Possessed by teachers of secondnr? schools

with NCE, ND/I XND and degree, qualifkation diffcrcd.

Hypothesis 3

The nlcan raiings of renchcrs wit11 degree, ND:HNT). and NC'E, on

management skills needed for improved perhrrnance in the school f5sm do

not diffcr signilicantIy.

Data required for testing the hypothesis are in table 8

Tabfe 8

ANOVA for testing the mcm ratings of tcachers on ma~~agerncnt skills nccded

S = Significant at P = 0.05

The results i~a'rablc 8 revealed that thc f- ratio calculated, 44. 06 was great

than che t a b k f- ratio of 3.00 at 0.05 level of significanccand dcgroes of S r ~ c d o ~ n

2 and 497. 'This rcvealcd that there was a significant diffcrcnce is the m a n

ratings of respnses of tcache~s on l a m management skills nceclcd for i~n-

proved pcrfiornrancc in the scl~ooI f'arrn..

T'hc couclation ratio (E') = 0.15 which iinplics that the prediction 011 thc

crlrservations in table S was relatively improved by 0.15 when the groups

are kmivn.

From blx result of this hypothesis teslbng, ir cw!d be Infercd thal

NCE, ND/ FIND and dcgrcc teachers differ in rile nwnagetnrenl skills Ihcy

need for improved p~ri'orniaiice i n 111~ school firm..

Findhgs

The finclings fro111 the analysis of' data are pwscntccE below based

on the research questions ansiveiwl and the hypothesis tcstcrl:

( 1 ) For rescarch qucstion 1 the findings are as klloivs:

Farm management skills Required tor effective functioning of the

school Carin.

(A) Skills for planning the school fill-111 inclucle the skills for:

( 1 ) Forinula1ing of specific objectives tbr [he fa1-111.

(2) Choosing the bcst firming and cropping systcm

(33 Sekcting suitablc soil for planting crops

(4) Detrnnining what crops and fiues~ock to produce.

(5) Selecting dcsIraklc fou~~tlnlion stock of livestock for husbardr-y

practices.

(6) Selecting chemicals for use in controlling weeds pests, parasite and

discase of crops anti animals.

(7) Sclccting of soil conscrvo~ion progralnlnes to be embarked up011 in

the sch001 farnt.

(8) Planning kreding progrmmes For farm atainmls

(9) Budgeting for the school farm

( I 0 ) Planning for the procurement of farm inputs.

(H) Skills Tor organizing the school farm inch& the skills for

( 1 1) Arranging the productive resources available for erf'cctivc usc.

( 13) Iclentifying ~ h c needs of students

( 13) Sourcing fur and procuring farm inputs,

(14) Assigning specific tasks/ duties/ portions of' the school f i~rm to

individual students,

(1 5 ) Organking brccding progcwnmcs Por farm anitnals.

( 16) Preparing armual farm calendar.

Identifying and analysing thc problems emanating duri~lg the

running of the school tjrnm.

Ensuring accountability to the schwF adrninis~ra~ion on [he r u ~ ~ n i n g

of the sclrcm! farm.

Skills for directing the scl~ovl T a m include thc skills for:

Supervising of studcnts work in thc farm

Applying appropriate fertilizers to crops

Supenking ~ l ~ u maintenarfce and storagc of farm tools and

equipment.

Determining soil types and propertics in rciation to crops 10 be

planted

Fecding of livestock with the right feed ~ n i x t ~ ~ r e and quantity.

Controlling weeds, pcsts, parasites and discases of crops and

ani~nals

Making and implementing dccision.

Skills for controlling the school farm include thc skills h r

,Making proper observation on the perform~nce d s~udc r~ t s in the

farm.

Making proper inventory of the farm assets

Kecping accuratc rccorcls of financial involvement of the farm

Monitoring thc movclncnt of' P ~ n l tools during practical work i n

tIlc f i l m .

Carlying out pcrioclic evaluation of completed tasks by studmts

Dctcrmi~~ing thc underlying causes of cieviatiort h l n set objectives.

Adopting al~cmativc caursc dacf ion to achieve set clbjwtivcs

Applying disciplinary action Ski11 not required, as idmtif id by the

teachcrs induccd the skills for:

The skills not rcquircd as identified by thc teachers includcd lhc

skills for:

Sclecling appropriate fwding s N f s for feed Sormulation

Forinulating fccds Ibr difkren~ types of livesrock in thc farm.

Forming cotnmitlecs far spwific farm activi1ic.s

Determining nutrient availability in soil through soil testing.

For Research Question 2 the Findings are FoJlo~vs:

Farm h4anagemcnt Skills Already Possessccl 13y The Teacher I-:vr

Effective Use in the School Farm,

(A) Skills possessecl for planning the sc41rrrol farm include the skills Tor:-

(D) Skills needed for controlling the school h r n ~ include those for:-

( 14) Making p1.oper inventory of thc fmn assc~s.

( 1 5 ) Keeping accurate 1.ecords of the financial involvcmc~~ts of thc hrm.

( 1 6) Carrying out pcriodic cvduation of coniplcted tasks by students.

( 17) Adopting altcrnative course of action to achieve sct objcctive

Hvpotllescs

Thc findings from tcsting of tllc hypotheses revealed that; r - 1 here was signilicant difference in the mean ratings or responses

o r N.G.E, ND /HND, and clegree tcachcrs on niamgemc~it sl,ilis

required fbs effective functioning of the school farm.

There was significant difference in the mean ratings of responses of

NCE, NDI FIND and degree teachers on mntiagerncnt shills

possessed for effective use in the school farm.

There was significant difference in the mean ratings of responses of

NCE. ND/ HND and degree teachers on rnanagcmcnt skills

needed for improved perrormance in the sc110o1 farm

Discussion of Findings:

Thc discussion of h e findings of the study was organised based on

rhe three research questions and the thrce liypothcses formulalcd hi- lhc

stud!;.

( 1 ) I:ar~n n~anagc~nent skills required by teachers for cffectivc

functioning of thc school i'arin.

T l ~ c findings of the study revealed that thirty - thrce out ofthe thirty

sevcn identified ~nanagetncnt skills wcre rquirccl by teachcr for cl'leclivt.

fi~nctioning of the school Fmn. These skills arc dustel-ecl inlo thc

managelncnt f~irlchmi of planning, organising, directing, and controlling

of the sc110o1 farm activitics.

'I'en (10) out of eleven skills were idontificd as skills I-cquircd liv

planning thc school fasm. 'T'hc skills identified i~;ould be effective in the

h n n platining activitics such as csplained by Thierxf, klckarnp imd

GI-cecli~ig (1977), ha t plannings is an analytical fulure oricntcd activity

which implics dctesmination of dcsit*ed ob-jeclives schecluling and

specifying to accomplish stated objectives. Most of thc skills itlc~~tificd it1

this study for planning thc school h r m were therefore meant for selcctlng

of better alternatives for uchicving the set objective of the farm such as

fnrmulatirlg of specific o b j e d w , C ~ U Q S ~ $ the &st farming and ct,irpping

system, selecting desirable foundation stock, selecting suitabk svil for

planting crops etc. ?'liese &ilk when applied produce a good p h n on

which the activitics of organking and t11e pcrforrnance of r~thcr

management fi~iictio~is will occur smoothly.

In the nxmageinent limction of organislng ;he schou! farm, dghr

out 01' nine skills were identified by the teachers as maxigcmcnt skills

required fw effective f~mc~ioning of the s c h o l farm. These for

arranging the productive resources available for effective use: idcntilying

the needs of students; sourcing for and procuring farm inputs, orgnnising

breeding progralnmcs for livestock and so on are in consonance with 111~

view of Osur-rla (1995) that organising represents thc \\jay 1-csources

c.onncct togcthcr to achievc ob-jectivcs and that much depends on the skills

of the innnagel.. Thus the skills icientified for organising the school i'r~l-111

were skills involved in linking students and their needs with the available

scsousces such as capital and other inputs to achicvc the scl-loo1 farm

ob.jcctivc. Also the findings are in agreement with the observatioi~ of

?'hiel-auf et a1 ( 1977) that cestain skills are necessary for c.ftecrive

organisation of ideas and project. 'These skills identified by the teaclicrs

were rcquircd skills fbr arranging the fiictors of production as weli as

putting af h e resources both men and materials in yiacc fbl- opesarion

toward achieving sct goals of the f i l r ~ ~ ~ activities. S L I C ' ~ skills iikc

iclen~jfying the needs of' students, sourcing for and procuritig of I';lrm

inputs, assigning of specific tasks / dulics to individual students: ensuring

of acc.ountability to thc sc.hool administration and so on, are sccl~~ired

skills that focus on rcsyonsibility, authority and accountability. This is

supporlcd by the view of blackiew ( 1974) who stressed that in 01-gmising,

good authority is requir-ed and this involvcs the nbdity to inspire l'rccly

given support without having to order. Thc finclings above arc covered by

his vicw.

In ~iianagenicnt skills required for. directing S~~nctions of (he school

farm seven skills out of' ninc drawn were idcntilicd by thc tcachcrs. 'l'lie

findings agrce with the observation of Thierauf ct a1 (1977) that thu

nianagcrial f~inctions of directing perfor~ns the r~mction of providing

instruction and guiding. I t dcals, with leadership in thc school fBm, thc

tcachcr rcquircs skills to lead by cxa~i~ple. Oncc thc plan has been

forn~ulatcd and the o r g a n i d o n Iias been properly sh-uclul-cd to

accomplish drawn up plans, directing f~~nctions stimulate the 1iicn11~1-s

to\\m-ds ach~evenicnt of desired goals. Skills idcntificd in dircctins ihe

school fir111 includcd skills for supervising students in the pesfonnancc of'

farm u~osk, skills for demonstrating approved practices like application ol'

fertilizers to crops. determining soil types and properties m d so 011. - - 1 hus teachers rcquirc thcsc skills to help them guide and direct tllc

studcn~s in car.rying out lhc school farm activities.

Respondents identified all the cight managemen( ski 11s fbr

controlling he school h rm as being rcquirecl for cllcctivu firnctionil~g of

the xhool fi lm. TIlcsc skills idcntifiecl by the tcachers arc skills lor

obsclwtion, monitoring, cval~~ation, rccord keeping, regulations, and so

on. The identified skills are relcvant in thc performance of controlli~rg

functions on the school I'arm. Such controlling functions arc cIcscribcc1 by

Reeves and Woodward (1970) as the task of ensu.ing that schcdirlcd

acrivitics 1;lcrformcd arc producing the dcsircd results. Skills in contl~llilig

of the scl~ool f i l m arc required to scwe as checks by the a g r i c u l t ~ i ~ ~ l

science teacher to find out whether thc planning organking, and directing

skills applied in fitm xtivilics liavc yietdcd the desired rcsults.

SkilIs Sol. controlling activities in the school Sam such as

determining the undcrlyitig courses of' dcviation from sel o~jectivtts and

adopting alternative course(s) of action couIc1 contribuk to the

performance oS controlling Sunctions in sc.11001 farm such as nokd by

OIaitan, et a1 who emphasized that thc co~ilrolli~ig f~~nctioli of

management (cvalualion) provides the basis for dccision malting l ha~ nlay

Icacl rowad (a ) ~wiecving of a pl-ogramii~c of activity (b) rcvisirrg ~ h c '

activities of a programme and (c) for acco~rntability. Tlius these skills oi'

controlling tlic Farm activities arc very relevant for ci'fectivc fiinctiouii~g

of thc scli001 farm.

A11 the managcmet~t skills identified by thc leathers are also in

consonance with skills idcnlified indcpcndcnily by Onuchego (1978) in

animal production inanagemcnt Stone (1978) in tIic managemcnl of

tools and machincry. Duar (1983) in crop production and Olailan (1984)

in soil ~nan, d 5 cmcnt.

'I'he skills in crops ~nan;lgement are also rclcvant based on 111c'

obserwtion of castlc Bcckel- and Nelson (1987) that crop production

rmnagment involvcs intcrrelatcd decisions regarding cwp sdwtion.

cropping systcm, fei-tilisi~lg. weed, pcs~s and disease control.

In soil management, the skills idcntificd by the teachcrs agrce wrth

ski!ls put up by I-1a1-hnoun (1988) which incIude among nthcrs, skills

requircd fix selecting thc right type of soil in relation to crops to hc

grown, fertilising, sslucting and applying of soil co~:~crvation programlnes

and so on, -17hcse ski 11s ivhich are impct-ativcs ihl- good soil management

are important tincc no meaningful agricultural production can bc carried

out without good soil. 'l'hc yield of crops dcpcnds on how well the soil can

support thcir grocvh and production.

I'hc non - identification of the remaining four matlagemen1 shills

out of the thirty scvcn m y have been as a result of the respondents

perception of soinc of thc skills bascd on professional culnpetewc in

specialising areas. For instance thc formulating of fccds lor diffcrcrlt types

of livestock in thc ~ ~ I - I I I . Fecd fomulation is a spccialiscd arca in ar~ilii:tl

sclcncc atid ~-equil-cd p1.ofcssi011~11 skills. Also 6etermining nutrient

availability in h e soil tlirougll soil testing rcquirc Imnvledge a n d skill i l l

soil scicncc i t could thercforc be assunled that this was why most of he

teachel-s felt that thc skills in these areas are not require for effective

ti~ncrioning of' the school farm. They may ho~vcvrr resort to olhcr

methods of determining nutrient availability in soil and purchasing o f

fccds fi-om conimcr-cia1 sourccs.

3 - Skills I n Fa-111 ~ ~ ~ I I L L ~ C I I I C I I ~ Already Possessed By rl'enchc~s I'or

E f k c ~ i v c Ljse In l'hc School Farm.

Managclnent is vicwed as a responsibility for nchieviny desircd objcciii es

(knoutz 1963). The oxten[ to which thc objjectivcs of a business 01.

organisation is achieved depends on thc managcrs skills. ilccording to

Osuala (1995) the greater the skills of thc manager the better tllc

management. Thus the possession of farm n~anagement skills by thc

agriculture science teachers detcimines the levcl of their usc and c f f c c h c

rnanagernent of the school farm.

Thc !tsults of the findings of this stilcly rcvcaled tlial Agr icu l f~~~-a l

sciencc teachcrs possesscci sixken out of t l~c t i dvce l'antl

nsmagernent skills. idcntificd as rcIcvant for effective iisc in thc scllool

f am. This s h o ~ l s that the tcachcrs lacked more than 50 Pcr cent o r 11ie

skills I-equirccl for effective f~rnctioning of thc school farm. This revelation

confirms thc observation of Nkajemejc (1988) a11d Okcke (1991) who

indepenclcnt ly highligh tcd that Agricultural scimce [eacliel-s lack

necessary practical farm managc~ncnt skills and ahat this had hincicrl-d

their utiliwtion of the school farin in tcacliing Practicals to slucler~rs. 1 his

has also adversely cfkctcd slcill acquisition and dm elopmc~it by s tudc~~t s

which are prc- ~ ~ q u i s i t e s into agricultural occupations. 7 .

I hough the agricultural sc'rcnce teachers chimed to prosscsc

sixteen of thc lirm mnnagcmcnt skills. this i ~ u ~ n b c r coulcl not bc segarclcd

as being cnough to enable them manage the sclrml farm effcctivcly. This

may be onc of the reasons responsible for rhe non- rcalisation thc

objectives of school Farm projects. Evcn when the management skills

possessed arc applied in thc farm, desired resulls h a w always bccn

doubtfill. This is bccause for thc school farm to firnction effectively and

the set objectives achicvcd, the teachers have to possess all or almost all

thc ~~m-mgeiiieiit skills identified in this st~ldy.

3 Farm Management Skills Nceded By Teachcss Tor Improved

Perfo~+rnance In The School Farm.

The findings in the Farm ~nnnagcrnent skills 11cedcd by teachers f'or

improved pcrformancc in the school farm rcvealed thai tcachcss agrucd 10

scvcnteen out of thc thirty - thce skills idcnlified Tor effcctivc

f~~nctioning of thc school lilrln, as thc skills they necded for improi cx l

performance in the school farm. This is more than 50 Per cent of the total

number of skills required for effective fiinctioning ol'the school i'a1.m.

I t nfas also obscrved that thc skills identified by the teachers, as

tilose necded for iinpl.ovcrncnts are the sliills thcy lacked. 'l'his finding

confirms one of thc principles of necd assessment, that need is a

discrepancy between an existing situation and a .Icsirablc statc; the

clifferencc betwccn 'what is' and 'What ought to be' as put fbrward by

Nzeivi ( 1 985).

l 'he agricultural scicnce teachcrs need for morc than 50 per ccnt of

the skills rcqi~irecl ['or cl'f'cctivc fi~nctioning o f the school h-111 SO tend 10

explain why the school firm was not i~tilised for teaching and Icarning of

agr-icultural science skills i n sccondal-y schools as observed indepcndcntly

by Okotic (1974) and Etcng (1980). This is becausc the teachcrs cannot

give what they do not havc to the students. Therc would bc efl'cctii c.

managernerlt of school farms if agricultural science tcachers possessed the

rclcvant n~anagerncnt skills Uko (1977) in her study on he problems o r

schooi farm managerncnl obscrved that school agricultural p rogrmmc

could only bc unhanccd through cffcctive nianagernenl of h e scllool Sarln.

From the fbre going ~hereforc. there is nced for irnprovcment on [he

skills of a y i c ~ ~ l t u r a l science teachers to enable them acquire the skills

rhcy lack and to better disposc them for cffeclive management of scliool

farm to produce studcnts who would be job creators rathcr than job

seekers, The need for school farm managerial skill improvement had been

stressed by E ~ e u g u (1983) who cxcrted that tcachcrs nced to improve r m

thcir sk i l l s to mect thc demands of 6- 3- 3- 4 systcms of cducatiui~ wtiich

is vocational (skill) oricntcd.

Hvpothesis I

Ifypothesis I revealccl that the mean rating of'rcsponses o r teachers

with NCE. NU/ I-lND ; ~ n d degrec qualification on managemen[ skills

required for effective functioning of'thc school fasin d;STcred significantly

The dilTercnce in the mean ratings of teachcrs may havc resulted Tram t l ~ c

perceptions of the levels of requirements of these farm management skills . . due to thc Ievcl of IIIC mchcrs preparation clul-ing thcis tcachcr tra~nlng

progammcs.

A l w that thc teachers dirkred in 111cir opinion docs not rccluce thc

csedibility and sclevancc oS thc various skills as r a m managcmi-111 shill i

~ecluircci for c f r e c h e fiinclioning of thc school farm. ' l l~is is bccausc the

skills identiilcd are in line with those outlined differently by Bear (19S3),

1 00

cnstlc, Recker and Nclson ( 1 987) in crop production tnanagemcnt; Olnilan

1084. and Hastmoun ( 1 988) i n soil ~nanagement~ Onuchego (1 978) In

livestock Inanagelncnt. Massic ancl Douglas 1973, and stonc (1978) ill

tnanageinent of farm equipment and tools.

Th~ls the skills identified by the leachers are the skills requil-cd lix

rffectivc planning organising clirccting and corltsollin~ of farm activities

which include crop production, soil managcment livestock ~nanagemcnt

and managemenl of f3m cq~~ipmcnt and tools.

Hypothesis 2

I-Iypothcsis 3, showcd that the lalean rating O F the responses of NC'E

tcachers, ND / I IND teachers and cicgre~ holders on skills lhcy posscssud

for effect~vc usc in tlic scl~ool farm differed sigificaaltly. This means that

the management skills posscssecl by these different gsoups of tcachers arc

different. The difference in \he Icvcl of possession of skills by tllo

agricultural science teachers wcrc not unconnectccl ivith thc nloclc o r

system of' preparation of the ~eacher which bordcrcd on admir~istration,

trainec interests and cur'ricular contcnt aS the tcczcl~er prcyaratirsts vis - a -

v ~ s their job at gracluntion. As idcntifieb by Ohitan (1996), there arc tiko

mocks or systems of preparing NCE vocational 1 Technical teaclms lor

skilled progranmes in secondary schoolu. Okiifnn obscrvccl that in the

single control mock. vcwaticm;ll tcchtaical pri~grrtn~mcs are be~tc r plna~~iucl

and in~plernentecl than in the d u d controI mwle whcre the pragranmcs

were sun in the same institution with gcncral cducation bias, with ICSS

emphasis and attention to the technical disciplines. Thus teachers prcparect

under thc singlc conlrol system would be better equipped with skills and

would possess mose skills and be more effcclive than thosc prepared in

dual control system wherc the heads of the institutions are of k c gcncrnl

cducation bacicg~-o~~rlcl and know Iittlc or nohing aboul voca~ior~~d i

technical education pl-ogranmcs and their neects. particularly agl-icull~~sai

science and thc component school farm activities.

Another cause of the di ffercnce in farm nianagclnent hl\ ills

possessed by thc different categories uf agricultural science wud~er-s !nay

be froin the cur+ricular which the teachers were exposed to during training.

The universities colleges of technology / polytec1mics and colleges of

cducation operate with scparatc cur-riculat- in thcir teacher- pro pa^-ation

progl-ammcs. The occupational programmes are not harmoniscd nrnollg

these categories of teachers l~ence the disparity in the possession of skills

for cffcctivc use in h c ~mnagenlcnt of school film.

Another reason for the significant diffcrencc in the levcl of skill.

possession of the teachers may be thc disparity in the levcl ul' tBcilitic~

available and employcd in the teacher preparation in the diffcsent

preparation schools tllcsc fiwilitics includc lecturers, equipment and tools.

finance and adequate time fos thcorics. practicals and de~nonstrations

Some of the scl~ools better equipped with thesc facilities than others,

'Therefbrc the trainers in the bctter equipped institutions would be better

disposed ro bccome products with relevant school h r n r nianagclnenl skills

o n graduation.

I'his is in linc with tho suggestion made by Olairm (1990) that

vocational tcchnical pi-ogl.a~nmcs in schools which could no1 inect thc

accrcdilatlon rcquiwmmts Sor vocational. / technical rcachcr [raining in rhc

universities should bc transfcrcd to Polytechnics / Collegcs of Iccl~~iology

/ collcges off education whcre racilitics are available and call be shared.

Hyposthesis 3

The t.csult of hypothesis testing on managcment skilk n~cded by

NCE, ND/ HND and degree hoIders for improved pcribrmance in the

school farm ~wca led hat [lie teachers dificred significantly in h e n i w n

ratings of their opinions, This implics that thc teackrs clikred

significantly in the skills they need for improved pclfoorrnancc in the

school farm.

The cause of h c diffcrcncc in thc sillcs needed for improvcmen~ by

tile difh-cnt tcach~r-s in ~ h c qualification levcls could be seen as a resull ol'

the disparity in the managerwrit skills posscsscd by tlxc teachcl-s. Since tllc

tcachers ciiffcred in the tnanagunlcnt skills they posscssed for effcctivc use

i n the school f i s ~ n , those skills Ihey lackcd are 111e skills they need

improvement o11 hence the diffei-cnce.

CHAPTER FIVE

SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION

This chaplc~ pxxnts the sumniary of the rescar-ch, problc~iis.

purpose of 11w s~ucty. nietliodology and the tmj01- [inclings. . fhe

conclusions. ~.ecomincnrlations and suggestions for further studies arc also

discusscd.

Restatement of the Problcrn:

The need for skill devclopmeni and occupationaI education was onc

of thc major reasons for the introduction of thc 0-3-3-4 systcin of'

cducation in Nigcsin which sawi tlic introduction cf practical Agriculti~rc /

agr~cultul-a1 science in secondary school systcm. 11 was envisaged rhar the

in1roduclion of tllcse vocational programme in the two-tier secondary

levels would cnable btiidc~its clevclop skills rclevanr f'or jobs i l l

agriculture. The devclopment of skills rclevant for job En agricuhmre

dcpends on effcc.tivc management and utilisation of t l~c school fmn i n

teaching and lcarning processcs. Studics by Nkqjcra~eje (1988) and Okekc

( 1 09 1 ) rcvealcd dif'kren tly that ngricul turd scicme teacl~crs werc nor

utiiising thc sct~ool form 10 improvc thc teaching or agricultural science.

because they laclted neccssaly practical nxmagcinent skilk. Schoali

mspec~ol-s and supervisors in Imo State repwiud lack of etil'edvc

management nncl utilisatiu~i of sc.11ool farms as OIK' of the cauws oi' tile

student's lack of interest and nun-acquisition of relcvant agricult~~ral

skills. Inorder to make the Inio State Government actualise the new

direction of providing qualitalive education, to c w y child and maltirlg

agricultural scicncc one of the ctisciplincs, studen~s can IWW develop enlry

- level skills for economic sul-viva], There is therefore R C ~ for kacliers lo

improvc upon tlmcir skills to enable them management kc school farms as

effective laboratories for students to acquirc entry level skills to prepse

thrm for a g r i c t ~ h - a i occupations. -I'his study ivas ~hcrefbre elndertrthen

sl~ccilicaliy to achicvt. h c following:

( 1 ) Determining farm management skills squired by tcachers Ifor

cfl'ective f~inctioning of the school I'rzrnm.

(2) Detcrtilining management skills already possesscd b). thc

agricd~ural science teachers

(3) Determining hrm management sldls needed for- in~proveinent bv

agricultural sciencc teachers for contr-olling school farm aclivi~ics.

Description Or Pr~cedurc,~UsccI

fielevant Liter;~tirscs werc rc-vicwed on major cor~xpls of the topic. I'hrcc

1-escarch questions and three Ilypotheses were anscvercd and tcstud

respectively by thc stucly. A total population of five hundred and f i f i l

three agricultural science teachers were uscd for the study. A structurcct

ql~estionnairc was developed, valida~ed by experts and uscd lo clicit

responses froin the teachers. 1;ivc hundscd and fifty threc questionnair-cs

werc distributed while Iivc hundred were completed and returned

comprising of two hundrcci and nincty-degrec holders, one hundlcd and

sixly N.C.E. holders and llfty NDkIND holdcrs reflecting ninely pcr- cent

return. 'fhc data obtaincd werc analyscd using frequency, meail anti

standard deviation to answer the rcscarch questions while analysis of

variance (ANOVA) was used to tcsl thc hypothescj.

Major Findings Of Thc Study: Form thc data collcctecl and

analyscd the major findings of the s t ~ ~ d y are as follows.

1 ) Thirty-thrce (33) fasin managcment skills wcrc sccpirecl for

effcctive fi~nctioning of h e school farm.

3 ) Agricultural scicnce teachers posscsscd less than fifty (50) per cent

of h r m management skills rcq~lired for effective use in 111c school

fill-m .

3 ) Agricultural science teachers nccd improvement in more than fiSty

(50) per cent of the management skills required for improvcci

performance in ~ h c school farm.

Couclr~sio~l:

'I'hu fbllocving cot~clusions were drawn based on tho findings 01-

thc study.

Management skills in platuling organising, d'irecting and

conlrolling are requircd by agricultural science t e a c h s for erective

functioning of the school farm. l'hese fan11 management skills rcq~~ired

were identi ficd.

Agricultui.al science teachcrs lack most of the farm mnnagcrnenl

skills requii-cd for cf'icctive use in the school faarm.

Management skills neciled for improved pcrfornlance in the sc l~oo 1

farm by agricultural scicncc teachcrs were idcntificd and if ' the skills wcsc

ilnprovcd upon thc teachers w o ~ ~ l d be equipped with skills that wul~ld

enable thcin managc school Firms eITcctively for the benefit of the

st udcn ts

Inlplicntions Of Tlw Stady

'I'hc s ~ u d y has in~plications for training and retraining of' tcachoi-s in

Agr*icultusal s c i c ~ ~ c c .

If the identified skills rcquired for effective managcmcnt of the

school farm are inlegrated into agricultural education programmtrs of

colleges of education and fxultics of education in the Univcrsitics and

LI t i h e d for training of teachers, they would equip would-be agricdti~ral

science teachcrs with thc relcvant h n n managcrncnr skills which wo~~lc l

enable them managc the school fdrdrm ef'fcctively for the realisation of

spcciticd objectives.

Also il' the identilicd skills needed for impri~ve~nent arc orgal ~ised

into ivork shops or short courscs and utilised for- retraining of' I ic lr l

tcachess of agsicultusc it would help them improvc tllcir peifoi.mam-e in

rhc inanagemmt of school farm for thc bcneiits of stuckr~ts ancl

community in agricultural production,

I ron the contrary. thcse skills are not integrared inlo agricul~usal

tcachcrs training ptngralnmcs, the problem of teacher's inability to

manage the school far111 will linger. on.

Rtxommrndations:

Froin tho findings of this research, i t is recotnn~enclcd that:

I . Fac~~lties of education in universities and other institutions

involved in tcaclm preparation should Incorporate specific

prac~ical l'arm ~ilariagume~it skills from this slr~cly inlo their training

programmes in order to equip would - bc teac.hel-s with the skills

for good pcrlbr~i~at~ce aftcr graduation.

7 . The oSl?cials ol' ministry of education should usc the findings of

this research io organise tvorksllops and seminars for thc retraining

of tcaclws in the ficld.

3 -. Agriculturd science 1cac1ioi.s cul-I-ently kaching in secondarj,

schools. should be accoin~nodatetl on short duration pl.ogramliles to

improve on skills they Iackcd for effective ~nanagement of tliu

school farm.

Srrggestions For Fu rthcr f<esenrclr

Study shoulcl bc conducted to isolate the skill needs of dif ' lcrc~~~

groups of tcachers (N.C.E, NDkfND, degree) on rhe school h-la

management for l x q - m c of providing training and retraining tu ~nnhc

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Journal of Iiesearch in sciencc Teaching Vol. 20 Nu 9.

APPENDIX I

UNIVERSITY OF NIGERIA NSUKKA

DEPARTMENT OF VOCATIONAL TEACHLX EDUCATION

QUESTIONNAIRE

'Topic: Skill Impsovcineni Ncccls of Agricultural Scicrm Tcachers 170s

Effective Manageincnt Of School Faun in Seco~~daly Schools In 11110

State.

Dear respondent,

This instruincnt is ~ncant for eollcction oS data on (hc skill

irnprovemcnt nccds of agricultural scicnce teachers, with the intent ion of

making hem manage the school f i ~ r n ~ s cffectivcly for thc bendit of

agr~icultusal scicnce students in sccondal-y schools in 11110 Statc.

You arc plcase rcq~~ustcd to give your honcst responses to thc

questions asked. yous iniosmation % i l l be treated in confidence.

MGBEAHUFtIKE M. N (Mrs.)

APPENDIX I1

Department of Voc. Tr. Ediicatiori.

University of Nigeria,

Nsukka.

October 2,2000.

The Principal of Stcondaty Schools,

Imo Stale.

L 1.m m OF INTRODUCTION

h4l-s Mgbuahcri.ikc Mauroen N. is a Post p d u a t u Studcnt of tlw

dcpariiiienl of Vocational Teacher Education of thc University of Nigcria

Nsukka.

She is undertaking a rcsearch on Ihc Skill improvement nceds of

Agricultural Science l'cachcrs.

Please givc hcr h e co-opcratiot~ and assistance shc ncecls.

-1 hanks you.

. . . . I . . . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . . .

Head of Department

Reliability of lnstrl~~i ient

The adn~inistsation of the instrument using test re-test rrrethod yiuldcd t l~c

following reliability ~ v i l h Pearson product momen1 correkition coefficient

(r)

r sy = zxy

rxy = Correlation coefticicnt bctween X and Y

xy = Sum oSci*oss products of deviation scores Scu-

X and Y.

Ss..Sy = Standard deviatior~ of X and Y scores

11 - Number. of paired observation.

Part

I I

I I I

I V

FORMULAR FOR ANALYSIS OF VARIANCE USED FOR TESTING

THE THREE HYPOTHESES

a) Toal S u m ofsquares (TSS)

b) Sum of Squares .ctwc.cn group: (SS,,)

c) Rcsiclual Smi of Squares (Sum of' Squares within groups)

(ass)

d) (if between gl-oups = (42 -I)

G = n u m bcr of groups.

df within groups = (nl-1 ) -I- (11~ - I ) + (n3 - 1)

APPENDIX V

FORiMULAK FOR CALCULATING CORRELATION IWI'IO (E')

E' = TSS - RSS

TSS

Where:

E' = C:orrcla~ion ratio

'TSS = Total sum CIS Squ~~res

KSS = Residual Sum of squares

(sum of s q u m s within groups)

QUESTIONNAIRE

Topic:Skill improvcmen~ needs of Agricultural Scicncc teachers, I'or

cffectivc mar~agumcnt of school fru.n~ in secondary schools in 1n.10 Sti~ic.

PART l

INTRODUCTION: I'lcasc insert chcck (4 ) insiclc thc box as applicable

to you

PERSONAL DATA

1. Name of school ( )

7 -. Qr~ali fication

a) N.C.E. ( )

B) NIYHND ( 1

C ) I ) c ~ " c ( 1

1NSTRUCTlON Please check (4 the response in the colu~nn which

expresses your opinion regarcting the management skills required fbr

effective iitnctioning af the school farrn,

Very highly r cqu i td VMR

1-I ighty rcquired 1-1 R

Averagely rqu i~ .ed AR

Sligh tlg r e q u i d SR

Not required N XI

Manogenlen[ skills required ibr planning of t!;c scliool fami

T'l-te folloi~ing skills arc required far cfl'cctivc

Planning of 11ie school Lmn:

Fomulatil~g oI' specific Objectives

for ~ l ic firm.

Choosing the best fanning

and coppilag systems

Selecting suitable soil for planting crop:

Dclemining what crops ilnd

livestock to product.

Selec~ing dcsirablc Soundation stock

fo t- h~isbanclry I'ractices

Selecting chemicals tbr use in

controlling wecds. pests, Parasites

and diseases of crops and animals

Selecting of soil conservation

programmes lo be crnbarked upon.

Selecting appr-oprialc fcoding stuffs

for fccd form~~lalion

Plnnnillg breeding progrnmlncs ibr animals

Budgeting for the school farm

planning for t lw procul,cmcnl of hrnm ~ n p u t s

Skills for organising tlie school farm

incluclc ~ h c skills of

Arranging thc 111-otluche resources

available for cffcctivc usc.

Idcnti fyiiig thc ~ w d s of students

Sa~~rcir'tg for i ~ t l r l ~vocuring ol' l'a1-n-t inputs

Assigning spccific tasks/ duties/ portion

of tfic farm to individual students

Organising brcecl in2 programmes for

farm animals

Preparing annual farin Calendar.

Iden~ifying and analysing the problcrns

emanating during thc running of tlie

school f'arm.

Formins con~n~irtces lix- spccilic Surm act~vi l ics

Ensuring accountability to tlic school

administration on tlie running of thc

school faun.

Management skills I-ccluirerl for

directing tllc school Lrm~ include the

skil!s for:

S~pcrvising of'st~ldcnt work in the farm

Applyins appropria[c Sci4lizcrs to crops

Supervising ~ h c maintcna~~cc and storagi

of farm tools and equipment.

Delermining soil types and properties

in relation 10 crops to bc plantcd.

Fosmuiating feeds for diffcrwt types

of livosrtck i t I lhc ht~irn

detem-rini~~g nu&nl availability

in soil alrrough soil tests.

Feeding of livestock wirh the right

feed and quantity.

Controlling weeds, pcsts, parasites

and Aiseascs oI'cl-ops and animals

Making and it-rrpletnenting c1ec.isions

Management skills required Ibr

contrdiug tho ~cI-7001 fartn incluclc thc

skills for

making obsewa~ion on the perfbrn~ance

of s~uden ts in rhc Fwn.

Plaki~ig proper i nvcrrtuly ol'rhc farm

assets.

Keeping accurate records of financial

involvelncn[ in the f irm

Monitoring tlic movemc~il of hrm

tools during pracricals \vor.k i r x thc farm

Carrying out periodic uvaluation of

complctcd tasks by students.

Dotermining the ~~nclerlying causes

of deviation Srom set objcctivcs.

Adopting alternative course of action to

achieve set objectives.

Applying disciplinary action.

PART I11

Farm management skills alueady possessed by teachers for effective

use in the school ti11.111.

INSTRUCTION: Plcase check in appropriate column the lcvel at

which you posscss the management sltills

VMP= Very liiglily possessed. HI3= Highly possessed AP= Averagely

possesscd, S1' = Slightly, Possessed, N P Not posscsseci.

(41 what lcvcl do you posscss llic Ibllowing

n~anagcment skills Sor:

Planning of thc school fB1-111

forii~ulating specific objective for the

farm

Choosing tho best farming and

cropping syslcms

S ~ l e c ~ i n g sui~ahlc soil for planting crops

Detcl-ming crops and livcsrock to proclucc.

Selcc.ting desirable fo~indation stock

for husbandry practices.

Selecting chen~icals for Ltse in

controlling weeds, pcsls, parasites and

diseases of crops and rmilnals.

Sc Icc~ ing ol'so~l cwlscl.varion programn-ie l a

bc cmbarkcd upon in h e school h r m

Planning breeding programlnes for

farm animals.

B~ictgcting for t l ~ school i n n .

Planning for Ihc procuretnent of fanu

inp~lls

(B) Organising of thc school farm

Arranging thc protluction resources

available fbr cffeclive use.

Identifying the necds of students

Sourcing for and procuring Tam inputs

Assrgning spccific tasks / dutics / portions of

thc larm LO inclividual sludents.

Organisin2 bl.cctling progJammx

for farm animals.

Preparing, ant~ual far111 cnlenciar

I d c n t i f j ~ i n ~ cncl analysirsg h c problems

emanating cl i~ing the r~iilniiig ofthe

school farm.

Ensuring accountability to the school

administration on thc sunning of tlic

school farm

Dircctjng of'tlic school f i l m

Supervising of sti~dcnts work in the farn

Applying appropsiale fcl-iilizcrs to crops

Strpcsvising thc mainterlance and storagl

of farm tools and cquipmcn~.

D e t m ~ i n c soi! types nnc! proper~ics

in rclation to crops to be planted.

Fccdirig of livestock with the rig111 fced

and quantity.

Contr-olling w r d s . pcsts, parasite. and

diseases oi'crups a d Fxni animats.

Makin2 and irnplcn~cnting ciccisions

Making observation on tho pdormancc

of studen~s in tllc I'arnl.

Making Isroper iwcntory of the fir111

assets.

Keeping accuratc r*ccords o f the

financial involvements ol'thc farin.

Monitorirlg the ~nownen t of fal.in tool:

during practical i w r k in ilic hrm

Carlying out pcriodic evaluation of

coinpletcd tasks by students

Detcl-r~iini~lg tl~c i~ndoriying causes

of dwiation Srom sct objjectivcs.

Adopting altomat ivc courses of

action to achiuvc sct objectives.

Applying discipli~inry action.

Selecting appropria~c feeding stuffs

for fccd foriiiirlation.

PART 9V

35

36.

37.

F a m manngcmcn[ skills nccdcd by tcacliers fur i t~~provcd

perfbrinancu in the school lam.

Furinulating feeds for different

ty,pcs OF Eivmtock in the farm

Fornming commitlees for specific

farm aclivhies.

De~crmining nutrien\ availability

in soil through soil resting.

INSTRUCTION: Plcase clicck in appropriate column the level at

which you necd tlw rnanagcnlcnt skills

VHN= Vcry highly nccdcti. HN = Highly needcti, AN = Averagely

needed, SN= Slighlly necded, NN = Not needed.

At what levcl do you need

Thc Solloiving m:~~mync t l t

skills for:

Irnpr~vccl pl;m~ilig offhe school

Fomulating ol'specific ol~jectivcs

for thc school farm.

C11wsing the best farming and

cropping sys~cms.

Selecting suikhlc soil fo r planting crops

Dcterniining what crops and livestock

to produce.

SeIecting desirable fouridation stock

for husbandry practices

Selecting ch~~t i ica ls for use in controllin

weeds, pests, parasites and diseascs

of' hr-m animals

Sclccling nf soil co~~sci~vol ion programmes

LLI 1 3 ~ embarked upon in ttic school.

Planning brceding progrnnimes for

fwn animals

B~~Igeling for the school f'arm.

Pla~ming for the procurement

of farm inputs.

B) Improved Organising of the

school farm.

Arranging tht. productive resources

available for e ffcctivc usc.

Identifying the nceds ol'studcnts

Sourcing for and procuring farm inputs.

Assigning spxifir: taskskluticsi portions

of thc farm ro individual students

Organising brceding programmes hi-

farm aninlals

Preparing annual farm calcnclar.

Identifying and analysing thc problerns

emanating c t ~ r r i ~ y h c running of the

school famm.

Ensuring accountability to the school

acln~inistration on the running of thc

school farm.

C) Improvcd directing of the school

fa rrn

Supcr.vising students ~vo1.1~ in the Fann

Applying appiqxiatc ferlilizers to crops

Supervising thc mainlenancc and storage

of farm tools and quipment.

Determining soill ly lscs and properties

in relation to crops to be planted

Fecding of liws!mk with right feed

and quantily

Controlling s~~cccls. pests! parasites

and diseases ol'crops and animals

Malting and iml~lcnwntirig decisions.

Improved contidling of scllool far11-i.

Making obscsvation in tlie perforn~ance

of students in 1I1c 1;~-~n.

Making psopcr inventory of the farm assets.

Keeping accurate I-ecords of the

fhmcial 'Fi-suohcmcnts of the farm.

Moinrocing t!w movements of f'arm

tools during practical work in tlie ktrni.

Carlying ou! pcriodic evduation of

complcted tzsks by students

Dctcrnrining thc underlying causes of

deviation tkom scl ob.jectivcs.

Adopting altcmritivc course of

a c h n to achicuc sct ~b~jectives.

Applying iliscipli~~ary action

Selecting npprupriatc feeding sturfs

for I'eed f c ~ n ~ u l a t ion.

Formulating feeds for different

types of livestock in thc fa rm

Fomi~ag C O ~ ~ T ~ ~ ~ C C S for specific farm

activities.

Determining nut!-icnt availability in

soil t\~rough sail ~ c s h ~ .