This dissertation's purpose was for examining the preparation of pre-service school-based agricultural education (SBAE) teachers in laboratory-based courses and discovering how experienced SBAE teachers describe the experiences which prepared them to be effective facilitators of laboratory instruction. Furthermore, we discovered SBAE teachers' experiences, perceptions, and intentions to use power equipment with Flesh Sensing Safety Technology (FSST). This dissertation utilized quantitative and qualitative approaches to address the following four research objectives: (1) identify the laboratory-based courses offered at agricultural education institutions and determine which courses were required for pre-service teachers, and which courses had a pedagogical focus; (2) determine SBAE teacher educators' perceptions regarding possible needs or changes regarding preparing pre-service teachers associated with laboratory competencies; (3) discover how experienced SBAE teachers describe the experiences which best prepared them to serve as an effective facilitator of learning in laboratory-based SBAE settings; (4) describe the SBAE teachers' past and current experiences with FSST and injuries prevented by way of flesh-sensing safety technology; and (5) describe SBAE teachers' intentions to use flesh sensing safety technology. For objectives one and two, a descriptive quantitative survey was deployed to 33 agricultural education teacher certifying institutions across America to discover what laboratory-based courses are being offered to prepare pre-service teachers for teaching, managing, and facilitating learning activities in SBAE laboratories. We discovered 28 (84.8%) of the universities agricultural teacher education programs (n = 33) offered an Agricultural Mechanics course, 25 universities (78.1%) offered a Livestock Management course, 20 (64.5%) offered a Greenhouse Management course, and 18 (56.3%) offered a Welding / Metal Fabrication course. Of all of the courses the universities (n = 33) offered, 31 (96.9%) universities required pre-service teachers to take Agricultural Mechanics, 26 (83.9%) universities required Welding / Metal Fabrication, 20 (64.5%) universities required Livestock Management, and 14 (46.7%) universities required Greenhouse management for pre-service SBAE teachers. Nearly half (f = 13, 41.9%) of the teacher educators felt there is a "moderate need" (MN) to expand instruction pertaining to Agricultural Mechanics, Poultry Science, and Carpentry. Nearly a quarter (f = 7, 23.3%) of teacher educators felt there was a "very significant need" (VSN) to expand instruction in Welding / Metal Fabrication, and another quarter (f = 7, 23.3%) indicated a moderate need (MN) to expand instruction. To address objective three, a qualitative phenomenological approach was utilized and a total of 27 SBAE teachers were interviewed. Two themes were discovered during data analysis: (1) teachers accredit their ability to teach, manage, and facilitate laboratory activities from informal experiences,;(2) teachers accredit their ability to teach, manage, and facilitate laboratory activities from formal experiences. The four sub-themes were mentorship, secondary experiences, underprepared for laboratory instruction, and the desire for more training. To address objective four, a descriptive quantitative survey was sent via email to 83 SBAE teachers across the nation. The teachers revealed 20.5% were currently using flesh-sensing safety technology (FSST) equipment in agricultural education programs, and over 50 injuries had been prevented by using equipment with FSST. Teachers indicated a 73.3 to 92.4 agreement on incorporating flesh-sensing safety equipment in the future. The findings of this research indicate there are not enough laboratory-based courses offered at agricultural teacher certifying institutions to prepare students to be an effective facilitator of learning in SBAE laboratories. This study also revealed what prepared experienced SBAE teachers to be effective facilitators of learning in laboratory settings. These findings also indicate pre-service teachers are not receiving enough laboratory-based training. Furthermore, this study's findings revealed that teachers are willing to incorporate FSST in the future. Further research should explore if agricultural education teacher graduates, who have had more laboratory training show a higher level of preparedness for teaching, managing, and facilitating learning activities in agricultural education laboratories. Also, an analysis should be conducted to determine if the geographical location is an indicator for what type of laboratories are most commonly found in SBAE programs, therefore institutions could align their training to the most common laboratories found in their region. Furthermore, it is suggested further exploratory research be conducted to see how much laboratory training should be offered to adequately prepare pre-service SBAE teachers for laboratory instruction. With the decline in laboratory-based instruction and an urbanized economy, the agricultural education teachers of tomorrow will have different needs than the ones of yesterday if laboratory instruction is to remain a fundamental component of the agricultural education curriculum. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2222/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]