Sources of satisfaction, stress, and burnout are all-too-familiar to school-based agricultural education (SBAE) teachers. Yet, the current literature related to SBAE stress has not addressed the overwhelming existence of trauma in our greater society. Teacher wellbeing can be compromised when students share their own adversities and traumatic…

This study utilized a case study design to explore how early career agriculture teachers in Oregon conceptualize success and work-life balance in school-based agricultural education. Wenger's (1998) theory of Communities of Practice, precisely the concept of reification, served as the framework for our study. Our population included 52 agriculture…

The educational importance of teacher self-efficacy necessitates research into variables presumed to significantly influence teacher self-efficacy. In the current study, the role of personal and programmatic variables on the self-efficacy of school-based agriculture teachers was explored. Self-efficacy was measured in five aspects of the…

Agriculture teachers face challenges at every stage of their career, creating a need for professional development to meet their individual needs. Additionally, research suggests the need for periodic needs assessments to be conducted within individual states. The purpose of this study was to identify and describe, using the Borich needs assessment…

Teacher education programs can't prepare educators for everything that they might encounter on the job. Regardless of where they earn their degree--and even if they have had solid student teaching experiences before they claim their credential--new teachers are bound to face unexpected, upsetting, occasionally funny, and sometimes awkward…

Describes the first year of a program conducted by two Oregon institutions of higher education that "warranty" their teacher education graduates. The program provides support to graduates and their employers, encourages collaboration between the teacher education program and local schools, makes the teacher education faculty accountable,…

Describes a 30-year-old new teacher's first year in an Oregon fourth-grade classroom, as he grapples with his students' diverse learning needs, inadequate textbooks, the isolation of being a rookie, and the pressures of simultaneously engaging his students' interest and meeting state standards. Lists four helpful books for new teachers. (SV)

Student learning must be touchstone by which teachers and teacher educators are gauged. Unfortunately articles in November 1996 "Kappan" on "Quality Teaching for the 21st Century" don't support this statement. In contrast to three national certification initiatives, Oregon's teacher licensure system (Oregon Work Sampling…

A study of the learning activities of 43 beginning secondary school teachers in Oregon provides information about how and to what extent these teachers supplemented academic training with practical knowledge. Types of learning experiences, time spent on them, and teachers' opinions about their worth are discussed. (PP)