Story by Eryn Carter, junior (ACJ)
Cheyenne Moyer, an agricultural education graduate student, is starting her thesis with excitement and high hopes. Her research will focus on secondary education students in Kansas agriculture programs decision to pursue a future career in agricultural education.
Through 14 interviews around the state, Moyer will collect qualitative data to decide what impact current teachers are having on their students. “I always thought my agriculture teacher made his job look difficult and he never pushed me to major in agriculture education,” says Moyer, a leading reason for choosing a major in animal science rather than agricultural education for her undergraduate degree.
“There is a shortage of agriculture teachers in Kansas because the teachers make their jobs look too hard for future agriculture students. Hopefully this project will create data that will be used for recruiting”, Moyer says.
Moyer worked at the Kansas Animal Science Leadership Academy as a councilor for the past two years, inspiring her to rethink a future in agriculture education. She decided to return to school to pursue a master’s degree.
In addition to gathering research about agricultural education from this project, Moyer also has personal goals for herself. After graduation, she hopes to be an agriculture teacher in Kansas. “This is a professional development exercise for me,” Moyer says. She is hoping the qualitative work will help further diversify her to be better prepared for a teaching career.
