Top 3 Reasons to Invite Guest Speakers

Thank you all for your attention and engagement with our guest speakers in class.  We do have many more coming in during the course of the semester, so the question begs, "Why all these guest speakers?" 


Reason 1: Internationalize
Let's go back to the original idea of the class.  We're trying to learn about global agricultural education in its many forms across the globe.  How can we do that without traveling?  One of the strategies to accomplish our learning goals is to invite in guest speakers, many of them from the Penn State community, to share their global experiences.

Yesterday we heard from a student's perspective about Zamorano University in Honduras.  It's hard to imagine an ag university where you get a demerit for walking on the grass, or where you have to wear a uniform at all times.  By inviting Loren in, we get to glimpse into the world of Zamorano without having to travel there.


Reason 2: Real Life Examples
We spent much of the first part of the semester learning about agriculture, education and agricultural education.  We also looked at diffusion of innovations and many different barriers to receiving an agricultural education - gender, location, literacy, race, language, etc.  The idea behind examining real-life examples is to go from our abstract classroom knowledge and apply it to real-life situations.

For example, we had Blaze Currie here from Agricorps.  Many of you asked poignant questions about the program i.e, "Is a year long enough?" and "Is language a barrier?"  These are great questions that really showcase the decisions that have to be made in real life.  Perhaps a longer time would be better, but then no one would sign up.  And sure, technically the official language is English, but other tribal languages may also be spoken.

It's a long way from the critical world of academia to a small school in rural Liberia.  How does a program such as Agricorps balance what they know in the abstract with what they think will work in real life?


Reason 3: Context
I think it is easy to sit in a classroom at Penn State and say that "culture" is a reason why some programs work and other programs don't work.  It's actually very shaky ground to "blame"culture, especially when talking about underdevelopment.  That's a viewpoint that was very popular in development work in the 1950s and 1960s, and has since been recognized as very damaging.

Bringing in a guest speaker can help us to understand the unique cultural context of different places.  For example, we had Dr. Nicole Webster come in yesterday to talk with us about her Fulbright experience developing a student organization at UNICA in Nicaragua.  After learning about how the lingering effects of the Sandinistas on Nicaragua, it was easy to see why student organizations were not a part of the culture of UNICA or any other university in the country.  This is a fabulous example of why context matters.  It would have been very easy to blame the lack of student organizations on culture, but really there is an underlying historical rationale that makes a lot of sense.

Why is this knowledge useful?  Well, if you wanted to bust into Nicaragua and start an FFA organization or 4-H Club you would certainly want to know about the context before you got started.  Dr. Webster's example provides us with the idea that you might have to dig deep to find the answers - history and politics, in this case.



Let's use the information presented by our guest speakers to our best advantage.  Think about the elements of the programs our speakers talk about in terms of what you've read and learned about in this class. 

Remember that this class is not just about critiquing examples, but it is also about building.  We hope to create positive change agents, so we strive to provide you with some real-life examples of programs that "work". 

Session #10 Ticket Out Responses

What are you curious about?

1. What can be done to lower the average age of farmer?

• Attract Young People to Food and Agriculture -Link

2. Will I ever ready to be qualified to be an AgriCorps volunteer?

• AgriCorps Future Volunteers

3. Volunteering with Agricorps

• How to Join and Help 

4. What if someone from a developing country wants to volunteer in another country?

• International Volunteer HQ- Link
• Through local organization

5. What the outcomes of 2014 (Agricorp) volunteer will be?

• Sign Up to learn and receive information from AgriCorps.

6. If smallholder farmers are the key to reducing hunger and poverty, what are the education need and how can they gain the education they need to be successful?

•  Scholarly Article: Can the smallholder model deliver poverty reduction and food security for a rapidly growing population in Africa?

7.What is the training process for volunteer (Agri Corps)

• Sign Up to learn and receive information from AgriCorps.

8. Did volunteers have a problem with post war trauma's with kids?

• Visit and communicate with AgriCorps community on their Facebook

9. Any info session on Agri Corps

• Sign Up to learn and receive information from AgriCorps.

10. What are specific activities Agri Corps volunteers participate in?

• Initiated the process to start a public school
• Started two 4-H clubs
• Elected club officers (both clubs elected female presidents)
• Held a Club Officer Leadership Training (COLT) Camp to teach leadership skills
• Constructed two school gardens from scratch, including site selection, mulching, bed construction and transplanting.
• Conducted a business planning session for the national management team of 4-H Liberia
• Troubleshot miscommunications between the Ministry of Education and the United Nations World Food Program, and
• Printed Agricultural Education Curriculum and distributed it to 90 schools.

11.Opportunities like Agri Cops in other Countries

• List of relief organization-  GlobalCorps
• 99 Great Organizations comforting poverty and hunger

What did you learn about?
1.How to provide nations with the abilities to grow their own communities.
2.The success story of Agri Corps
3.Agri Corps and how we can help
4.Agri Corps mission and vision in Liberia
5. About the Agri Corps and how they get where there are
6.Agri Corps is trying to be searchers and and focus on home grown solution
7. AN example of the three circle model can be applied in other atmosphere
8. About Agri Corps
9. ''We give no money, we give resources''
10.Liberia history facts. Background on Agri Corps
11. the dangers of foreign aid is the lack of feedback from the community
12. Corruption is institutionalize by the continuous supply of wrong doing

What do you want to learn more about?

1. What resources/support do volunteer receive for example with lesson plan development training?

• Sign Up to learn and receive information from AgriCorps or communicate with AgriCorps community on their Facebook

2.How can 4-H here help 4-H in other countries

• We will bring this question class as lingering question

3.What cultural barriers they (Agricorp volunteers) faces in implementing education strategies?

• Communicate with AgriCorps community on their Facebook 

4. What other areas are organizations looking to expand on solving the issues of hunger

• Millennium Development Goals 

6. Three circle Model

Next Three Classes

The next three classes - sessions 10, 11 and 12 - are all technology optional. 

In each of these three sessions we will have guest speakers.  These speakers include a representative from AgriCorps, an alumna of Zamorano University, a PSU professor that is heavily involved in researching global youth development programs, and a PSU professor that participated in the Farmer-to-Farmer program. Because these individuals are all unfamiliar with our special room, we don't anticipate that they will ask you to use your technology. 

You'll note that the AgriCorps representative has asked you to read two short articles (links on ANGEL) and to take a look at the organization's website before coming to class.  Our other guest speakers have not assigned any additional readings to date.

The entire instructional team reminds you to be polite and attentive to our guests.  Show them that we value their time and their experiences by staying engaged and asking questions.  Represent Penn State well!

Session #6 Education as Innovation Ticket out Responses

What are you curious about?
1. What is the land grant university?

• Refer blog post - http://goo.gl/y9pxIC 

2. What is AgroCorp? Where do I sign up?

• We will have a special session with the AgCorp February 13
• http://agricorps.org/

3. Are there analysis of ATVET programs from different parts of the world? How they are successful in different economy that we can compare?

• Check out this article- http://goo.gl/EEku77

4.Why would not work to use a mixture of method? since different areas have different problem concern? Why there are rigid framework?

• We will bring this to class as Lingering Question

5. Peace corp always a 3 year program?

• The traditional Peace Corps program is 27 months -[Lean More]

6.Example of when the workforce frame work has been sucessfull?

•  The USA

7. The quote by Kirstal Jones " if there is more diversity, there is probably less efficiency''

•  We will bring this to class as Lingering Question

 What did you learn?
1. The ATVET and some circumstances that need to be taken into account when intervening into other countries.
2. ATVET and how it can work to help developing nations
3.The framework is focused on economic development
4.Context matters so much
5. ATVET is a complicated system
6.USAID- framework may not be the best
7. Soft and Hard Skilss
8.The framework of working on developing program
9.Framework of education in developing countries
10.How ATVET select the group that they want for program

What do yo want to learn more about?

1. Multi-tiered agriculture system?

• We will bring this to class as Lingering Question

2.Peace Corps?

3. More similarities/differences between the Ethiopian DA program and the extension and how their work?

•  We will bring this to class as Lingering Question

4.What countries or people to or want help

5. I want to learn more about Ag extension

• http://extension.psu.edu/

6. Can we have/ be given resources to get involved in the Krystal and other future guest speaker project?

• You might want to ask the guest speakers

7. Internationally, what are some good places to place the trained?

• We will bring this to class as Lingering Question