UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Instead of spending her spring break on a beach, Penn State student agricultural teacher candidate Grace Shawver had her own remarkable adventure as a guest instructor at Garner Magnet High School in Garner, North Carolina, helping teenagers discover their role in global agriculture and food security.
The agricultural and extension education major was one of 16 students selected for an immersive teaching experience offered through a partnership among Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences, the University of Idaho, and the World Food Prize Foundation, funded by a $280,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture.
“This program is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that allows you to network, receive professional development, and have hands-on teaching experience,” said Shawver, of Coburn, a third-year student whose goal is to become a high school agriculture educator. “Before this experience, one of my goals was to build cross-disciplinary relationships within a school setting, but now my passion is stronger than ever.”
The World Food Prize Global Orientation to Agricultural Learning program, called GOALS, supports agricultural education majors from Penn State and the University of Idaho as they complete a yearlong global food security professional development experience facilitated by the Global Teach Ag Network and in partnership with the World Food Prize Borlaug Dialogues.
Outcomes of the project include increased global citizenship for both participants and secondary students and heightened access to a global agriculture curriculum for all agricultural educators, according to Melanie Miller Foster and Daniel Foster, faculty and project co-investigators at Penn State. Both are co-founders of the Global Teach Ag Network.
“This program allows pre-service candidates to learn about a specific content area — global agriculture and food security — and then have an opportunity to teach it,” said Daniel Foster, associate professor of agricultural and extension education. “The spring break teaching immersion helps contextualize their remaining coursework and prepares them for future careers as change agents in classrooms.”
The experience began with a 2021 fall-semester course taught at Penn State by Foster and Miller Foster and at the University of Idaho by Kasee Smith, assistant professor and project lead, and Jeremy Falk, associate professor. Lessons focused on professional development in global agriculture and food security and how to implement these concepts in the classroom.
A cornerstone of the program was attendance at the Norman E. Borlaug International Symposium, commonly known as the Borlaug Dialogue, an annual international symposium on global food security organized by the World Food Prize Foundation and held annually in October in Des Moines, Iowa.
“Traveling abroad was limited during the pandemic, so finding new and innovative ways to engage students in global agriculture has been important,” said Miller Foster, associate teaching professor of international agriculture in Ag Sciences Global. “This opportunity allowed students to rub shoulders with notable experts in global agriculture and food security work and learn how to integrate global topics into their agriculture instruction.”
Alec Vineyard, a student at the University of Idaho, said he valued the opportunity to attend the conference and interact with people worldwide. “It presented a global picture that we don’t get to see very often,” he said. “It is a great opportunity to better yourself on the teaching level. Being able to learn from your normal professors and people from all over the world was impactful. I learned so much in this program, and I gained confidence.”
In preparing for their spring break immersive experiences, students worked in pairs to create a one-day lesson plan on a global agriculture topic of their choosing. Their lessons complemented modules developed by Olivia Murphy-Sweet, a Penn State graduate with a bachelor’s degree in agricultural and extension education and a minor in international agriculture. She also holds a master’s degree from the University of Idaho.
Shawver’s teacher mentor at Garner was Sarah Dinger, an agriscience teacher and a World Food Prize Global Guide. The Global Guides initiative gives secondary teachers the knowledge, tools and resources to integrate global learning and food security into curriculum and practice. “Ms. Dinger has many qualities that I want to have as a teacher — she is funny, knowledgeable, passionate and caring,” Shawver said.
Shawver added that she learned the value of connecting with students through conversation versus a traditional lecture format. The experience also expanded her understanding of teachers’ significant commitment to ensuring that their students succeed. She said she was amazed by the amount of work required for planning, teaching and after-school activities.
“Most of the students do not have a background in agriculture but have developed key life skills and an appreciation of where their food comes from,” Shawver said. “I got to witness how my experiences can change the lives of others, which made it all worth it. Most importantly, I learned that we all play a part in agriculture, and it goes way beyond farming.”
Penn State students also selected for the program were Mckenzie Mahler, Lauren Hoffman, Ambar Robalino, Celia Graef, Nicolette Cusate, Jon Hoak and Krista Mathias. Information about the program, including videos featuring the students’ stories, can be found on the Global Teach Ag Network website.