Abstract

The purpose of this thesis is to link conversations in agricultural education and global sustainability. Since the release of Understanding Agriculture: New Directions for Education by the National Research Council in 1988, agricultural education in public education has undergone a transformation into a much broader field, encompassing both agricultural literacy and agricultural science. Those in the profession are seeking to expand their clientele base and update the curriculum to meet the needs of today's students, and integrate agricultural education with science education. ;The cause for linking agricultural education and sustainability is twofold. First, agricultural education now includes education about agriculture--agricultural literacy. Second, the current literature concerned with sustainability of the planet abounds with issues concerning industrialized agriculture. Many authors have taken up the effort to quantify the total impact that industrialized societies and an exponentially growing world population are having on the planet. Most agree that replacing current methods of transportation, manufacturing, and agriculture will be necessary in order for global sustainability to occur. ;For agriculture, this change is argued to be modelled after the earlier forms of agrarianism and dispersed community structure. Educating a population to be competent at living a sustainable lifestyle requires linking agriculture, community, and the home through an educational paradigm referred to as ecological literacy. Ultimately, agricultural education must possess many of the characteristics included in ecological literacy and accept the goal of sustainability which is inherent in ecological literacy