InnovATE Updates

Agrilinks Ag Educators Corner: “When in Doubt, Be Intentional”

In our ongoing relationship with Agrilinks, InnovATE has developed a new feature, the Ag Educator’s Corner. This series of monthly blog posts provides insight & tips to agricultural educators.

The most recent installment was submitted by Blaze Currie, former Executive Director of Agricorps, writes about the experience of a 4-H teacher abroad in Ghana who is struggling to connect with her students, before finding a new guiding teaching principle in When in Doubt, Be Intentional. Continue reading >

Ag Educators’ Corner on Agrilinks

In our ongoing relationship with Agrilinks, InnovATE has developed a new feature, the Ag Educator’s Corner. This series of monthly blog posts, called ” The Ag Educators’ Corner,” provides insight, practical tips, and stories by and for agricultural educators.

Melanie Miller-Foster and Daniel Foster, Penn State, launched the series in September. In our first post, For Agricultural Educators, From Agricultural Educators, they highlight their experience teaching Integrated Pest Management (IPM) to secondary school students in Guatemala. By bringing hands-on, minds-on activity into the classroom and using research-based educational strategies and techniques, the Fosters improved learning outcomes and created a fun and memorable experience. In Melanie’s own words, “I’ve never seen so many people this excited about IPM!” Read more on Agrilinks and check out the series each month!

Engaging Youth in Gender-Based Discussions Around Agricultural Careers

On September 28-30, 2016, InnovATE participated in The Global Youth Economic Opportunities Summit, hosted by Making Cents International in Arlington, VA. The summit brought together private sector companies, foundations, development agencies, government agencies, NGOs, and academic/research institutions in order to increase the impact, scale and sustainability of their youth economic opportunities programming, policies, and partnerships. Continue reading >

More AET on Agrilinks!

The third quarter of 2016 saw our partnership with Agrilinks continue to bear fruit in connecting with international development professionals and practitioners in agriculture. Following on from our pedagogy and curriculum series of events, in May we had two blogs published about agricultural education and training. Continue reading >

How Can Agricultural Education and Training Better Reach Women?

In December 2015, InnovATE wrapped up another blog series with Agrilinks focused on gender. This series, centered on identifying and eliminating gender-barriers in agriculture education and training (AET), was summarized by Laura Ostenso, Knowledge Management Specialist for Agrilinks with the following:

By examining gender-specific barriers to women’s participation in AET programs and institutions in countries around the world, InnovATE charted pathways to success for women’s participation in agricultural education. This increased education opportunity translates into developing high quality workers and scholars dedicated to global issues like hunger and poverty. Continue reading >