university of · pdf filestatement of problem ... 13111 sincc ~lic cightios, ... therefore...
TRANSCRIPT
University of Nigeria Research Publications
MGBEAHURIKE, Maureen Nkem
Aut
hor
PG/M.ED/98/25140
Title
Skill Improvement Needs of Agricultural Science Teachers for Effective Management
of School Farm in Secondary Schools in Imo State
Facu
lty
Education
Dep
artm
ent
Vocational Teacher Education
Dat
e
February, 2001
Sign
atur
e
SKILL IIVPRUVEMEN'I' NEEDS OF AGRIClJLTURAL SCIENCE
TEACI-IERS FOR FFFECTIVE MANAGEMENT
OF SCHUOL FAlikl [N SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN
Ih40 STATE
A THESIS SCJBMI'TTE'I) TO 'f HE DEPARTMENT OF VOCATIONAL
'l'EACI IER EDUCATION
IJNIVERSITY 01' NIGERIA NSUK.K,fL
bIC;LlEA I-IURI ICE MAUREEN NKEWl (MI<S.)
E'Ci/MED/98/25 I40
MGBEAHURIKE MAUREEN NKEM (Mrs.), a post gracluale studcnt ol' the
department of Vocational l'eacher Educafion with Registration Nunlbcr
PGlh/lED/98/25 140, has satisfactorily complctcd thc requirement Sor the tfegrec
of masters in A~I-icultural M~~c;i t ion. 'The work embodied in the prqiect is
original and has not bcun submitted in par1 or in fir11 Ibr any other degree of h i s
or any olhcr ~ ~ n i ~ c r s i t y .
Head of Department
Supervisor
I?KO1CATTON
This thesis is dedicared to my lovitlg husband, Ms. J .E . Mgbcahurikc and
my children, Chin\vcnctu. Chibum. Chidicbere and Chiorna.
AKNOWLEDGMENTS
In rcvcrencc and adoration, the lwwarchcr gives thanks 10 AhligRty God Sor the
protection. Provisions and \visdom hc gavc hcr tliroughout this work. Hcr sp-rial
gratitude ~ o c s to licr projccl supervisor Profcssor S.O. OIaira~l [or his prokssiona! and
fa111erly advicc during thc work. I Ic was a source of inspiration hroughoul 1 1 1 ~ period or
lh1s \\cork.
She also acknow!cdyes thc con~ributiotis of all thc lecturers in the doparhlcnt o f
Vocational teacher ccluealion parlicularly Prof. J.U Okor~e, I'm!: hlim E.U. hnyakoha,
prof. i\;..J,Ogbazi, Dr. Osincm a d Dr. R.U. Mari~ali. SIic will cver rsrnairn gl-ntcft~l 10
Ekoi~g A . 0 Lor his ilnmensc contributions toward the complclion of the ivork.
Fondly remcmbcrcd are thc rcsenrcher's parents and brolhers, espccrally C'hicf
Isclorc h4bah and his w~f'c. who proviclcd a transit liotnc at Enugu I'or k r as shc shu~t lc t l to
and urom lnio slillc, VaknLltlc, C i l ~ ~ t ~ n l l . Cal l is t~ ts as \vcll :IS rlr. Oguari fnr I[& suplmrl.
Slie spccialIy h n k s hen- darling husband h4r. Johnny h4gbcahurikc and her
childrcn for thcir paticncc and s i i p p i ~ i during tllc work.
Also to be acknowledged arc hcr colleagues and hicncls in ~ h c office, cspxially
Ndomi, B. All. She also owcs a lot of gratitude to sislcr Mercy Nwake who sus!aincel licr
physic all^* and spiri tuall~ ~hroughour the duration oi'1his work.
TAIPCE OF CONTENTS
......................................................................................... TITLE PAGE i . . ............................................................ ............... APPROVAL PAGE .. I I
... ................................................................................ CERTlF1C:A'TION . . ~ I I
................................................................................ DEDICATI()~\J., iv
.................................................................. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ..\I
................................................................... TABLE 01; CONTENTS .vi
............................................................................... LIST 01; 1'ABLES ..ix .r ........................................................................................... ABSTRAC I' x
CHAPTER ONE: INTHODUCTION
..................................................................... Background of thc study I
........................................................................ Statement of problem .G
........................................................................ Purpose of the study ,..7
................................................................... Significance ui' the study ..S
........................................................................... Research quest ions.. .9
........................................................................................ Hypotheses.. i 0 . . ................................................................. Delimitations oi' the study 10
.......................... CHAPTER TWO: REVIEW OF LITERATURE.. 1 1
........................................................................... 711c conccpts ol'slcill I I
.................................................... Skill acquisition and dcve!opmcnl 13
The school l31.m and its relevance in skill Acquisition and
............................................................................ developnent 17
...................................................... Management ol' the school farm .2 1
Skill nccded by Agricultural Science Teachers for improved planning.
Organising? direcling and Controlling of school fir1.111 . . . .................................................................................. actiwtres -37
......................................................................... ( i ) Crop production -37
................................................................... ( i i ) Soil ~l~ar~agcment -42
....................................................................... ( i i i ) Animal production 43
.................................. (iv) Management of hrrn eqt~ipment and tools 45
Need Assessment and thc Necd for Improvement on skills of Agsicult~~raI c 7 ................................................................. Science I cachcrs 48
Strategies f'or improvernc~~t of Agricultural Scicnc.e Teachers Fn~m
............................................................................ Management skills -53 . . . ........................... Some Studics on fmn ~ila~aagcment and ut~lrsatron 56
................................................. Summary of Literature Review 57
CHAPTER THREE: METHODOLOGY
................................................................................ Design of thc sti~dy 60
................................................................................... Area of the sludy 60
........................................................................ Population of ~ l l e S I E I ~ ~ 61
........................................................... Sample :and san~p l i~~g ~cchniclue 0 1
............................................................... Inslr~~rnent ibr data collection 61
.................................................................. Validation oft11 c. instrut~~en~ 63
................................................................. Reliability ol' the Instl-ument 63
................................ Administration of [nstrunrent and data callcction 63
..................................................................................... Data analysis 64
CHAPTISR FO U it; 1'13113SISNrI'h'P'~ON A N D ANALYSIS Ol? IIA'I'A
.......................................................... Rcsult of' I<usc;~~.cll cliicstio~i I .OS
- . Major f~ntlrngs o r h c study ................................................................ 10.5
I
LIST OF TABLES
Table I :
Table 2:
Tablc 3 :
Table 4:
Table 5 :
TabIc G:
Table 7:
Table S:
Distribution of' Agsicultusal science teachers in thc tlirce
cducahnal zoties in Inlo Stak .................................,... 6 1
Ilistri but ion and Return of' Qucs~ion~xtises ..................... ..G4
il~enn ratings 01' Responses of' teachess on farm
managcment skills scquiretf [or cflkctive managctncrlt
of lhc sciiool f i l m ............................................................ 69
Mean ratings of responses or teachers on skills in f a m
mnagenwnt already possessed Ibs uficctive usc in the
................................................ ............ school faarm ..,.., .73
Mean ratings or responses of teachers on farm
managcment skills needed Tos improved pcrrosmmcc:
in the school f x m ................. ............. ............................... 77
ANOVA for tcsting the incan ratings of teachcrs on
managcmcnt skills scquired for effective iilnctioning of' thc
................................................................ school farm 82.
ANOVA for ttsling the mean ratings of tcachers on
mn~~agcmenr skills possessed for effective usc in
t l ~ c school fann ................................................................ 83
ANOVA for lestir-rg the 111ean ratings of ~cacher-s on
matmgemcnl skills nccdt.4 for improved pcrfosmance
i l l ~ h c school Vasm ............... .. ......................................... 85
ABSTRACT
Vocatiorlal Education lays emphasis in ski11 acquisition and
developrncnt. For skills to be acquired and developed in agricu1tui.c which
is a pre-vocational / vocational subject in secondary school, managcmcnt
and ulitisa~ion of the scliool fxm is inlpcratjve. This study focused on thc
detenniriatiol~ oi' skill improvement nccds of agricultural sciencc kachers
to cnablc them Inanagc and utilise the school Farm for psychoproduc~ivc - 7 teaching, for t11c benefit or s~udcnts. I hree resea~.ch questions and t l~rcc
hypotheses ~vcrc chn\vn f'or the study. The area of the study comprised of
a11 the secondary schools in the three educational zones in Imo Statc.
Survcy design um cn~ployed for the study covering a targct population of
583 comprising of 330 Ikgree holders, I94 NCE holders and 50
ND/HNU 11oIclci.s A. Orlc hundred and eleven itcms-structured
questiolinairt. divided inlo four parls (1, 11, 111 and IV) was devclogcd,
validated, l u s ~ ~ I t'ur ~vliabillity and administered on the enhe population
and 500 instru~nents wcrc completed and rcti~rned, frcqucncy. rnean.
starldard dc\fiatio~-1 and Analysis or variance ANOVA wcrc used liw data
analysis.
The hypothcses were testccl at 0.05 level of significat~ce. 'rhc
findings oi'thl: study revealccl that.
( 1 ) Thirty-tI11.c~ S a m ~nanagcment s k i k ~ 1 - c requii-ed lot* cll'cctivc
fi~nctioning of thc school farm.
(2) Agriculrural Scicnce teachers in secondary schools possessed less
than fifty pcr cent of' the f .L~~mi illatqc111~1it skills ~ w q u i ~ u i l i ~ r
effective i'unctioning of the schooI farm.
(3) Agricultural scicncc teachers need improvement in more than f i fy
per. ccnt of tlic i i r m ma~iagemcxit skills for improved pcrfosrna~icc
in rhc school f a m ,
The ANOVA ixsults revealed slatistical difrcrence in l t l ~ mean
ratings of tcachcrs 011 skills:
- ~quirec i for cf'fcctivc firnctioning of the school farm
- alrcady possessed by teachcrs for eff'cctive me irt h e scliool
fa 1.m
- needed by [eachcrs for improved pesfurmance 3.11 lhc school
Sal-in. 7 hc implications of thc findings of [his sludy w . rc
IiighlightccI and three recommendalio~is werc ~nadc .
C ~ ~ L S S ~ . < ) O I I ~ ;IIY cIe~l lo~is~~*;~icc~ and pracliscd. The icicil of' p u l t i ~ ~ g lhcor!; illto
practice ill tlle scllor~l t'arm Iias also been 11ighlight.ed by cxpez-ts like
(Olaitiiil i~nd Ogbazi I O S 8 ) .
11-1 h c carly scvcntics, recalling ~ I I C expcriciice 01' rhe rcscarchcr as
sr~ldc~lt parricipan~ in scl~ool farin act ivilies, 1arm1s in schools sccrncd Lo
have bce11 ivt.11 I I I ; I I I ; I , ~ C C ~ then. Gardening fcatwxi ~)l-ominerifly i n 111~ '
pri~ilaq. schools \ Y I I C I ~ ~ vegetables ant! crops like niaizc werc g r o \ v ~ ~ t111dcr
tlic g u i r l n l ~ c ol' :I g,a~.clc.t~ ( c?g r i c~~I t~~ ' a l ) nir?s[er, lzupils L I S C I ~ to 11ai;r SOIIIC
3 ;h .c 111'tlic' ~ ; ~ I . V C ' S ~ S . 'I ' l~is \vas 81s0 ;~ppIic~~blc ' 11) scco~i~lary schools whrrc
1 1 1 ~ ; I ~ I . ~ L * L I I [ L ~ I - ~ I scicncc ~cacliers ~CIII:ILJLY! !he s~l1001 1.ar111 in a way ~ I I
s t ~ ~ d c n ~ s had heir o\\ll~ i n c l i ~ i ~ l i ~ d ridges ;mt1 S C C ~ beds n~11~1.0 t h q
prxticccl crop pmclr~c'tiol~ skills illcludi~lg siri:h praclices like crop
~-c~lnlio~i. 13111 sincc ~ l i c cightios, 11ic1-c Ilncl bccn gradual clrangc i l l 1l1e
tc; lchin~ and Ical-niny ol' agricultural scicncc ill scl~ools. I 1 i11iSh1 1101 bc
\vl.r)llF 10 ;~ i~ r ib i~ t c the. s i l~laiou io the cl'fccl or 11asly crash progl-alnmc of'
Tcxlzr.~. .l.rainilig introtluccd lo prvducc enough teachers for thc Uni\/el*sai
P I .~ I I I~ I . J , I ;d~~ca l io~i ( \ , : . l ) .L ) , TIIC S C I N N I I.;WIIIS \\WC 1 1 0 I L I I I ~ C I , \.~fcll
1 1 1 i l l l ~ , d 11) 1 1 . 1 ~ ; I Y I ' ~ C L I I I I I ~ . ~ I I S C ~ I I C C ' I C ~ C ~ C ~ S , I I C ~ ~ ~ C I . WCE'L' thei'c c110~1gh
lime I;)r tlw S \ L I ~ C J ~ L S 10 inv01wCI i l l I I I C pra~lic;~I ill thc Frinn. /\ s ~ l ~ d ? ,
by Aybulu ( 1 W 8 ) 011 111c ~~lilisalion of school ihrms ibr incprrvci~lenl 01'
the r c x l ~ i ~ ~ ~ nl 'nyici~l~urn! science in 13c11uc Slate to~incE r l ~ a r 111e school
hl'llls \ \ i . ~ c 1101 ~llilisi'd liir i~n l ) ro \ ! i~ i~ I ~ C l ~ a ~ l i i l l g of ' ~ ~ ~ L ' I I I ~ I I I . ; ~ ! .
teac11cr.s. The findings d 5 0 I-cvealcd that tcachcrs \aught onlj thc
~ileoretical ly aspects o f thc subject i n h c classrooln.
thl-ough planning. organizing, dirccting and controlling for thc
purpose of accomplisliing organizational oL>,jcctivcs.
In h i s opinion Oiukcvu (1993,) defined hrm n~anagu~i~ent as a skillill
treatment towards c r ~ p and livcstnck production as well as the arl of
contsoll'ir~g thc raoirces oTproducing crops and livestock. 1nc.orporating
specific i~ctivi~ies into r managcmcnl practices, Olai tan ( 1 984)
includcci ~i~ai~llclna~~cc 01' soil I'crlil i ty. cot~~lul or sui 1 CI-osion. f~c..cd pcsl
and disease control and Sccclirig af liveslock as part of' Sam manrlgc~ncnl. r . I he agric~iltural science tcachers therefore in actclilion lo 111~' possessio~~ of
rhesc skills are supposccI to I w c skills in soil managcincnt, plants and
animal PI-oduc~ion, thal wuuld liclp him co-urdinate aild wntrol available
~CSOIII 'CCS and activities i n 111e school Faim f'nr psycIlvp~.oduclive orimteci
teaching of a l ~ ~ subjcct. Eftkclive tnanagclnci1t of the school fi11.111
therefore 1-cquircs basic skills ibr planning, organi~ing, d irccting and
con~l-ollirig. The ~ d c v a n c c ol' managerial slcills for eff~ct ivc rnanagc~l~ent
01' h e school Li~m is buttscsscd by the obscrvalion of" Upto11 ( 1973 ,j ~ v h u
11otcd that physical I-csourcrs ol- land, labour ancl capital c i~~ i t i o~ hc
productive unlcss t-11cy arc organized and co-o~.ditmccl by someone tvhu
makcs thc necessary decisions and carrics them out. 111 the case 01' 11ic
schuol farm rnanagel~lcnt. ~ h c agricultural science teacl~cr is suplmsed lo
be the decision maltel-, the organisel- and co-ordimfor OF the lt':m~i~y
cxpericnccs and activit ies his studcrits w u l c l bc csposed tu, in orclcl to
acI~ieve set 20als. Tho estcnl to which the teachors can pe1.1im11 1 1 1 ~ ~ ~
functions clepends on their posscssion of the relevant managerial skills.
Most of the agricultural science teachers havc bccn obsc~.vcc! to
bc deficient i n the ~nanagei-iaI skills rcquirccl for managing the scI1oo1
fiirni. This obscrvation sccms to bc agrccd upon by Ol,ekc (1991) who
highlighted that one of* thc reasons why avaiIable Tar111 resource analcrials
are not utilizcd by tcacl~crs in the scconclary schooIs is that they lack
necessary skills to opcl-a~c hem. I-Ie further remarheel that tcaclicrs should
understand how lo usc and control resource matcriaIs such as the school
farm anel othcr facili~ics that could bc derivcc! ~hcrcfiom. Si~iiilar
obsci-vation I V ~ S made by Nkajcimjc (19%) d m obscrvcd that lack of
practical compcrcncies o n rhe part DL' agrica~ltul-al scicncc tcaclie~*s \vas 21
factor inhibiting crfcctivc farm operations for educational benefits o f ~ h c
students.
X3i*csentiy some established sc11ooI farms in some secondary
schools arc some how matinged but surficc it to state that cvcn \\lien
managerial skills arc applied by reachers in managing the school Ihlsrns.
quite often. tlic desired r~stllfs seen1 far fctchec!. Thcl-c is therefore 11ccd to
find out what ivoulcl be tlic cause ( C ~ U S E S ) of t l~c no11 realisatio~i 01' h c
cxpectcd results of the school f x m projects. Could i~ hen bc thnl tlic
skills applied by the I C ~ I C ~ C ~ S arc clefcctivc? Ir thcrefo1.e beconlcs; relcvant
for s o w concerted c f h l 10 bc made toward idcntiryimg lhc s c h c ~ ! fill-m
managcrial skills, agricultural sciencc teachcss need for imp~oucmrntx .
cmphasiscd as a yardstick of success in West African School C'crtificate
Gxm~inalion, hcncc bolh teacl~ers and pupils canccn!ratc rm thcory of
agi-iculture at the expcnsc of ming s c h d fain1 as a lcarnirlg f'acili~y.
I t i s observed that Inany sclrml graclluii-ltes whci laaw no jobs
could have berrcfifec! lqmm making a living in agr-icul~urc i f h e y had
clevcloped entry lcveI skills in agriculture whilc in school. ncver the less,
the I1110 State Govcl-nmenl has now supported a IXW direction ol'
providing qualitative education lor evcry child in thc s t i~ tc and l o make
agriculture onc of the disciplines in which pi~piLs c;ln 1 1 0 ~ devclop entry
level skills for Economic survival in the future. To make goverimcnt
objectives rcalisable in agsicultul~ rhcrc is I X C ~ for tenchcrs lo i ~ l i p r ~ v c
upon tlleir skills to cnablc thcm malragc rhc s e l m r l far111 as cf'rccli\,c
laboratory for pupils to acquire cnliy lcvel skills fu r occupa~ivn.
Purpose of the Study , - I hc purposc of' this study was to identify Ihe shill i m p r ~ ~ c l n ~ n t
needs of agricul~irrA scicncc teachers mairrly for iipgrading ~ l~e i r . skills for
effective management d the school farm for thc h e f i t of thc a~r icu l t~~sa l
sciencc students.
Specificallv The Stnrlv sought T o Achieve TIIC Following
1. Dclcr-mine farm managcinent skiQls r e q u i ~ ~ l by fcachcrs f'or
e fkct iw fimc!ioning of the schoo! hrm;
2. Uetcnuine C a m ~mtiagcmcnt skills alrcacly possessect by
the agricultural s c i t ~ x x tcachcrs;
Sienificnnce of the S t i d y
Tlic Ibllotvi~ig ~\/ould b e n c l i ~ from 1hc s l ~ ~ d y . .l'licy inc l~~t le 11ic
~cachers. students, curriculum pla~incrs. he s m yo\!cr~lmcr~I. and l l ~ c
t e a c l ~ c ~ " ~ trainers.
Tlie texhers \vould rcalisc ~ h c farm managemcnl ski l Is they lack
or arc dcficicni in and h s under~illtc a ~ ~ t l - a i n i ~ g proy.arnmc. to acquire
or irpgradc thcul. Tlic actluisilion/ insprovc~ncnt of' tiicsc fn~w
managcinent skills would equip thc tcachers with skills to conlrol the
scliool farm and i ~ s c i t for in~parting prnct icr~l skills 10 lhc s~udciits.
f h c s[iidcnls \voi~ld benel i~ from thc sludy i f ' I I K rcsult is
i1iip1c.mcnlc.d Icading to iriiprovc~iien~ or1 ~llcir tcacliers' skills and
co~~scquent ittilisatior~ ol* rile scl~ool I'ami by the I ~ " ~ C I I C I . S 10 i~ilpar-t
przicrical skills to ~ l ~ c n l . This svoa~tcl help ~hc ' smderrrs, i~ 'c1~1irc skills in
111anagi1.r~ [heir o w hrni enrerp-iscs for a Iivir~g after sclmoling.
The cw-riculiini plannci-5: u x ~ ~ l c l also bcnefil TTOIII lhc study. 'I'lic
1-esirll ot'die skills ~~cccled for i rqmvc~iw- i t by teachers if ' considel.cd and
actccl upon cvould enable tlicm 1.~~01.111 heir currict~luns in line wit11 L I I C
praclical ilerds n!' the ~enchcrs especially in I;II-ITI 11xmgc1.i~ie1~1, .. . I hc collegcs 01' cclucalicm and educulicm Iici~lt ics ol' univclsi!rcs
as \vcl l xi poiyrcch~iics in c1ia1.g~ 0 1 " ti'i~clicr ~rai~i ing, L \ O I I I C I li I I C ~ t l ~c I . L S L I I [
of' thc study uscful a ~ ; the itlforn~ation on skills ~ q u i r e c l f o r effective farm
lnanagement would liclp them impmvc their training progl-a~nnics to ccliiip
in-coming reachers with ~ I I O S C rclevant skills.
Thc yermancnt secretaries in the ministries of education a11cl
supervi~sors in the arca of agriculture would find the S ~ L I ~ Y LISCSLII as they
would be PI-ovidcd with relevant inlomation on skills ~ ~ c e d c d by
agricultural scicncc teachers for impr.ovcmcnt and thus havc i~ipuls for
organising workshops and retraining progranmcs f'm !ha ~caclms. 'l'llc
govcrnnicnt MUIM also have a direction i l l Sunding scl~oul 11~111
p rogrmmts sirice improvcn~ent o n loachcrs skills vmrlrl kad ro ~K'UCI-
Inanagmcnt ol' the scliool h sm and consqucnt increase i l l output of t l x
f i rm.
Rcxea r-c 11 q l~cs t io 11 s
Thc Rescarch Sot~n,ht T o Ar~swcr The followir1.p; Qlrestions
1 . M h t farm manaycnwlt skiIis are required by teachers Tor
cffectivc functioning of the school f a m ?
2. What are thc skills in farm managment already possessd by
tho tcacl~crs for cf'fuctivc use in the scliool Ihl-m:'
3. Whar farm managmcnr skills arc necdcd by tcncl~crs Tor 1 ~ 1 p r w c ~ I
~xr fomar i cc in llic school fami.
Hypotlirrsrs
The following l~ypothescs werc testcd in thc sludy a1 0.05 level of
l'herc is rm significatit difksencc ill ~ l t c mean ratings of*
ruspmses of'teacl~css 011 rnanageimnt skills sequirccl for
cf'fcctivc Siinclioning of !he sclml h n based on qudi!ications.
l'licrc is no significant dilfe~*c~lcc in fk Incan ratings a!'!eachess on
inanagement skills possessccl for effcctive usc in h e school thrm
bascd on qudifications.
'I'he nlcan ratings of tcachess on ~nanagcment ski! 1s ncccleil
for impi*c~vcd per~oi.111ance in tho school farm do not
differ significantly bascd on quaIilications.
Delhi tat ion nT t h e Study:
'I'his study was rcstrictcd to teachers who posscss Nntio~ial
ccr-tiiicatu oE cducation, N.C.E, National and I Iigllcr National Diploma
ND&IND, and r k g c c qualifications i n agricultural scicncc, and arc
engaged in scco~~ciary sc11ools it1 Imo State. It had a nmihl focus ol'
determining skills in~pmvemcnt tlceds of the agricultural scicl ICC teachers
for effcctive management of [tic scllool t;cl1.111. I t was also concer~~cd wilh
the clcter~r~ination or l'arnl rnal-myc~nc~l t ski1 1s ~-rqui~-crl Ii)r ct'l'ccri\ c
f'unctio~iing of thc scl~ooll hrm as well as r a m manngcmcnt skills
p s ~ s s t . d by ~cachcrs for cfSective i~sc in thc sc lml Tat-m.
CHAPTER TWO
REVXEW OFLITEltiATU13E
?'he literature for this study was revicwcd under the rollowing headings:-
'fhc Cmccpt of Skill.
Skill acquisition and dcvclopment
rflia Schwl ii~rm a n d its relevance in skill acquisition and dcvclopmcnt
Management of thc Sclmol r a m .
Skills needed by agricullural scicnce teachers for improvcd ylmriing?
organking, directing and uon~tolling oTscIiool farm activities in:-
( i ) Crop pimli~ction.
( i i ) Soil ivlanagcmcnt.
( i i i ) Animal [hcstock) h h a g c r n e ~ i t .
(iv) bhmaging Sai+n~ cquipmen~ and iools.
Nzcd asscssmcnt and need for improve~ncnt on skills of AgricuIt~lral
Scicncc teachcrs. Shqat~gics fbr inlyrovcrncnt of f . d m ma~iagcme~lt skills
ot'tcaclic'rs.
Somc studics on flwm mariagcmcnt and utilimtion,
S~tm~nal-y of ~cv i t i v 01' 1i1cral~11.e.
1'1
(1963) defincci skill as thc ability to expertly carry o ~ t an operation,
dexterity and h s k . t I ~ i l l ( 1 972) defined skill as the tilalmil dcx~crity
through !he rapeti~ive perfurrnancc of an aperafion. Okol-ir. and Ikcji
( 1988) remarked t h a ~ the possession of skill is to dcmonstrntc the habit oS
acting, thinking or behaving in a specific activity which has become so
natural lo the individual: tl~rough t-epctition ol- practicc such that i l
becomes automatic. l'lrc Webstcl- Erlcyclopcdic 1Iiclionat.y ( 1 994) tlcfinsd
skill as the ability coming fioin oncs knowledge. practice, and aplitilcle
c.t,c. to do something wcll. Central among thcsc delii~itiolls is rllc idea
that skill could be regarded as ability, which is an outcomc of Ic~rlling arid
practicc to the point o£ n h o s t perfkction, ~vhich could be applied
subsequently by the Tcarr~ur. 'Thus i t is expertise or accuracy in carlying
out a task throiigh organised learning and repetitive practice. I;or skills to
be acquired tlwcfore, thc learner should bc cxposed to the specific skills
or relevant activities e~nbodying the skill. In the contcst of Ai:riculrurc,
skill acquisition by students emphasizes their cxposurc to lilt rclovant
skills to cnable them develop and bc-comc profkicnt in !he applicatiui~ uf
the skill.
Skill acquisilion and clevelop~nent: Skill acquisition may bc
regarded as thc proccss by which a n individual is osposcd to thc I G I I I I ~ I I ~
and continuous pracliccs i n a par~iculal. task t i l l 1 1 ~ learner hucunics
proficient in thc operation and can pctforrn rhcrir when scquil-cd. Skill
develop~ncnt is thc art of buiiding upon the skills accluircd to a morc
advancecl or effective stage. Skills are t l icrcr~m acquircil lirst and
ilcvclopccl subscqucntly, throi~gh u~ilimtion and practice. Acco~ding ti3
Okorie (1998) skills arc acquired when procedurd i~;lstr~etiuns arc
marchcd with pcrformancc activilies, llepetition i s the W ~ ~ I I W O I - C I . F(>r
skills to be acquii*ed, aild developed tl~crc nlust k opp~r.furaity for
participation and prac1ic.e oS such skills under rcal li fc condi1ion. Phipps
and Cook ( 1965) stated Ihat the clevclopmcnl of abililics a1x1 skills in LI-111
work dcpcnds upon rnclivid~rnls having real situation on the farin as a basis
ol' dcvelopirlg sound judgenlen!, aud clear cut nivdes oi' act iwl. rclat ivc to
standarils o r good fill-miiag. To acquire and develop skills, Okosic a d
F k j i ( 1988) said lhat thrcc filctor*s are involvecl. thcy illcIudc imitatit3n.
repetition, and participation.
Imitations - -1'0 imitate i ~ ~ e a n s to rnin~ick or copy tlic bchaviou~* or
acts o r thc teacher by students. As tIicy watch thc teacher, perlbrrii certain
acts, thcy gonsciously or unconsciously rollow and practice the cxamplcs
of thc tcachcr.
Kcpcrition - 1'11is involves thc gcrlor~~ianc.e o!' a11 act malry tir1lc.s tw
mastcr thc act Okorie and Ezqji (10-88) Irigl~ligh~cd that aflw acquiring ;I
skill. thc learnor iili~st repeal the action uaany h c s 0elo'ol.o lie kttrains 31ily
usel'u 1 degrcc of IT- tic 1' iness.
Parlicipation: In agriculture his involvcs the Jcartrcr praclising
mdcr t11c acti~al production conditioi~s. Okorie ancI E x j i ( 1 988) adclwect
that both thc imitation o f a n~astcr and ficquci~r p-acticc IYI sl-lor[ (sf'
I ' I
cornpletc prcpnr-ation for skilled vocational prncticc. hcncc tlic nccci for
practice by the leartiei- in the actual production conditions.
I-Iauston (1970) put down the fdlowing as prxcsscs of skill
acquisition.
O b s ~ ~ w l i o ~ i : I n obscr~ati~1~1 S L U ~ C L I ~ S watch rhl: skiU opcratio~i
perfonnecl by thc teacher in real lire 10 cnabk t l n u lhl-111
concept. Observation is inuahabk in the development uf skills.
Imriiita~ion: Studcnts follow exampk of what thc tencliw has done
tl~rougli c!en~ot~sf~*ation and lcarnhg by doing.
blanipulafion: This mcans to operate, lla11dle fbr c x ~ m p l e in ~hc.
canclling 01' q s s , stiidcnls after thc appropriate Icarnin~ aticl
dc~nons~rntion pracliccs are allowed to hnndlc t i candling,
equipment. - -
Pcrfoming: 1 hc studcnts carry out thc aclivities they have
becn tau&( and have been guided on wha1 to cfn.
Ik-ftxtit~g: This is t11c highest form oS ski!! acquisition pmccss.
l ' h e S I U ~ C I I ~ S aftcr much p r a c h x bccot-rte conw-sanl w i t l a the
dcmands and tasks of the qxl-alion. 'I'lwy become cipcrts and
s d ~ a b l e . Olaitan (1984) explai~~cd that in Ille coursc of'developirig
skills in an occupation kno\t~lcdgr: and ability rcquircd li)r succ~.ss
in t h a ~ occupation shoulcl be tauglat.
This is becausc skills consist of' habits, which mirs! wst~l-c
adaptation. l 'he acquisition and development 01' skills i s i ~ ~ i p r t a t ~ a in
v ~ a t i o n a l education sincc i t is occupational oriented. The rclevancc of
skill acquisilion in ngricul~ural science canml be over-c~~~yhnsizcd.
Ukorie (1988) said that if cducaticsn is preparation for !ilk and il'
practicdly evcry oncs life and opport~lnities fo r selr c-xpl-cssioi~ arid
fim!fillrr~ent include wrw.h: and skills posscssccl, then only the swxd'u l lq
employable are successfully educated and skillcd, ' I 11~s acqu~bition and
developn~enl of skills in Agriculture could help the h . n c r 10:-
- Cullivatc ri right attitudc lo \vorli
- Have cl good sense of duty and respcct for the dignity of labour
- I k sclr-sufficient, that is prepare thc Icarner to bc \\wlInvl~ilc
agricul!urul business o w c r
- Acquire saleable skills needed to improve thc protluction of c rop .
aniimls and olher raw mate~-ials for man and industries
- 1)rcparc the learncrs to bc effcclivc emploqecs in ag.icult~~~.al hrms
and industries.
Olaitm and Agusiobo ( 1 '381) said illat t l~c acquisition oF skiPIb preparc
students far agricultural occupation and progressive ~ C ' Y R I O ~ I ' I I C ' I I ~ in it ,
Hence the wed far dcvc!qmenl of acquired skill in agsicuFt~rre is
necessary, as one may possess a skill yet t l~c skill is not clcvcloped, The
nattlrc 01' skilk and ale cunditiol~s rcquircd for thcir clevdop~rcirt should
always k givcri considcralion. Skills are built 1111 throirgh wpc~ i~ ion a d
parlicipatiors. Okoric ( 1 998) observed hat repctilion a t ~ d pal-ticipa t ion
should always be provided clse i t will result In yrrxlictio~~ of ha1S-bakc~l
rathcr than skilled perfornier. Olaitan (1984) opined that instructio~i is not
co~npletccl until students h a w uscd h e abilities and eonlputrncics k i n g
taught.
?Pie relevance of develop~iicnt of skills on thc part of ; ~ ~ r i c u h ~ ~ r a l +;
science reachers is h a t i t cquips tile [eachcrs 1veII enough to be able LO
apply the relcvant skills acquired and devcioped in rhc Inai iagenw~lt ul'thc
school f n r m Only dcvelopcd skills can be effcctivcly applied.
U~ldcvcloped skills lcave thc teachcrs at unproductive lcvel.
Skills in school farm practices that can bc acqui~-cd and devclopctl
upon can be in this area o f
- Pre-planting opem~ins-land selection and preparation fur. planting.
decision on cropping systems, selecting of planting n~n!el-ials.
- Planting operations - seed planting vcgerat ivc prol>ag,itiorn.
- Post planting operations - mulching, weeding, fcrti lizer
application. irrigation erosion control hanlcsling, processing and
storage‘.
- Constructing aninmi pens.
- F c e d i y and watcring animal
- Soil ~nanngcment and consorvation pract iccs.
With a l l ~ h c releva~lce ol' skili acqirisihion and devctopnicnl ill ngricul t i w l
sciencc in secondary scliools in Nileria, the stale of aI'hSrs is that
student's dotl't sccnl to be cxposcd to the right corlclitions ur~dcr which
skills in Agr ic id tu~~ can bc acquircd and c\cvclopecl. '['his could bc
attributed to the agricult~~ral scicnce teachers not being ablc to rnanasc the
school f m n effectively, to orgmisc and use it Ibr the bcncfit or students.
The agictrltural science tcacl~crs have not also availed t l~crnsel ves 01'
opportu~~itics of dewloping the skills, which they might h a w acq~i rcd
during their training. Thus t h c r ~ is inadequate practice and pal-ticipation. " - 1 lw 1-esuil would he the product ion of agricui tural sciencc scliool I cavw
with littlc 01% no practical skills that would enable them fit in ap.icultu~.al
occupations.
Tlrc School farm arid its Kelmtairce in skill AequisitFcll~ ;ind -
Dewloprnerr t,
The school farm can be defined as a selected area of lancl on \he
agl-ic.~~I\ural science classes. where principlus and t11co1-ctical nspccts ol'
agricultural scicncc I m - n l in the classrcw7n1, are de~nonst~xted fix students
lo pracrticc so 3s to acquirc manipulaliue skills. k i n g specilic i n his cwn
submission Ekmg 11997) slated that the school farm is a ilesigrratcti and
preparcd area of land for the cultivation of orablc and field crops anti or
for h e rcal-ing of'livcsloclc.
O n the rclevancc o f school hrna i n skill acquis i t io~~, i l (;horild bc
notcd Ihat Agricultit~xl scimce as a vwntional sub-jcct lays c ~ ~ ~ p h a s i s on
the acquisilion of practical slcills by the Icar~icr. Skills can only bc
imparted and acquired i11 the right and relevant cnvil-onmcnl, IWWC thc
role of school farms ill scconclary schools b r agrici~lturai praciiccs a t ~ t l
de~nonstrations. The rclcvancc of the school farm had bcen n ~ ~ ~ i c ~ ~ l a t e d by
many experts; Leap11 ( 1 97 1 ) and Phipps ( I 0'72) in tclms rlf spccific
purposes wrote as follows: - - . 1 0 provide students with valuablc experiences
. '1-0 d e ~ ~ ~ o n s t r a t c approvcd p ~ x t i c e s in agricuItut-e
. '1'0 conducl quasi cxpcriment,
, I'o provide oppnr-tmi~ics Sor co-ordinatins class1-oo111 t11cor~~
\villi practice.
- T o provide cxpericnccs in working and coopernling will1 nthel-s.
Ola-ti~an (1984) gave the abjectivcs of the schaol f'arm as:- -.
. I o pi11 thcoxy into praclicc
. To improve backgrou~d kno\vlcdge
. To solvc ind~vidi~al iiit.~ning problems - . 1 o providc f'acilitics h r cxyerimcn[ation
. '1-0 cwn money for the school which can bc used to provide lhcilirics t'o~
the students.
Putting Theory into P~acticc.
'fhcorics in Agricu1lu1.e can be regardcd as approved principles and
methocis utiliscd i n ngricultura! ~ X F B ~ ~ O I I S . Many agricdtilral activities
arc learnt theoretically in thc classraon~. Thesc tlm~sics can bc applied in
thc school F~r111 ihus pulting thc theoretical Icarning into practicc ill the
school farm. I'his idea was buttressed by Okorie (14194) who pi11 I'onvard
that maniptllative skill taught literally in the c~assrwm coulcl be praclised
on thc school faim Contrib~ting 10 the iden ol' thc school f-arm as a
ground for pmcticalising what is tausht in the classrooni Farrcl (1983)
described tlrc scl~ool firm as ail cxcellcnt place Tor teachirig ag-Fctrh~raF
scicncc modules, fcaching crop prdluction teclmiqucs, crop r o ~ a l i a ~ ,
krtilizer trials, ilmsc'c! P L ' S ~ S and iiiscasc as well as wecd contrd in rhe
doins phase through dcmonstra~io~~, obscrvntinn. par-ticiparicm and
learning by doing.
Improving Baclcgrou tib k't~owlcdlr,e of Agricaltrlre Sciencc.
l'he sclioo! f?~rni providcs opportunities by ~thich stidcnts ticvclop
thcir farming skills in crops and animal production as wcll as managemen!
of farm entespriscs. According tu Udo (1960) the school fhl*tn ~)mvicles
T X K I background fnr st~ccessful future ngricdturists. lwuanyanwu ( 1 986) a
pointed thar studcnls pariicipntion in fanning activities e.qmsed them 10
the identil?~ati~n and corwct usage oi' hrm tools that nlcse available ancl
thcis 1naintcn;mc. Juma (1987) in his own contribution stressed that to
prove students background knowledge, each of them should bc proviclcd
~vith a piece of land to plant and maintain as vegrtable gardcn.
Experhen ta t iori
Experiments in crop and animal pr.oductions such ; IS cross-
paflination, artificial insemination c.t.c, can be carricd oul in the school
Farms. Accordin: to O l r ~ i ~ a i ~ (1984) many s~ndeilts k l i e v c r h a ~ scl~ool
agricul~i~l-c had no~hing new to add to t i i t : prwiices 01' rhcir p l - w s ar
home. Espcri~~ici~talionn in IIIC school I'ar111 GUU~C! liclp corrcct this nolion.
Such experinicnts like thc effccts of fertilizer on growth and yiclcl of' crops
e.t.c. shoidd be carried out on the school hrm and this coulcl Iielp 111c
students acquire the relevant skills.
Solving Individ~ral fnr-ming P r o b l ~ n ~ s
Somc stirclents arc from ~II-ming families. Such students h a w
experic~ice in lkmiiig and according to Olailan (1984) migh~ come to
school with problerns \vliich they expect the scflool to I ~ l p solve.. Glass
and T~UI-SEOII [1W8) contemlcd that practical p-rsblcrns could imt bc
solved ro~nplctcly in the classroom ahus thc school Ihrni was ~ h c .bcsi
placc fo r solving snch practical and individual fnrmirzg pwblems. Such
problems arc testcd and solutions dcmonstratcd aml praciiscrl.
/lgusiobo and C)laitan (1981) put forward hat the school f i r m is
both a resourcc and a slrategy I'or molivating interests in the teachins and
learning processes of rrgic~rlture, that i t would make studcnrs placc a high
value on the principle of self activities and will hi cffcct p e r n ~ i l ~ c a c h e r s lo
associate with students lifc esl~eclations.
The I-clcvance 01' t l ~ c school hnn in the tcaclring and Ican~ialg or agricultural science skills in schools canno1 be ovcrempl~asised. l l ~ e fi11.111
is the ecpivderit of chcn~istry, biology and physics la2loratories in school.
As put f'orwnd hy waits (7980) practicals at pos! primary school Icvel
iuiig on lire basic prillcipfcrs of practical tmiuitrg md lhese skills cannot be
imparted to thc students dfec!iveIy witliout using lhe school land as ;I
l n b ~ r a t ~ r y for. the ~xperimcnfs.
Managenlent OF thc School Farm
Managcmcr~t may be regarcled as a way af gctting Ihingfs done
through, a i d with people i n foni~ally 01-gnnised goups. According to
KFIOWT, ( 1 963) aimnagcment may be viewed as the responsibility
irchic-ving daircd oh-icctives. l'lris wi!l rcquirc the selection 01' the Incans
rto accomplish ~ h c prescribed goals and which iqAies a dcgrcr of'
rationalhy llra the allocation of resources. Cunrcnriiiy f i r r h r Knrm~, saicl
that manage men^ is thc art or crca~ing an environment in which people
could perform as individuals and yet co-opemte tcrwarcl tl~c a t tn inmen~ of'
()soup goals. 'I'his implied thc responsibili~y of !hc ~lgliculrural science 3
in the management of thc school farm, thc major li~nctions of' ~ l l c
agricultural s c i c ~ ~ c !cachet- (manager) are planning, wganising, dircxiiug
and controlling available rcsourccs (shtdenls slid un~?tc~ials] l o aclliuvo
desired goal. I f the motives of the school farin are to be rcalised thercrore,
nood managelncnl is i~nperalive. This point is burlresses by upton ( 1973) b 6 L w
begins with setting objcctives and ends wit41 delcrmining how well they
inclividuals responsible for carrying out h c obj jeotives should have a rolc
in scrtins ihem, sinec they arc closest to !he sifualion and gcllerally h a w
the h a t inforlnatinn conccming what is achievable. 'T'his irnp1it.s rhar ~ l l c
agricullural science leachcr should bc skilft-11 in formulating ob.jor'lives ot'
the school f i ~ r ~ i ~ to enable him plan well. Q ~ h c r si~ills involved in serring
ob-icctives includc thc fbllowing abilities;
To state reasonable spccific and challenging ob.jeclives for thc f 'xm
To state realisable ob-jcctives in terms nf intcrnal environmental
'1'0 rcvise the oL>jjt'cti\~cs yearly.
To dcvclop productivity objcclives-dcvclo fidctol-s f b r f a r m opct-ations
that can bc utiiised as a measure of operating efficier-rcy and economy.
To dcvclop hrdgct~ry objcctivc - dcvclophg reliablc financial data on
n flcsiblc budgeting basis that can bc used to rsf a b M ~ecfor~nancc. r . fo ~111p1oy 111magcntenl by objwtivc (h4B0) which invoivcs ability to
- sct objcclives
- dcvclvp action plan
- cicfinc and dividc inlo stcps a11 activilics of tllc film
- ckcide on who is I-csponsiblc Tor .each activity.
To detcsmine which 1-csourccs are neecied for csan~pIc in crop prcdrrction
programme.
To providc inpuls for scl~eduling the starting and cnding claks l'nr all f i l m
activitics (targelins).
To conduct pcriodic reviews of farm activitics,
To establish control system ~vhicli ~~~~~~~~~s the activities being perfbnncd
through pr iod ic rcvicws.
To appraise ;znnual pcrfoninmx of rhc k11.111. The spccifica2io1-r cll'
objectives guibcs ylalurizlg process.
Planning i s defined by IJwing ( 1 904) as lhc job of making !!lings
happen tliar wouId not otht~wisc occur. To Thicrauf ct a! (1977) phsning
is an analytical process which cncotnpasses an assessment of tlic fi11u1.e.
dcte~mimtion of desired objcctives in tlic conlcxt of the future. thc
clcvclupn-~cn~ of altel-nativc courses ol' action to nchicvc such ob-iccrivcs
and a selccrion ol'a course or COLII'SCS of action Si-ov among altc~mlives.
In ~ l ic contcst ol' whool Sam nra~ragclncnt, planning hvolvcs t l~c
process 01' fbr-ecasiing how dcsircc! ol~~uctivcs of ~lic fium will I x I-eal isecl
through careful selection or ctroicc of bus! alterisativc C O L I ~ S U of' ; tctiu~~
among many courses of action. Planning is a fh!ur~oricnted activity and
therclbrc implies scheduling and spccifYhg to detcnninc and acco~npIish
s t a id objcctivcs. strategies, progtlmnics, ~;srocculu~.c~s and s~nnclarcis sct
fbrth by thc plan. Skills rqrrirccl to develop good f i lm1 plim i~icl~~cle
abilities to:
- makc assun~ptions
- Sorcc:tst and col!cc[ i ~ ~ k r t m i i o r ~
- consider altcrnatives in ~ l w phnning process
- cl~oosc best tlltcrnntivcs - one which will ~nasinrise dcsirabte ~ w . ~ l t , n ~ i t l
minilnix undersirablc ones in prduct ions in the Cmn.
- make flesiblc plan
- e n w e a n adcqurttc inreritoly system
- draw u p progra~nnic plan Tor. the farm activities
- slate yroccdurcs for accomplishing specific farmi11g tasks
- adopr parlicipntive platitling npproach in (enlisting thc co-operat ion
of s~udcnts a d 11ic schooi administration in (he planned ~ ~ r o p r n n ~ m c ) ,
- set standards for tile fhm (sclectec2 crikria against which E ~ c ~ L ~ ; F I
1.esu1t can bc measurecl to cvaluate pcrfonnallcc ).
- budget for the f'arn~ operations
- assure that p!ms arc in accorda~xc with the pogrammes, strnlcgies
and procedcrrcs of !hc school f i ~ r t i ~
- establish new and challenging standards of pcrfonnance for thc
farming activities
- assure thar ncccssa~y rcsoiII-ccs li kc p1mt ing materials, touls. kcds
c.t.c arc' available wlacn nceded sc, as lo accomplish ~11012 to !ong
tern1 pians.
- analyse thc future of existing operation and ro r e c w ~ ~ i l ~ ~ c d
progran~nies of growtrth in llrc farm
- devclop financial sta tments as ncccfcci to detemline the feasibility
of various lime period-plan in ihc fhnn activity
- estnblish syecijic ca~tral proccdurts for anlicipating ur
dctccting differences bt~wecn plans and rcalitics
- makc short and long term plans
- analysc profit a d fnss statemcnts cash flows. operating and capital
budgets of the Farm.
O r ~ ~ n i s i n a Thc Schovl Farm: Organisi~rg is defined as the process of
establishing relationship amtsng available resources so that thcir str~tclurcs
facilitate accomp!ishing sf organisational objectives (Thicrauf et a1 1 977).
Official focus of organking is on the establishment of a fomal
organisational structure. In thc context oS sch6ol farun, organisi~lg will
involve arranging the f'au101.s and putting the resources, both lncn and
materials in place for opration toward achieving set goals of tlic I'nr~n , .
activities. 1 he reIatkmship in tlic organisation stsucl~~re centres on
rcsponsibility. authority and accountability. Rcsporisibility I-ul'crs to the
obligation oi' an individual to perform assignccl duties. I t is the obliytion
of the subordinnte to acconiplish the duties assigrlcd to 11in1 by tllc
superior. To achieve this, thc ngricultural scicncc teacher ~-uquirus tiic
abilities to bc able ro lead \ v d l and assign ~*esponsibilitics to thc s~udents.
Authori~y: I t is a dcrirative of responsibility. I t is l l~e right to ysrforni
certain assigned tasks. I t is tlic power to ordcr and co~~lmatid and is
delegated from I to the subordinaled to dischurgc his
responsihility, Authority is chatnctcriscd by scrvice, and competence.
According to Blackiew ( 1974), good authority rcq~~ires abiii ty to
- Inspire freely - givcn support wit110~it having to ordcr.
- Command pcopIr not so ~nuch as ti-om the coinp)ianse as fm~m
their 1-cspcct.
hccountabiiily: OIIW responsibility has hew assig~lcb nnd h c
corres~midit~g anlounr OF authority has bccn dclcgatd, Ulc iinnll pl~asc of'
orgairisational relationship is ro hoId surbodinates answerable to the
superior for ixxdts. 'Thus ac~onntability is defined as :I nianagemcnt duty
of assigning certain responsibilirics to pcolsle a n d in turn holding them
accounlable for the achicvenmlcn! 04' predcterinined objectivcs witllin their
nrca of' lmponsibility (I-oscl~neimcr 1972). Organking according to
Osuala ( 1 995) represcni ihc way resources connect logethcr to achieve thc
objectives af the business, rnuch hc said, depended on the ~nanage's skills.
thc grcatcr thc skijl of ?he manger, t 1 ~ bctter thc management. Skills.
involved i l l organising of rhe schwT farm therefore inclucle t11c abiliiy to:
- assign farm responsibilities to students
-beIcgatc autlmrily to stuclent leaders and farm 1aboul.cr.s
- Fonn cornmitkcs for specific fanrr activities.
- Fo1-111 fimn p17qjcct ~I'OLIPS.
- cnsilre accountability fro111 students
- be accouritablc to tlw school adnrinistration on thc ~ ~ i ~ t i n i ~ ~ g 11f 111~ '
sc110wl farm.
Rirccting: 11 i s a nunagcrial function ~f provicling instrttclion and
g~ii~ling,. I t is the process of initiating action according to prc-clete~.tnincd
plan ('l'hierairf et a1 1977).
Once the plan has been Ibrmulated and the organisa~io~i has been
propcrly struchmd to accoinplish thesc plans ~nanagewxt fi~nclion of
rlirecting stimulate thc organisation and members to achieve tile desired
objective. Directing deals wit11 Icrtcier-ship. Acceding to Thicr-nuf' ct al
( E 077) IJe3dership is Jciiued as a way of stimulaiing and 11 m~iva~ing
suhi-dinalcs to accomplish assigned task. In the contest uf alh: school
f'mn ir could be defined as thc ability or the agricul~ural sciencc tzachcr to
rnotiva~c and itispire Ihc sludents to p r f o l r m thc rasks lic had assigned to
tlicm on the f i r m . 8-lcle the teachcr is supposed to p i c k m i coildl~ct the
students in carrying out the school farm activities. Managemen[ skills
involvcrf in dil-ccfing includc thc ability to;
- Mot ivate and inspire students to acconlplish crop and a n i ~ n d
pmduction tasks to acl~ievc: xt goals
- t2 wide students' activities in thc hnn
- conduct school farm practical with [he sludents
- lead effkctively in [Re farm by example
- makc obscrvatiuns, absorb ilsformation
- develop imagination, ca1ci-r ideas whik they arc flying
- bc rc~cp l iw !O i i ! ~ i i ~
- valuc tinrc and ~ F S C it skitlfully
- adopt yarlicipative approach in Icadcrship
- com1nuni~atecffec~iwe2y, so as to influence actions to enable
thc ~cachcr achievc desirxd goal.
Controlling Functions: Controlling according to Fay01 (1949) consists
of vcrieing whcthcr cvcrything occurs in conformity with the plan
adopted, the i l~sfn~c~ion issued anil the principles csfablishecl. Tt has as its
purpose, to point out weaknesses and en-ors in order to rectify and prevent
recul-~.o~cc. To Recuts and Woodwarcl (1970), controlling is rhc task of
ensuring \hat S C I I ~ U I C ~ aclivilics ~ C I ~ ~ O ~ I I I C C ! are p n ~ ~ f i ~ i n g I I W dcskcci
results. In the contctl of school hem managemcnl, i t invc~lvcs somc
checks by thc agricullural science teacher to find out whc[l-~er thc
planning, organising and directing of thc fu-in activitics have yiclded good
rcsi~lts or desired results in teruns of students acquisition of prac~icd skill.
This will help the teaches to bc able to detect poinrs of' weakt~ess or
ineffic icncy so as to cor~*cct 111e11-1. Therefore controlling could Ix regnrdcd
as the ~ ~ g u l a t i r m of work activiries i l l accordance ~ 4 h prcclc"fw~~incd
plans, su as to c~rsur-c ~ h c ncconlp!isl~merrt o f objccrivc.~. Sliillc Ibr
pcrSo~.mancc of co~~tralling func~ions i i ~ l u d e ihe ability LO:
- elims'narc ohsracles blocking the attainment ofdesirccl objec1ivcs oi'
the school Tam.
- establishing standards for he school farm
- superviuc (overseeing thc farm activitics according to the set
stancinrds)
- initiatc and carry out corrective action (col-reel dcvintiorls I'm11 thc set
standards)
- monitor thc outco~ne or activities on tAc Tam
- review f'ecdback i~nforn~:do~i about thc o ~ r c o i l l ~ Sor aclj~stnlcnt w11e1-c
necessary.
- determine the unclcrlying causcs of the deviation
- apply disciplinary action. C n n t d i n g through comparism rc(1uil-c I ~ L '
nbilitics to:
- reccivc data
- accumuln~e; classify and record thc inrort-na!iou
- carry our pcriodic cvaluatioll uScmnpletcd action.
Decision making process: In school farm manngen~cnt, dccisian nlnkitlg is
a manaycrnent activity. which cuts across the fu~~ctions of pEannh3.
organising directing and controlling. I t is often assoc iakd with rnalci~rg a
choice alnong alternatives. Simmons ( 1 960) has srrgg,esterl h a t ~mwgcr-s
divide h i t - time into il~rcc.
a) Finding occasion to make clccision
b} finding possi blc coiirsc oS action and
c) clioosir~g aninng a1 tcri-raliuc COIII-scs o f action. Exphilli~ng
decision, Ofstcd (196 1 ) asserted rhaz k r a p a + s o ~ ~ to makc a dccision i t
may mcan
1 . 'That such a perso11 has madc a scrim of bchavioilral reactions in
hvour of something.
3. 11 may also mean that 11s has made i ~ p his mind to do cer-tail1 action
cvhicli he has no doubt that hc ought to do. Ofstcd stressad that rhc
most colnmonly i~scd of ifre term "to rnake a clccision mcans" to
make a judgement rcgwdity what orx oughl lo do in a .c-critui~l
sitiiation after having dciibct.atcd on sonw alknlativc ci>ur:;cs 01'
actions. In his view chi-clmm (1C168) held that thc illanagcrp has
the ~~csponsibil~ly of deciding among altcrnativcs. IIe d ~ i d l z s 011
wl~ich ol' tlic operations tic will facilitate the al ta i~~rnet~t of drsirccl
ob-ject ivcs.
l ' h i e r a ~ ~ f et ill (1977) gave n genera! dcfinition of decision nuking proccss
as a series US stops thal start ti-O~TI an ~tnalysis of h e infor~nalion and
ui t i~~mlcly c d n i n a ~ i n g i r ~ n resolu~icr~r, sclectio~n ti-om the scve~.n\ awailablc
altcrnativcs arid verifica! ion af the selccrcd altcrna tivc now and at sonic
time in rhe fu~urc . to solve the prablcsn undci-study. D x i s i o l a - i n n k i l ~ is
veiy in~porrant in f a - n ~ mnnagenlcnt. The : rg~icuhral sciciscc leacl~er. is
placcd in the psition of nrakhg decision in rclation la ~ ' 1 ~ 1 crop and
aniivars 10 produce among other alternntivcs, wl~ci-e r~nd huw to scwrc
I-cquired inputs. when to start and cnb planring of crops among otlicr
availabk time. The ~ e a c l ~ e r tl~crefore requires skills in the decisioi~ making
proccss. Such skills as outl i~~cd Iy Qlaitan a ~ i d Ekong ( 1999) incl~zclc the
ability oP
- identifying tlic problc~n for easy dcl7nitiola
- defining the prob1e1-n to make it clear and precise.
- collecting a d assemblin~ of infornration or. relevant facts about
thc p~xhicm
- cictennining tllc suitability and relevance of llrc fx!s obtained, bascci
011 rhc prsbhn to be solved
- dctr~~nrining the different coi~l-scs of x\ ions a v a i h b k for the in soivirig
thc p r o b l c ~ i ~
- appraising [he courses of'nctian Sur sclcckn ohappropi-iatc uncs i'or
thc yrobleiu to be solved
- s e l e c ~ i n ~ the most suitnblc c o ~ ~ r s e of iiction for Fm~nurablc rc'st~lts,
- Gathering the nraterids required for the probleni solving activity.
- Imple~nenting the selected strategy nu solve tlx problcm.
his students could not carry out (hc budding operations, h n s a problcnl
sitiration tias ariscn and thc ability to ilctcct the problem is a skill which
thc teacher requires and this coritributus to cffectivc tnanagcmrnl ul' I\ic
school farm. Obtaining relcvanl infbl-mation. UJhen pmbletn is
recognisccl. the ncxt step is to scek irltbrmnlion that \voulcl Iiclp ir l wlving
i t . Thc Agricultin a1 sciwcc tcachct- rcql~i~.cci shill to sort nncf nblair~
information to solve thc problem.
Considering wailable altcmativcs: l'hc teacher nccds 10 i m p i s c
the information obtained and use it to compnrc thc altcrnalive WLII-sc of'
action that could bc take11 r m w d solving t l l c probkm. Making c!ccEsion:
is a choicc 01- sclecrio~r fiom among various ways of' getting a particular
rhillg done 01- goals accumplished. Acc~rd 'F~~g TO Ohitan and Eko112 I( 1990)
making decision is the ability to nlrtke clioicc or juclgclnents instanfly and
acting on thcm with firtnncss. I t i s a conmitmen~ to a certain causc 01'
action.
Taking action: Unlcss conviction is rnnrchc.tl 174' a c ~ i c m , infmnntion
and analysis arc oS little value in auanagmet-it. I~npfrlncnta~icm or
decisions requires c~rergy and orgnnlsatisr~a! ability. T h i s is w \ w c r he
agicuItural sciencc tt'lzcher needs skills to get things dow. 'flx: firla! step
in decision making pr-mw is cvaluatio~~. 'fhc clecisior~ nraking plnccss is
1101 complctu until t k outcornc has bccn considered. 'I'his involves rc-
evaluation of thc decisions on l11c basis of outcome ;~chic\/cd.
Forccas\iog: 'This is thc ability of the agi.icultul-;rE seiel~cc
tcachcr to predict what is likely in his firming activities. To
achicvc a good forccast the teachcr ~ w e t l s the follo\ving skills
of:
Obsci-vation
Collection ol'rclevant informatior-i
Anaiy sins the infarmat ion
Planning: 'This cnfnils sltifls on proper cailbinalion of'
Prod~rdon factors and orhcr inputs to ensure cf'lkcti\~cness
Rccord Kccping: This involves skilIs in proper
documentahn of a11 relevant transactions, assets and
liability of the fa rm business.
Uudgctir-ry and Rccuun~ing: Farm ma~aapwwilt also i~ o l\.cs
skills in budgeting and acco~ru!ing. i[Jlairan, N w ~ c h u k c + ~ l . Isba nrd fCkong
(1999) saw budgeting and accounting as a conlbincd proccss nf ~ n a k i ~ l g
estimate, 01- plan of income and espenditut-c o r progrnnmc 01.
p s o g r a ~ n ~ ~ ~ c s cr-znclemctl or I? busin.c;.ss. It explains t l~c Itecping of slatcnwnt
of incoine and expcnditurc to cnsure efkctivc zmplementation :111cf
managc~mrrr of a project. In the management of' h c school r a m the
teachcr rcquircs skill to lnaltc estimates or pIans allcad, he necds skills to
estimate ahc ft~rurc. outcome of- a plnr~ in quanti ta~ivc terins. Skills
inuolwd in budgeting in school l'arnr manrtge~nent il~cludc:
Specification ofnhc proposed plan in ~crms of-~hc:
. arca to be covered hy each crop
. nimtbcr of crich class of a n i n ~ d s to be produ~cd.
. me~hods of pl-oduction to be adopted
. estimating the cspectcd costs and rctuuns.
Co~ii~i~cnting on thc uscfiifni~s sf budgeting and accm~nti~sg in f:mn
mnnagemcnt. Anilion~a ( 1979) said that " l ' l q arc fi~-raw'ral nleans ...
wl~icli gcncl-all givcs 11ic h r ~ n c r a fundation of cmrs a d I-cvcziir~ rllwri
ivliicli 11c can build his gi*ojcct into lirti~rc and ninnagcmcnt h l r can Ix.
controlled or ~(31.rccr~d bcfijrc tlicy go out ul' canrrol". Irr limsl
~~sanagerment, skills in bucigeting anti accounting a;t. r e lman~ for the
tcachct- sincc tlicy providc iuformation on cost input and dcriwblc
bciicfits in cash and kind a1 a particular pcriod of time. Prcciscly ~ I - I I I
ma~~age~ncnt cntds all tlsc activities ~mderf?lk~i'11 by thc ngricu1ti11-al
scicncc tcachers to achievc desired objcc!ivcs o f serting up a school T a m . . .
These ac\ivilics incluck plannirig. organrslng. diivc~ing and control ling
operations in the school hrnl. I11 carrying out these activilies, thc teacher
ilses cerf a h t u c k
L Obsenja~iun, collection and nnalysing infom~ation, taliins
decision bascd on !ftc annlysis madc. t fc finaPZy implements and t i aluaic;
~ h c docision taken. For succcssf~rl m n a g c ~ n c n t of rhe school farm t l~c
teacher needs skill in b~dpetilig and kcepil~g accaunt of rhc ~ ~ ; ~ S ; ~ C I ~ C I I I S .
'I'hus tlic agricdrura\ scicncc rcaclrcrs as 1-cvcnlcd inclcpcndently b/
Charles and Gilbcr~ (1070) and IIorscy and L3lar1cl1al-ct (1972) arc
managers of spt'cific !,?I-m-lcarning cnvironil-rcnt. l ' hcy control ilic spccif?c
inputs necessary [or h c Icarning process. plan, dircct and co-ordi~lalc l l ~ c
specific activities of'studcnts on t he [arm.
Skills nccdcti by the wr icu If II r d scicrnce tc;;lchur for irnprtsvcrl
pl~nninc organising, directing :,ad controIling of school farm
activities
Agricuitural production involves thc application of m ~ ~ a g c ~ t ~ ~ n t
a) Crop production
b) Soil managewent
d ) manqcnlenL of Farm cquipnicnt and tools.
Thc ~gricidtural scic~icc reachers nccct tllc ski:ls to enable tl~cni bc
efkctivc in managing ~ h c scIrvol farnms for the berlefil of the stutlen~s. 'Ille
relevant skills in thcsc production arcas arc as !bllo~s:
Crop prodertion slcills: Crop i~roductinn nlnnal;crncn! involves
planning, organking, directing and controlf ing clop prodnction activi~ics
in 11% school f i r m . Crop procluction is co~~ccrned with cultiva[ion and
raising of crops for fi~od and other purposes. In o r d c ~ In get 1naxi11li1111
input cflicicncy arlci optimu~n yields from crops, a thormgl~ krrawledgc
:mcl application o r '~ l i i I I~ in planning, nrganising, clircctitq and ct)nlrolling
thc various activities in\mlvcd i r ~ crop procluctio~~ arc ilnpostant. Bear
(198.7) stated \hat for a Irig!~ crop pmluction to be obtained ccr ' tai~~ ticiors
from thc pre-rcqi~isitcs. siich as skills ~rceded in crop pmriuctio~~ \\/llic11
incluclc, ability to prepart' land nrtd plan fiw school fa-~n, abili[y to
organise or g o u p crops, ability 20 iise bmcr fertilizer a11d app1icaric.w
nwthrxls. adoption of good cu1tu1-al practices likc ~vcedi~lg ~ i i u ~ ~ l l i t ) ~ .
il-rigah11 and abili ty lo I I ~ W C S ~ crops cffectiwly. 111 his O\\V ol>in ion
Olaiton ( 1984) o i ~ t l i ~ ~ c d some crop lmdiiction skills to irlcludc skills i l l
land preparation, nursery prtparation, crop propagation and ~nairltenancc.
weeding, fertilizer application, ptsfs m d disa~se control awl scecl storage
for next planling scasun.
Cas~lt.. Decker and N c l s v ~ ~ ( 14187) ol?sctucctl that r=mp prwl~rcric~~~
nxmagerwnl iiwolves intertclatccl decisions regardkg cmp selection, soil
tillage, cropping sysre~n. ferlihting, w e d , pests and discasc conlm!, 111
r~ddition to fhc skills tnentioncd above Agbulu 1(1996), identified I J W
f o l h ~ i n g as accepted slci!ls in crop productio~~ i n scllool Fxm.
- selecting suitable site Sol cropping
- cl~ocrsing the bcst pianling m a t c h 1
- processing harvcsfcd Ifil1-m prcducts and keeping Ewn records. TIIC
agricul tiwal scicncc tcachcr rcqrircs shiIls in tlscse arcas liw efli-live
managcnlcnt of the school h m . Taking some of ~hese activity LII-ws for
csamplc, selcctix~g suirnble site for cropping, skills :IIX ncedcb to identify
enviro~~mcntal I-cqi~ircmcnts of particular crops to be gmwn Ixfot-e
selection is made. 'Thorough knowledge of soil and climatic rquimnents
like I-aint'all, teinpcrature c.t.c. of' the crops to be ptanlccl i s cmphasizcd.
Kznccfa and )3cachcll ( F 974) nbscrwd that zht. tcnipcrata~rc rc i j~nc y-ct';\ t Sy
influence nut onTy rhc ~rowth duralim of crops but also the y.ro\vth
patlcs1-n o t' ~ h c crops. I n his own suim iss iw~ Walron 3 1 ~ 1 1 101 t ( 1 984) s t a [~d
hat ~nany crops c.g. rice arc: v c ~ y scnsitivt. to Icn~pcl-aluse variaticms. I-Ic
noted thnr rice g x ~ n h a t c s hsr a\ a tcml~erature of 2 l k . Bcsidcs. hc said
ferti lity 1s redwed if fhc ~etnpcraturc falls I-tclow 24% during the Ilowciing
period. Me fbrther pointed o ~ t that in some ricc gttnving areas, the niost
limitins factor i11 rice pr.oduc~ion is tcmperalurc i l l thc growing scason and
ttvailability of water. 'I'hus wateis availability is also a pl.ercquisitc Sor
crop pnducrion, the a_~ricultural sciienct' feather I I C ~ S t ~ ) k110\\~ [ I I C n'ltci.
status of a place as well as nmis~urc rcquiremcnt of' tllc crops to be grown
before selection is n~ade. Onwuci-r~c a d Sinha ( 199 1 ) obscl-vcd that 111c
chief limiting factor to the growth of some plaits is water supply.
A l h u g h lack of watcr Is rhs primary conslraint to high and stabic y ieltls.
too much water is also a problcm that could m u l t in watcr logging a~ lc l
otlies negatlvc eSfccls on the soil and crops.
Skills in Land Preparation: 1,anrl prcparation is i~nporta~l t . 111 crop
production, skills arc i r~vudv~cl i l l p-eparing thc h t ~ l Ibr- ~Iio platiling o f
crops, and for rhc reacher to bc cffcctive in ~-mingin_c ~I ic c r o p w l l . I K
must posses the sk'nfls required to srganise and dircct I m c I prcparation.
Thc aim of' preparing l a d fc>r crop production is to desiroy weeds, clean
the vegetation. obtain a c!can surfacc laycr i n which the c i q x would bc
s o w to 111c dcsircti d c p h and provide conciilions that arc favoul-ahlc fbr
good germination and normal sccdling devclop~iicnt (IRRI 1073). l a d
preparittioii invoiws clearing. removal of cut matcr-ids lillagc, ~-itfgi~rg and
or sccd bed niaking. 'The type of tillage to hc clmphvcrl dcpeixls 015 I ~ C
iypt of c l u p h . Some crups lrkc h c ISW crops m d I IJEX~S rt'rplw c l e q
tillage ivhilc other C I ~ O ~ S like the ~ ~ ' i l i l l ~ IICCCI sf~allow ti!lagc. In ricc
ci~ltivation for csrzmpic intensive soil ti1l;lgc i r l Iosvlar~rE ice i s to cl-cntc
puddled condition. Budtrlai~ a d Rubin (1970) said rha\ puddling i~rvo!ves
workins i ~ p \he soil to tllc constituciicy of a linc s o f ~ mud by mcans ol'
repeated hctrtmring and trampling. A s plaster ( 1 992) obscrvccl, to g ~ m v
crops, a growl. places sced in contact with the soil and to do this involves
some form nl'tillagc. 'Thcrc arc many ways to work tlic soil. and difrcl-cnt
situations require diffescst methods. Each method has an cSticct on llic
crops and the soil. The agricultural scicnce tcnclier rcquil-cs skills in
tillage to bc able to nnnage crop protlucrion ei'l'cctivciy. Ski 11s t-cq~r ~rcd rn
tillage include; ability 10.
- Plan for 11ic tillage operation
- Selcct the appropriate tillage syslcm to adopt
- Secure 1iElage equipment
- Determine the tinling and depth of plouglii~ig
- Carry out conservational tillage
- Idcntify and take care of tile problems of conservational
t i I lage
- hrccas l the eRc ts oftillage on physicrtl conditions of soil.
- Control the c?dvc~sc uffctts of tilhgc on the soil.
Skills are also needed to plan, organise direct and control the following
activities in crop prodcrction crop -ptopagation by seed ard vegr.!ative
part, n~aintenance af crops in the field, though wcecling. fertilizer
applicalion, ~nulching pests and disease conrrol, harvesting. p~-occssi~lg
and storage of p~+obuct..
Froln \he forc'g~ing, it could bc found that in the ~nanagcinwt of
the scliooi farm, skills ia planning. organising, directing, and con~rolling
crop p r o d ~ ~ t i o n are rcslcvan~ for the tenchcrs to manage thc production of
crops in thc school farm, the inaskiy and application of thcse skills are
important. ?'enchcrs of agricul(ura1 scicncc i n sccoiidaly schools t l w e f i ~ r c
req~lire tlicse skills for effectivcncss in the performance of rheir
~nanagcincnt fiinctions and in the drilling of the leal-ncrs.
Skill NcedcrE by Tcac11ct-s in Soil Mana~erncn t.
Skills involved in soil inanageincnl awl impmvcmcllr have t ~ ~ c l l
identified by experk Ohitan ( 1 984) or~tlined soil managel~lont sl,'l \I l s to
include
- identifying soil types
- ~nainlcnce of' soil f'ertility
- control of erosion and
- tillage for crops.
Other skills identified by Ifartmoun (1988) include thc sltills of:
- determining soil types and properties.
- ciclcrmiuing nutrient mailability ill the soil.
- IcIcn\ilj'ing soil drainage needs.
- rcplcnishing plant nutrient in the soil. (Manuring, I-,i~ning.
Mulcliing, Fallowing)
- Dcterrning activities of soil organisms (soil flora and Fauna)
- selecting soiIs for crop procluction
- testing soil for soil acidity
In additioll to thc above castle ct 31 ( 1 987) included t l~c fc~lloii'ing
as soil munagc~wnt skiM
ulldei-srn~lding of land ca;lpdbilities which is the ability of -
so i l s lo suppo1.t crops under varying c~dlivation pracliccs
applying soil conserva~ion practices like good tillage, c o ~ c l * -
cropping;
- using good cropping S ~ S ~ L ' I I I l ike crop rotation
- using apprqxiate rficth~~ds 10 C O ~ I S C ~ V C so i l \wtcr and
nutra'cnts. -. 1 he soil is a vciy inlpm!ant factor in any farin opcmtion. -1 llc j icltl
of crops dcpencls on how well the soil can support its grwvth ;md
production. I t is also kno\vn that the soil is a fixed cntity and its nutrients
status is ~ m t constant. I t is often clep1et.ecl OF its nutrients thereby reducing
its suyportivc role lo plants. I t then means rhat good manageinerr! of thc
soif is ilnlwt'ativc for n~caningrd h - ~ n operation in rhc schwl ~ X H . I 'hi~s
the skills Pisted above are relwant f-)r soil marsagc~ncnt as \ v d l as good
crop production. 'I'hc Agricullural science teacher tllcrcforc sl~oulrl
possess soil n ~ a n a g c c ~ e n ~ skills for cffectivc nlanagerncnl a11t1
improven~cnt of soil in thc x h ~ d farin to enable hirnlher u l i l i~e i t i n
helping agsicultm-c science stt~bcnts develop the rcquired skills.
Skills Nrrericcf hy T c d ~ c r s in Managiny! Livestock in T11c School
Fn rm.
Onuchego (1987), identified the fbilo\ving skills in animal
production;
- Selection of animal stock to kecp.
- Construction of livcstock pens.
- Identification of fcecl typcs 1-cquired by dil'f'crc~~t a~iimnls.
il.1
T i ~ n i ~ ~ g of' feeding
Delel-mining the quantity of' feed to be Ted to the allin-lals.
Watering of the anilnals
Controlling pests and diseases in animals
Culling animals
Sale of animals and animal productions. Agbulu ( I 9%) also
identified skills in animal prodr~ction to include;
Selecting desirable fbu~ldarion stock
Determining system of nmmgelaxmt to adopt
Raising yomg animals
Feeding the stack
Prod~iction s f high quality beef, egg, milk, c
bacon, n~utlon, veal
- Contiulfing parasites ;~nd disease,
- LMaintnining animal shelkr and equipment
- Kccping records.
:hicken, pork,
Agricuitural sciencc teaclxrs require these relevant skills in
planning organising, directi~tg anci controlling the product ion of the
aniinals to be able lo help sludcnts develop the skills
Skills in Managing Farm Equipment and Tools.
'The maintcnancc oS material resources such as li~rtn 1001s and
ccluipmcnr alicr thcir use is important to t .~il~ancc their d~~~ ,ab i l i l y .
According to Olaitan, Nwaclii~l.;wu, Onyc~ixichi, Igbo and Ekong ( 1990)
tools can be dcfiricd as [lie inslrirmelits, cleviccs that can bc ha~idlcd easily
while carrying out spccial operations as well as insttuctional ~ I I I C I Icariiing
activities. Cot~tinuiilg. Olaitan el al (1999) dciincd equiprncnt as ~wrtahlc
or hcavy ~iicchanical dcvisc for opcratio~is in ~ h c laboratory, i v o ~ ~ h s l ~ o p or
field laboratory. Lkluipmcnt is ~ m r c sophisticated than tools. Its i ~ s c i5
mainly 011 technically spucialised ski1 l practices in thc instructioria l ;111cl
learning situations. Accorclinp to Olcorie (1983) tools milst be clcancd and
stored after use, hc contiliilcd Lha~ sxjmsu~% of tools to wcallicr coilld
cause 111c fbllou~ing I iam on h e tuck Metal parts \ \ i l l 1.1151 111 I ~ ~ I I .
wooden parts may bc attacked by ~cnnitcs. w o o d c ~ ~ Iiandles way cl-ach 011
exposure to rail1 and sun. To avoid the datmge according to O1;oric. rhc
followi~ig inarugcnictit practicc (s!;ills) slioiilci be u t i de r~ako~~ .
- I'rovision of'suitable shcd or store lo kecp tho tools.
- i landlc tot,ls \sit11 carc.
- 13lados ol'tools should be sharpwed I-cgulal-ly.
- Iicri~ovc soil sticking on ~ h c hlade afrc.1- use
- Grease or oil the rnetal parls of tools that t 1 1 i I I not bc used 101-
a long tiriic to p~-cvc~i t rust.
c . I hc managcmcnt ol' I i rm 1nacIliner-y is mow ssophislicnted than thar
of simplc fiwm tools duc lo thcir complcx nature. Nlassic, and Ilouglas
( 1973) and stone ( 1075) indcpcndcntly put thc ~nanagernen~ skills in l i ~ r m
~iiachine~y LO include:
- klnming the machincry when nut in LW.
- Follo\ving tnanu!aclurcl-'s instrcrctio~~s for LISC a~ld
nlaintcnance.
- L,ubricaling moving parts.
- Ikguiai , inspection.
- 'Fhoro~igh clcaning after rlsc to avoid corrosion lium
Fcrtil~~cr slid PC.;! icidcs
- Oiling n~ctal parls to prcvent rusting.
- 13aintins wooclcn parls to contl-cl tcimitc danlasc. o n tllc
manage~iicnt of fa rm s~ructures, (animal pens), Olaitan, Agivubui1,e and
Altubuilo ( 1 99 1 ) co~~tcnded that ~ o o d ~iianagemtnt gualmtwc; n ~ a x i ~ n u n ~
prodidon at min imum cost to thc farmer or school. Skills involvcd in
nianaqernenl - of f'ar~n st~ucti~l.cs 3s idc~llificd by Y O L I ~ C ' ~ W C ~ , I<a r l~ga~~ l r~ ,
Ogbazi and Adcsiya~i ( 1 957) includc:
- Painling tlic mclal part of thc farm struclurc w i t h oil paini lo
prcvent rust.
- painting h c woodcn p ~ t of tlic buj!ding will1 coal tnr (11-
so l i yu~~n to protect h e wood fi-om tlmagc by termites.
Occasions l l y changing skaw beddings or l i ttcr to sccluce tlic
- Coating silos with almiiniu~ii paint to prc.vent siist.
In additioi~ to tlie above sltills on managcmunt of farm qu i l~n ic~ i t
and tools, Agbuln ( 1 996) includccl the Sollowing skills.
- Sclcctil~g rqyxopl-iatc qi~ipment
- Chccking parts oS ccluipnient
O bscrving saScty precautions in using iism equipnicnl.
- Icleniil'ying fced equipment for vario~~s farm animals
- ~Mai~itaining farm cquipmcnt (washing and c t r y i ~ l g clca~iing.
lubricat~ng. replacing wornout parts)
Using thc h r m tools to pcrfortn their i'unctions
- Carrying out h1.m survey with the appropriate tools. I'osscr;sion
of these relcvant skills is itnportant for h e agsicultural science
teachers to enable tlicm manage and utilisc tlie school Fa-ni l i l y
Psycho-productive teachirig of t l x students.
Need Asscssrnent a n d T h e Neccl for Imprnvcn~ent o n Skills of
Ajykrrltrrrnl S r i ~ n r c Tcaclicrs. - 7 Necti Assessn~ent: Ihe svorcl nced is synonymous with want.
requiremenl, necessity arx! objigation (Adedoja 1992). I t is dcfi~rcd by
Oxford Advanced Imrncrs' Dic~ionary of current I117glish as
circumstances \vhich [nay corn@ one to act in a c e t ~ a i n way (l lo~mhy
1979). I t thcn implies that need is a ciisclqmcy or gat, k h v e c ~ l a11
existing situatior~/circu~~istance and a dcsirablc state; the difference
betivecn "\vhar is" and *'what ought to bc". It can Ix also scen as lhc drivc
or push [hat molivatcs an i~idividual to achicve thc goals hc a sp i r c~ to 01.
things he desires to have.
Thus nced rcprescnts an imbalance, lack of adjustment or gap
betwecn t l ~ c present situation and a new or changed sct ol' codi t ions
a s s u n d Lo bc more dosii-able. Clnazi ( 1974) observed that available.
resources could only bc better utilised and made more productive nhcn
d a t i v e necds arc clctc~-n~incd anti appropriate listing or pricwibies
establislicd. 'I'l~crc is thcrct'orc nced for assessment of arcas ot'nccd h c k w
i rnp~uvomcnt siratcgics can bc ~~nclcrtakcn ro nchicvc. r h objcc[i\'cs.
Nced assessnlcnt according 10 Uhitan and Ali (1907) is a data
gathering and analysis process technique far prcsviding ini'ormutiori Ibr
programme eva l~~a t io~ i and modification as prop~~scd by V f i lkin ( 1 9773.
Otic p~ri.posc of necd assessnlcnl among orhers is to cicto~.~~~inu ~ h c
needs oi' tcachcrs for additional training. Aclcm-cling to Olnitan and Ali
( 1997) Need assessment is done Ibr various reasons in the cducatio~lal
sctting and for the purpose ol' identifjling di f'ferent types of needs.
- training; Icalning e.t.c, served by a particular educational systctn,
therefore, they continuccl, the mcthods to be usccl in conduc(ing such
a) .Job description
b) Organisation, 0pera~ic-m and man analysis
c) Critical incidcnt tcchniquc.
lob analysis: ?'his is a detailed description u f thc ctutics ; ~ n d
responsibilities a givcn position (job) cntnik
Organisation analysis clctemiws where, wilhin rhc organisation:
training cmpllasis s h o ~ ~ l d be placed. Operation deals with \vhat an employce ]nust do to perform a job
cffectivcly, I analysis e~nphasiscs the inciivicluai cmploycc:
determining the skills, knowledge m c l attituck he will n c d LO dcvelop.
Job dcscsip!ian, ~cx-ganicnrio~s and man a~~alys is arc d a t e d and cannot bc
used separately.
Critical incidcnt technique is n set of procedures for collecting
direct obsel-valion of behaviour in order to solve practical problems and
develop psychological principles. Conmenting still on ~ntlll~ods of' 11evci
assessment Nzewi ( 1985) put that available literature rcvealecl tivo
di ffcrenl ;~pp~-o:~ches to nced assessmerlt which it~cludc: thc classical or
methodj identihcs tlw compcfcncics desirable for effcctivcncss: on rhr: job
and measuring thc trainees with rcspect l o thc level of perl'ormancc n f ~ l ~ c
idcnti liccl important co~npetencics.
Nccd ssscssmcnt using thc compctcncy bascd .~pp~+oacli include tlw
following p;~ltcrris.
1. The perception of cspcrts, teachers, administrators and supe13isor
of' [he skills needed for ef'fcctivc performance 011 thc job is obtaincc!
through intcrv icu s/qi~estiolinaircs/ I-CV~C\\J I I ~ 1itc1.ati11~:
2. A preliminary list of these skillsl competcnties i s ccru~pilcd
3. 'I lie co~npctc.ncics/sltills are rcdwed inlo :cries uf task clcsc~'ipto~.s
cor~.esponding to thc job of Ihc Iargct papd3lion;
4. The task dcscriplors are critiqued and 11m1 validated by cxpcrts:
5 . A competency - nccd invcntoq is Ibl-~~~ularcd.
The task descriptors can bc used as qi~cstionnairc items lo clicil 111c
Competencics/skiIls possesscd by inclividuals already on the iob, and an
analysis of thc data thus collccEed wiE\ irdicatc thc skills, ~vllicll the
indivictual lacks. 111 scrviccs training can thercfosc be orgnnised on thc
basis of this inforinntio~-, lo improve on their sl\ilis on the job:
'I'hc abovu patlcr11 was uscti by Zul-ub and Rubba (1983) ill heir
deiclopmcn~ and validation of an inventory to assess scicnce te;~cllc'r's
needs h- cfSectivcncss in thcir jobs. Fro~n the foregoing it f'01luv.s t h r
nced asscssnicnt is important iS imp~wcmcnl is to be achicvd t h ~ ~ g h
training. Melhods of necd assessment according to Olaitan and Ali ( 1907)
vary i n relation 10 thc purpose of the assessment. Thus in the case of
agricultural science ~oaclicrs skill imp~wc~nci l t nccds a list of skills
impo~.~ant for cfl'ective mana~cnlcnt of school h - m will be obtained
throu,gh rcv iw o!' rclwtnr Ii~cl-a~ul-c.
( 1994) as 111c act oi.' bringing into a more desirable or otcellcn~ concli~ion;
to bcco,llc htler. till i~i~pmvcnlcnt in this contcxl can ix: regarded as a
process by w1rict-t [hc ogricullural scicnce tcaclwrs' ability lo plan-
organise, direct and control the activities of thc school fa1111 is made
better. '1-hc1.e has bcen C V ~ ~ C I I C C fi-om expcrts that teachers of a g r i ~ d l r r ~ a l
scicncc a1.e not utilisiny ihc school f i rm in teaching pracrical skills ro their
st~ldents. Okoric ( 1974) m d Eteng ( 1980) indcpc~xle~~t ly abscrwd that
schooi ::druns ivcre not usccl 101- improving tlic lcanring of a g r k u h r a !
scietice skills in sccontlnry schools. Expericncc ol' the I-csearclier (311 the
Lrse of school farm in teaching. sllow non- utilisatia~i 01' tlie scl~ool larnl
for tcacliing prac~ical agt.icultural scie~lcc skills and this is d~re to poor
~nanage~ncnt ivliich may be :wociated with inadequacy of rcleva~lt skills
by ~hc: tc~ic11c1-s. As ~lotcri Ibm the backgi-o~~nd of ihc strlcty Nkajcinc.jc3
(1988) statcct lhat ap-iculrural science 1cac1wr.s ~ ~ c r c o w of' l l ~ c LICI~I.\
inhibiting cSfectivc farm npcr-ations f i )r educational hetief3s. 1 lie obsen~rd
lack o f co~npctcr~cich rund skills due lo iraining clefkiency as a tiiajor
causc. As ~ O L I I I ~ w i t hy LIIKI ( I C)77) i l l hcr study on thc p-oblc1115 o i
management of tllc school far~n, schtlnl agricullural PI-ograiimc cuuld
only bc enhanccd through effective manayement ol'thc school I'rtrm. 1'11ere
will bc effcctivc Inallagerncnt if agr icul tu~~d scicncc tcnchel-s possessed
tlic rclevanl I-nanagunciit slti 11s. Based on tlic abovu subrt~issio~is, i i c.oulcl
be secli h a ( hhcrc is need fbr improvcn~cnt on thc slLills d r l l l c agric~~lt l~ral
sciencc leacllel-s. 'I cmkn ( 1977) said [hat thc plufi=ssional sk~l l s ol
yesterday and today would not be zdcquatc for fu l~~rc . Ezeugu ( 1 98.3) fell
that there should bc re-training of agricultural science ~ c a c l w s to enrzblc
them irnprove their skills to mccl the cltmands oi' lllc 6-3-3-4- system 01'
education which is uocntional (skill) oriented. Kluin (1985) in his
submission contcnclcd that teachcrs would bc dcemccl as having bwn
succcssfn~l only after esprcssing intcl*cst in further dcvcloping 111cir
professional skills. I t is obvious from the fbregoing that there is nccd for
improvcmcnt on the f'arm ma~~agcriaf skills of :ig-icultural science
tcacliers t o mako rhcin more uffcctivc in I ~ L * mmagemcnl o f school farm
for I E W ~ C E I C ! ? ~ 01' sti~dcnts and {he schuol. Okelie ( I99 l j submiltcd that
teachcrs necd sltills necessaly to make thc fullest usc of resource n~aterials
in scliools for clusired ob.jective.
2. Strategies for Improv~lnent of Agr-icri!ttrr;iJ Sciciacc l'e;wfrcrs'
Farm ~nnnrr~rmcnt skills:
In order tu irnprovc o ~ i t l~c Far111 managelltent skills of thc teacl'ws. the
following s t ra te~ ies coulcl go a long way la I ~ l p ,
1 , Rctrainine: Retraining in this case could be ~ ~ g a r d e d as a proccss
by which teachwi are mads l o upgrade their knowlc.dgc ant! skill i n
agricultural managcrwnt through short or long-tcrm usposurc lo
s p x i f i c arcn in agricult~rral Educatioo. T R c benchts 01' ~.~ l t . i~ i t~ ing
are such as:
- Exposing thc teacher to recent findings a i d new improvcrl
metllods in spucific areas of agricu1tui.e.
- Upgrading the tvachers knocvledge and skills
- ASforcling ~ h c tcachcrs thc opportunity to mcet experts in lhc
ficld and intcract with professionals coileagucs which can
become smr-ces of rclevmt information in and ~cnclling
business. The rctait~ing progi-amiue could bc tl~rough the fi)llowi~~g:
- In-setvicc PI-ogrammc: 'I'cachc~~s could apply Tor somc
progranmcs which would cnablc: rhcm under%kc s n m
[raining in relevant arcas. Siich progran~rncs rike 131e
('I I ) are
t l~cn~:;clves of
sing sandwich
skills in the
and knowledge teachurs would bc I-equircd to ucc a variety ot' resousces
such as cxtcnsivc involvement in W~I-ksliops.
- Attending confurcnces: Another way to improvc tllc shill of
agricultural scicnce teachcrs is by their attcnciitig conferences organisod
for agricultural sltilIs tlevclopment. This will givc thcm thc opportunity o f
learning and improving their skills.
Other mcthods that could bc used in improving tcacl~cr's skills
arc the use of modular approach of teaching in Lticir* rclraining
programme. A modulc in [llis context- is a unit ol'curl-icuiunl br~scd on tlic
clc~clopmcnt o f entry Icvcl coiaipetence of the Icarncr (Olaitan and Ali
1997), .?blod~~lcs arc dcsignd amund the necds and dcsircs of lhc Feartlcr.
In a nodular dcsign. thc sr~~dcnrs and their occ~~pational goals Ibm~ r l l ~
basis for programme planning. Cllivia (1976) clcscribecl a naalulc as a
segment of an insh-uctional programme. Olaitarl ( 1975) c o i ~ t e ~ ~ d d (Ili-t[
practical skills in agriculture could be effkctively ttrugIat, IVIXFI
instructional packages are structured into modulc with adcqmtt. r h c
alIotment. '1 hus tlic psychoproductive activities i v i l l be siruc!ured in line
w i~h the concept of modular rlcsign for the asricultural science rcacbwtrs
during their ~raining.
- Counpctency approach: According to Ol;ti(~m ( 1978) C O I ~ I ~ C I C I I C Y
approach lays emphasis on knowlerigc, ski l Is, attilucles anrl
.judgement wliich are generally requircd for the successful
pfor-mancc of a Iask rather than a11 the components con~lxising
t11c task. Can~inuing, Olaitatl said tlial this approach can be uscd to
train t h s c r h a ~ arc. capable of'using thc knocvlcdgc, skills, attitudes
and dbilitics in their various disciplines.
7'hc Agricul~usal scicncc tcac hers hereforc can avai l t hctnsclvcs of'
somc of these opportunities to improve c)ti their s ~ L I I s . LO cnabk rl~enl
manage school h - ins eflectivcly, to thc benefit ul'the studenh.
Some Studies on Farm Marwg~rnent and Utilizntiorr
111 rht: tcacliil~g and learning ofagriculturitl science. cml~hasis is laid
on t l ~ c acquisition o S skills. 111 vwac?tional Educalion, skills arc acquircd
~vllcn the- Ical-ning environment is a I-cplica of t l~e mpectcd job situation.
iicncc thc umphasis on thc usc oi 'scl~ool Far111 [;\I- teacl~ir~g a11d I c a ~ m i n ~
r C ICI'S agriculrural science skills. As idcntiiied it1 ~ h c l i t c r ~ l u i ~ I'CVCWL"~ te.1 .I
are no1 using tlic school 1111-ms lo tcl~clm practical skills to IIIC stuilents.
Some expests lilw (Eicng 1980 and Okeke 1986) atlribukd [his to lack of
skill by teachers. Many stzrciies had boon underlaken by scholars on the
nlanngcmcnt m c l utilisntion o l ' k school h r m . Aclclckc ( 1 098) worked on
improving thc management of thc school farm. In his study hc li)cusccl on
thc factors t11a1 wouIc1 positively in fl~rencc scl~ool Sam tnanx;erncii~ or
which skillccl and co~npctel~l agrici~Itu~'id scicncc leather. was icler1tiITcc.l
among other factors. Uko (1997) w~skecl 011 the problcnrs nf nrarmpncnt
of school fi1+111. IIe also idcntificcl lack 01' skillcd agricultural scicncc
teachers among olhcr factors that constitute p~*obicms in managemcnl of'
the farin. Agbulu (1996) worked on the utilisation of the school Sm-111 i l l
teaching agricultural sciencc in secondary scl~ools. 1-Ic focuscti on tlic usu
of modular instruclion for thc irnprovcmc~~t of teaching a~riccnl~ural
sciencc. I t could be obscr-ved [ha\ none of those studies was conc.erwd
with the skills possessed and needed by he agr-icult~~ral science teacl~crs
fol- improving the management ol' thc school I'arm. Thus a study cm h c
improvement of managcmcnt skills of agricultural scicnce teachers will
rcvcal some bcnefit in el'fixtivc tnanascnscnt and ulilisatio~i of the sol~xll
farm in tcaching psychoproductive s k i k to learners or students of
agicul tu~*o.
;Cr;rrrnrn:~i~~ of Lit~r;~trrrc licvicv.
llue to the paramount importance ollthe sc11001 IN in t l ~ t~ ' i l~ l l i l~g
a n d Itarning of agricultural scicnce in schools, its utilisrttion and
managrment have attracted the a~ir t icrn af ngricullurists. teachers and
researchers. This has r11crefo1-c lccl to thc ava~lnbility oS ~natcrials Tor
review on lhc managcmcnt and utilisation of thc school far-111. P - 1 he liler.a[u~-c reviewed, 1-cvealcd thar the acquisiliot~ and
cicvclopment of'skills involve imitation, repetition and parlicipalior~ on an
cnviron~ncn~ rclevant for the skill lxing Ical-111. I t was also revealccl that . . .
t11c a c q u l s ~ ~ ~ o n and dcvclopnlcnr cf skills on the parts of agl-icullural
sciencc reacl~crs will equip the tcnchers wcll cnough to bc able lo apply
the relcvant skills acquired and developed to rnanagc \he scllool fal-n~
effectively.
Litcraturc revealed that thc school lam is v~1-y te leva~~t i n
imparting agricultural science skills to sludents. I t i s ho\vcvcr
d iscovused ii.0111 thc literature that the school Sarms ace pcxlt-ly ma~iagccl
and utiliscd by ngricultu~.al scic~icc teachers in dcvclnping slutlcrits'
practical ski1 Is. Farm nianagcrnelit was however cmsidcrcd being
important if' dcsired objectives of making h e students to accluirc and
resources. I t ivas also rcvenlcd \hat decision-n~aki~ig process i s a 111aicv
skilii11 area in !arm managcnrent which cntails obsesvation, collection or
information. analysis of irnfornration collccted and thcn taking dccision.
These atid othcr skills in the literature arc required by [he tcacliers.
O n tlic skills nceclcd by tcachcrs in !mn:rging the scl~oul fh-111
activities, litesaturc revealed that skills in planning, organi~ing, r l i rcstrn~
and con troll in^ crop p r ~ h c f i o n , soil managcmcnl, aninla! pwrluctiorr as
1x11 as managemcnl of fa-111 equipment, and tools fan11 slrrnclures arc
important fbr uf'tcclive ~nanagcnicnt 01- tlic school I'a~ni. /Ig~.icl~l\wdl
scicnce tcachcrs require these skills 10 be able to managc the school farm
cffcctively for psycllo-prochctive tcacllillg.
Some stidies on management and utiIization of !he SCIKKII farm
reviewed, I-evcalcd that thc school farm is no[ bcing u[ili~,cd b,, t l~c
agricultural sciencc teachers to teach practical skills to studct~is. Also
revcaled \\;as thc fact that lack of skillccl, competent agricultural scicncc
reachers is one of' thc mr~jor problems hindering succcssf~~l management
of schwl farms, hence the need for* impl-ovc.n~ent lor1 the skills of'
agricultural science teachers as revealed in the litcraturc. Such
improvement strategies as identilied in the literature includc. I-ctl-aininy
prograrnmcs through in-service, sar~rlwich, prograInme, attendance at
worksl~ops and confcrcnces, and adopion of nlwh~l:u- approach of
teaching in thc retaining programme for the tcachurs will hclp clevclop and
iipgradc the teachers' skills. This strrdy is thcrcfore intcncled Lc: identifjl
the skill improvcmcnt 11ceds of' aguicultural science tcact~crs. the
improvcmcnt of which will cnablc them manage thc schc~ol Iirin
cffect i v d y fbr the bcncfit of students.
CHAPTER THREE
METHODOLOGY
'I'his chapter described thc Proccdurc for data collection awl
analysis. I t speciiically focuscd on tI~c dcsign. arca of the study.
population. sample, validity and reliabilii\l of the instnrn~cnt, data
collection and r i d ~ a d of data analysis.
Ucsigrl of the S t d y
This study employed a survcy dcsign. A survey, reseal-ch is one
which invr)l\/cs rhc assessnwni oi' pcoplc opinion sing questiotmairc and
popuIation or sampling n~cthods (Wolman 1973) in (Ezcji 19C)9).
I'hc rlesign was therefore suitable for this study. sincc i t so~rgh~
infm-marion li-om a~ricultura! scicnce teachers 011 thcir skill impl-ove~nc~it
nceds for effcc.tive management oi'school farms.
A r m of the Sttidy
The study will cover the three Educational Zones in Imo State,
namcly Owe~.ri, O r l ~ , and Okigvc.
Population of-thc Study
The target population of thc study was 583 ag-icultt~ral scicncc
tcachers in secondaiy schools in the three educational zones oT 11am Srarc
Table 1
Distribulion of Agricullural scicnce teachers in the thrcc educa t io~~a l
zones in Imo Stntc.
Number of teachcrs 1 Educational
I zone
Total
I Number of
SCIIOOIS
Sourcc: S.E.M.R. stalktic un i t (2000)
S a r ~ ~ ~ l e and sanipling technique: 'l'herc was no sampling 'I'l~c cntii-c
population of 553 teachcrs was uscd ['or the study. Thirty tcachurs werc
iiscd for test of rcliabiliiy.
Ins!r~irnent for data co!lectiou:
A s(ructi11-a1 c~uestionnairc was developed and usccl Tor collecting
data for this s t ~ ~ d y . T11c q ~ e ~ t i o i m c ? i ~ - ~ ' was diviricd into four paris. Part I
was usccl to obtain itiformarion on pcrsonai data o r thc respotidcnts. h1.1
I1 sought infomation on 111c managcmenl skills rcqui~-ed for cffcc~ivc
f i~nct~oning oi' the school farm. For this section, the rcsponsc options wcrc
based on a 5-point rating scale o r Vely I-iighly Iiequired (VIIR) = 5 ,
Highly I<cquirrd (HI<) = 4. Averagely Required (AK) = 3, Slighlly
Required (SK) = 2, Not required (NK) = I
Part 111 \vas used to idcntify farm managcincnt skills nl~xxidy
possessed by agricullul-a1 scicnce teachers. The rcsponsc options Tor part
I11 were Very Highly I'osscssed (VI1P) = 5 . Highly I-'ossessed (1 I f ) ) - 4,
Averagely posscssed (AP) = 3, Slightly posstsscd (SP) -- 2 md I IOI
posscssed (NP) - 1
Par1 IV was used to identify farm manageencnt skills ~iucdecl by
teacl~ers fbr i l n p r ~ ) v ~ d p ~ r f o l ~ ~ l a n c c in the school lhr111.
For part IV, the rcsponsc optians were Vcry highly Needed (V1 IN)
= 5, IIighly nccded (HN) = 4Avcragdy Needed (AN) =3 Slightly Nee~kx~
(SN) =2 Not Needcd INN) = 1
Validation of the 1nstr~mcnt 7 - I hc inst~xmcnt was validalcd by thrcx cxperns (Lcclt~l-crab in
Agricultural Education in the departrncn t of vocations! Teacl-1c.r
Education. Univcrsily of' Nigcria Nsukka. A fact: validation o r the
instrumcnt was carried out by the validafors ar.d h e i r inputs used 16
rcconslrvuct and update the instrument before hc administration. .IIIC
validators were r&pcstcd r i> hcit validntc the instt ument based 011 whcthcr
items were clearly statccl. relevant il11d could cIicil fhc rig111 I.CSJ>OIISC.
Rdiabi1it-y of the Tnst nr rncn t
Thc tcst, re-test approach was used to delcrmine ~ h c reliability ol'
the instrumcnt, 111 this case thc insti-umcnt was adn~iniutercd to 30
teachers; from Icn scco~~clary schools in 0wcrr.i Zonc 11110 \ \a-e not
invo1vt.d in the st~lcly as sub+iects. Thc queslionnair+e was 1.c-nclniiniste~.cd
on thc same teachers aficr two wecks. The dala oblaiticd from the IIVO
administrations wc1.c analyscd using I'cimn P L ' O ~ L I C ~ MOIIIC~I[ C"me'l;ttio~i
coclficienl. COI-sclniion coefiicicnts (r) oblaincd rncude: Parl [I r - 0.9 1 .
Part I I I r=O.SS, Par! IV I-= 0.96 (scc appctdix 111)
Administration a r d Collection of Instrtin~rnt.
Thc instrun~ent was administered to the respondents with h e aid of
somc research assistants. Out ol' 553 copies of the insil-ume~~t that wcre
given out 500 wcrc completed, collectccl and used for analysis. 'l'his gives
a pcrccntagc r x ~ z i t - n of (90.4. 'l'hirty teachers were uscd to dcwrninc 11w
reliabilit~ of the inslruincnt and h i ~ s were not used for h c s ~ ~ t d y .
Scc ~ablc 2 for distribution and return of'tllc qucstio~inaire
TABLE 2
( Group of Respondents ( NQ of Questionnaire No Rel111-ned -I I I Administered I I
h q r c e lh!ders 1 3 15 1 z;; -- 1 I I Total 553 i
Teachers with N.C.E:
Qnta Ana tvsis
Thc data collcctecf from the study werc analyscd using fi-ecl~tency
counls, mean, and siandal-d deviation lo ans\vcr the 1-esearch cli~c~tions,
~vhile Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used for testing [he hypotheses.
1 84
Use of the Menn
All thc itcms in pal-r 11, 111 and IV of the qwstionnairc wcr-c
NDfHND Teachers k-- 154
analyscd using the illeat1 score point. Nominal values were assigned to the
50
dil'fervnt scaling items as follows
Vciy highly rcquircd (VI-l R ) -. 5 Highly required (I-IK) = 4 Avc~*agely 1-cquired (AR) = 3
Sl ighrly required (SR) = 2 Not 1.tlcjuirec1 (NR) = 1
--
15
Vcry Highly Ibssessed (VHP) Highly Possessed (HP) Averagely I-losscssecl (/1rJ)
Sl igh t l~~ Possessed (SP) Not Possessed (NP)
Very I-lighly Needed (VHN) = 5
Highly Nceded (11N) 4
Averagely Needed (AN) = 3
Slightly Needed (SN) - 2 Not Needcd ( N N ) =_1_
I5
'l'he mean ol'cach item w a s calculated by tnultiplying thc fn:qucncy
of the responses unctcr each response with thc nominal value or h e
response catcgoryT and the sum of the p~.orluct obtained was divicluct by h e
numbcr ol' respondents who responcled to the item concerned.
- Where X = popula~iun meat?
X = Nominal value
F - Frequency of' respondents.
N = Kuinbcr oi'respor~Ients to ttic items
Z - Suinmatio~~ sign.
Determining ttic cL~r - off point
Thc Sollowi~ig limit of' acccptancc was uscd by the I-escu-cliei to
arrive at decisio~is on thc rcsearcl~ questions and hypotheses. Using thc
interval scale of 0.5 and thc mean of 3, the upper limit of thc cut off poitit
is 3,0 i- 0.5 = 2 .5 , w11ilc thc lower l i m i t is 3.0 - 0.5 = 2.5.
Decision rule I : f'roni part I 1 of the instru~ncni, any itclii ivith a Incall
value of 1.50 or abovc is rcgardcd as nlanagemc.nt skills rccluii-erl for
cffcctivc li~ncticming of thc school h im while any item with mcan value
of bclow 3.50 is rcgardcd as mai~ngemcnt skills no1 rcquired for cf'rectivc
functioning of the school farm.
Decision rule 2: For ilems in part III of thc instl-umcnt, any item wit11 a
mean value of 3.50 nnrl abovc is rtcccpted as Ttlrrn ~nanagc~ncril sl,ill
already possessed by the agricultural scicncc teachers, ~vhile any item
with mcan bclo\+ 3.50 is rcgrrlcii as farm manaycrnc~it skill not posscssod
by thc ~ C I L C ~ C S S .
Decision rule 3 : In part IV or~lic. i~is~r-uti~ent, any item with 3 Inearl V I I I L I C
of 3.50 and nbova was rcgardcd as managcmcnt skills necclcd by tcaclws
Tor improved perform~~ncc in thc school farm whilc items with tiloan ol'
bclow 3.50 was farm managcnlent ski!l not nccded for impruveincn~.
CHAPTER FOUR
PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS OF DATA
'I'his chaptcr pl-csents and analysc thc data collcckd for rhc
resear-ch. The data were used 'for answering the research q u e s t i o : ~ ~ and
testing of hypothcsis. The findings arc also prcscnted based on tllc rescarch
qucsfions and hy pnthcsis tested\.
Noto:
X = Pop~~!a[ion mean
ST) = Standard deviation
7 6
Data in ? i b k 4 revcalcd thal thc teachcrs idcntilicd I6 out of lhc 33
farm management skill as the skills they possessed for effective use in he
school farm. The skills possessed by h c tcachcrs had mcan values mnging
between 4.07 to 3.52, suhich were above the cut off point of 3.50.Thc range
of the standard clcvialion fbr thc skills possessed is 1.6 1 to 1.45. 'l'his implies
that thc ~~e~ponclcnrs arc not I'ar from 1 1 1 ~ mean.
l l ~ c 17 I'irr~n Inanagemc~it skills Ibiind as no1 posscsscd by the ~cacherc
had rmm-ts ranging horn 2. 96 to 1 .S6 an4 standard dcviation ol' I . 06 ro I .
23 . lnkrcncc from thc analysc inciicatcct that more than 50 pcrccnl tile
farm management skills identilied are not possessed by the np-ic~rlll~~ral x i -
cnce teachers .
Research Question 3
I .6G
1 .G 1
2.28
3.84
32)
33)
Nu1 I ' O F ~ C ~ F C ~
I~osscsscd
of deviation from set objectives
Adoptiiig altcsnatiw c o t ~ t a ~ o r aciion lo achicvc
set 013jccti vcs
Applying disciplinary action
Supervising of students work in tllc farm
Applying appropriate fcrti lizers to crops
Supcrvisi ng the mainzcnance a d storage of
I'arm to& and equipnlcnt
leternline soil types and preperties in relation
ta crops to bc planted
%cdingol'Pives~ock wilh Ihc riglit fcccd and quantity
3ontrolling wccds, pcsts parasites and diseascs
of crops and Farm animals
Making, and iniplemcnting ciecishns
Cmtro!lfr~g rhe s d ~ o o l farm incluck [he skills of:
Makin2 shscrva t io~~ on thc pcrformancl: of stt~dents in thc farm
Making poper inventory of thc fi~rnnn assets
Keeping accurate rccords of the fir~ancial
~nvolvcments of the famm
Monitoring the inovemcnt of farm tools during
practical work it1 thc Sarm
Carrying out periodic evaluation of completed
tasks by students
Determining the unclcr-lying causes
Selecting oSsoit conservation programmes
to bc embarked up or^ in Ihc scliool f'arm
Planning breeding pingrarnmes Ibr 111-ITI animals
Budgeting for tllc school farm
Plaoning for the procurcnlcnt of fa1.1~1 inputs
Org,',iinisii~g ull'thc s c h r ~ l r a m i~iclutlc ~ h c skills of-
Arl-angins h e prodiiclivc resources availabIe
Sourcing for and procuring fa1.111 inputs
Assigning spccific tasks clutics portion of the farm to il.idividud sludcnrs
Preparing annual firm calcndal-
identifying and malysing thc problen~s emanating
during the running of the scIiouI fhm
Enstrring Accoi.intabiIity to the school administration
ou bhc 1-1111ning CIS lhc school fam
Directing of the sc.11ooI k ~ r m includc thc skill of:
7 3
Table 4
Mcan Rating of Responses of teachers on skills in farm managemcilt al-
ready possessed for cffec~ivc use in the school fartn.
Ma~~agement skills possessed for
PIanning of the school farm
include the skills of:
Formulating specific objectives for the farm
Choosing the bcsl fwming and cropping
systcms
Selecting suitable soil for planting crops
Determining what crops and tivcstock to
produce
;electing desirable foundation stock for
husbandry practices
Selwting chemicals for use in c.ontrol1ing
weeds, pests, parasites and diseases of crops
and animals
Note cut off poirll Tor skills require 3 . 50 - X = Population mean
SD - Standard deviation
Data presented i n lables 3 above revealed that ~ h c ~cachers idenlifiecl 33 out of
the 37 managemenr skills as those recluired for effective fumtioning of lhe
school1 farm. The idcnlificrl skills had a mean range of 4. 40 to 3. 50. \vhic.l~ is
abovc the cut o l ' fpuin~ and a slandard deviation sangc of' 1.70 ro 1 .25 I-weal-
i t~g f h t fhc mean rehponses are not very Far from the tilean.
34)
35)
36)
37)
Kesearch Qi~cstion 2.
What are thc skills i n h r m mmagcment already possessed by the
teache ~....fb.r cfkctive use in thc school farm?
Ilara for ansxvct-ing thc research qucstion arc presenlcd i n table 4
3.66
4.20
3.96
4.40
3.93
practical work in thc farm
Carrying ou t periodic evaltration of cornplctcd
tasks by students
Determining the ~indcrlying causes o f deviation
liom sct ob.jcclives
Adopting allel-nalivc course of aclion to
achievc scl objcctivc
Applying disciplinaty action
1.28
1.47
1.5 1
1.50
1.45
Requirccl
Required
I<ccluircd
I2cquircrl
ICcquircd
;upet.visirlg of students work in lhc farm.
A p p l y ~ n g appropriate fertilizers to crops.
Supervising the maintcnancc and storage of
farm tools and equipment
De\ermining soil ty pc and pl-operrics ira relation
to crops to hc planted.
Formularitq, fecds for difre~nt types of livestock
in the !'211'111.
I k t c r ~ n i n i n ~ nutrient availability ill soil tl1~0~1g11
soil tests
Fucding of livestock with the right ked and
quantily
Cunaroliiiig weccls pesls parasites
and discascs of craps and animals
Making a~ ic l implementing decisions
Managci~~cnt skills requircd for conhulling thc
school h r m include 111c skills for:
h/Inkitlg obscrvatio~~ on thc pedorrnancc of
students in thc farm
Making proper inventory of the farm assets,
ICceping accurate rccorcls of financial
i r n ~ o i ~ c n ~ e ~ r t s in t'hc farm
Monitoring rhe n~ovcmcnt of'farm tools during
Management Skills Requited for
Planing of the school farm includc skills in
Fa'or~nulating ol'spccific objectives for the F ~ I I I
Choosing 'Thc best Farming and cropping
systenrs
Selecting suitablc soil for plantingcrops
Deter mining what crops and livestock to
pt'oducc.
Sclec~ing desirable foundation stock for
hiisbandry prnc[iccs
Selecting chcmicak Tol usc in controlling weeds
Selecting of soil conservatim progrnrnrnes to bc
embarked upon
Selecting app~.opria[e reeding stuffs for Seed
foimi11atio11
Planning breeding prograinnles for farm animal:
Budgeting 1'01. thc school farm
l-llani~irig for !he p r w ~ l r e m e n l of fxtn input:
Skills Required for Organising The
3chooi Far-rn i~lcl~rdc thc skills Tor:
Arr'an~ing 'I'lic Productive- rcsour-ces
available for el'fec~ivc im.
Identifying the needs of students
Sourc i~x - For and procuring farm inputs
Assigning specific tasks duties portior~s
of the h r m to individual s t~~dcnts
Irganizing brccdi ng programmes for
h1.m animals
Preparing annual farm calendar
Identifying and analysing the problcms
: ~ n a n a ~ i n g cIur in2 thc 1-ulini11g of'thc school
firm
Forming committees fbr spccific Farm
aclivilics
Ensuring accountabitity to thc school
~ d r n ~ n w r a l ~ n ~ l on the running of the
school farm.
hlanage~~icnt skills Kcquired ibr Directing th(
sclioul farm I I I C ~ I L C ~ C the skills fbr:
What farm management skill arc needcd by teachers for improved per-
Data Sol- answering Research Question 3 are presentcd in table 5 .
Tdble 5
Mcan Raf ings of Res~mt-~ses urteachcrs on farm managcnwnl ski 1 Is needed
for improved performance in thc school farm
- - -
~Manage~nent skill Needccl rul- improved planning
of thc school farm include:
( 1 )
(2)
:3)
(4)
15)
(6)
Formula\ing of S P L ' C ~ ~ ~ C ~bjcctives for the Sam
Clloasing tllc best cropping, m d f m i ~ i n g systems
Selecting suitablc soil lor planting crops
Determining what crops and livestock to producc
Sclccring dcsivablc f o ~ ~ ~ d a l i m srock Ibr husbandry praclicc
S e k c l i n g clicmicals for usc in controlling
w e d s pests p a s i tcs and diseascs af crops
and animals
' l an r t i n~ brcccfing programmcs Sor Tam animals
Budgeting for the schaol farin
Planning for tho ptacurcment o f fa rm inputs
Irnprovud Urginizing ~L'EIIc schwd l'orns includc
he ski'll oC
Arranging the pi-otluc~ivc rcsourccs available
for cffectivc usc.
Identifying the needs of stiidcnts
Sourcing for and procuring farm inputs
Assigning specific tasksf d ~ ~ f i e s f pmions of the
Tam to inrlividud stuclcnts
Organising brccding programmcs for f a r m
animals
Preparing annual S a m calendar
[denlif'ying and tir~alysi~ig the problenls
mana t ing dtrring thc running of [Re scl~ool
-
Nor nci-dcd
Ncedrd
Kceded
Not ~iceded
Neecled
No1 ~lceclcil
No1 necdcd
dut nccJc'd
N c d d
Nceded
Needctl
-
Ensuring accaun~abiliry to thc school adininistration
on [he rwnning of h e school farm
I m p r o d direcling of thc school Tam incl~~clc
the skills oT: Supcrvishg s!udcnts work in the h r n ~
Applying appropriatc fertilizers to crops
S u p c n l i s i ~ ~ ~ h c niaintenancc and storage of farm
tools and equipment
Dctclmining soil typcs and propertics in rclation to
crops to bc planted
Feeding o f ' livcsrock with ~ h c right k c d and qwntity
Controlling w e d . pests. parasites and discases
of crops and animals
Malting and implcmcnting clecision
Impl~ovccl controlling of the sct10o1 farm will in
cluck tile skills for:
Making obsc~.vaiion on [hc pcrrormance of studenls Ir
thc farm
1 Making proper inventory of \he farm iiSSetS
Keeping accurafc rt.curds of ~ h c financial
involvements of thc farm
Monitoring the movemcnt of hr-m tools during
practical work in ITic [arm
Zal-I-ying out pcriodic evaluation of completed
iasks by students
ktennining the underlying causes of deviation
from set ot?icctives
idopting altcsnative course of action to achieve
hct objectives
lpplying ciisciplir~ary action
Note : - S - I'opulation mean.
SD = Standard deviation
'The data on rable 5 revealed that ~cachers identified sevenkm ( l7) out
of thirty three (33) hi*m nlanagement skills as those they need fur irnpl*oved
pci-rormancc in tliu sclioal h rm. Thc skills needed had mcan r a n g oF4. I3 to
3.55 which wcrc above the cut off point of 3, 50. Thc range of standard
S I
deviation is 1 . 64 to 1 . 43 implying that the responses arc not vely far frnm the
Incan.
The ski 11s not necdcd for improvement hacl a mcan range of bctwec~l 3. 02
to 2.00 which werc below Ilic cut off point of 3. 50 and a rangc of standard
deviation of 1.53 and 146.
!t implies li-om the data analysed that agricultural scicncc tcachc~ nccd
improven~ent on more than lifiy pel-ccnt of the skills idcntiiied for effwtivc
management of the schoot farm .
Hypothesis 1
Therc is no significant di f i rence in the Ineiln ratings oSrcspons~s d k a ~ l l -
crs on management skillls ~ q u i r e d Fir efictive functionirig of h e school Tarn1
based on qualificalion
Data required {or testing thc above hyptlicsis werc pl-csentcd i t i t abk G
S 2
ANOVA for testing the nleali ratings oC tcachess on rnanagemenl skill re-
cluircd for effective f~~nct ioni l~g of the scliool hrni .
Source of
V,fd<Y ATS ON
Bcrwcn
Groups
L'ciithin
Groups
( K e s i d ~ l )
Total
SQUARE?;
z m e 2
S= Significant at I' = 0.05
E Z = O . 19
-. I hc resul~ in tablc 6 revealed that the calculated F - valuc of 5 5 . 86 was
greater than the tablc I;- valuc of 3.00 at 0.05 Icvcl of signilicancc and c k -
grecs of freedom 2 aiid 497. This showotl that thcsc was a signi licarn! cliffer-
cncc I r i tlic mcan ratings o f thc responses d teachers on Tam ~ l l a ~ q c i n c n t
s ld l s required for effective functioning of the school farm.
'Ilw cosre!ation ratio (L2) = 0. 19 'I'his implies that the predictio~i on t l ~
observation irl table 5 is in~proved relatively by 0.19.
8 3
From the rcsult of the liyputhesis i t is i~ifcrcd that NCE, NDIHND, and degrce
teachcrs differed in thcir perception of lIic skills required fbr effective fi~nction-
ing on the sc.hool I n n .
Hypothesis 2
There is no signiiicant difference i n the mean ratings of responses oSteach-
ers with Degree; NCE, and NDfI-1ND on managemeirt skiils ~>ossessecl for rffcc-
tlve use in tlic school farm.
'I'lic. clntrz rcquired for testing the above hypothesis are found ila lable 7
'I'ablc 7
ANOVA for I C S L ~ R ~ he ineitTI ratings of icachers OII nianagement skills posscssccl
for effwtivc usc in the school farrn.
SCIIIIICE 01
VARIAIIOP
Between
Group
Within
Groups
:Residual)
Total
SUM 01: DT: MEAN
S = Significant at p = 0. 05
E 2 = 0 . 13
Tho result i n 'I'ablc 7 rcucaled that thc calculated I;-v;~Fuc of .;7.83 was
grcat ~ h a n h e table S- value of 3 . 00 at 0.05 lcvel of';igniticancc and dey-ccs
of freedom 2 and 497. This rcvealcd thal there was a significant cliffucc~~cc in
the mean ratings of responses of thc respo~~dents or1 farm ~nanagemcnl skills
possessed for eRcltivc use i n tlrc school hrm.
'Thc corrclatim ratio (L?) = 0.13 this implics rat the prcdicliorl un 111c
obscr-v,~tiot~ in table 7 was reiatively improved by 0.13
I t co~ild IX infcrreci ji.0111 the result of the hypoflwsis f e s h g [hiit t l~c
lewl oSsk11 Is in farm ~nanagement Possessed by teachers of secondnr? schools
with NCE, ND/I XND and degree, qualifkation diffcrcd.
Hypothesis 3
The nlcan raiings of renchcrs wit11 degree, ND:HNT). and NC'E, on
management skills needed for improved perhrrnance in the school f5sm do
not diffcr signilicantIy.
Data required for testing the hypothesis are in table 8
Tabfe 8
ANOVA for testing the mcm ratings of tcachers on ma~~agerncnt skills nccded
S = Significant at P = 0.05
The results i~a'rablc 8 revealed that thc f- ratio calculated, 44. 06 was great
than che t a b k f- ratio of 3.00 at 0.05 level of significanccand dcgroes of S r ~ c d o ~ n
2 and 497. 'This rcvealcd that there was a significant diffcrcnce is the m a n
ratings of respnses of tcache~s on l a m management skills nceclcd for i~n-
proved pcrfiornrancc in the scl~ooI f'arrn..
T'hc couclation ratio (E') = 0.15 which iinplics that the prediction 011 thc
crlrservations in table S was relatively improved by 0.15 when the groups
are kmivn.
From blx result of this hypothesis teslbng, ir cw!d be Infercd thal
NCE, ND/ FIND and dcgrcc teachers differ in rile nwnagetnrenl skills Ihcy
need for improved p~ri'orniaiice i n 111~ school firm..
Findhgs
The finclings fro111 the analysis of' data are pwscntccE below based
on the research questions ansiveiwl and the hypothesis tcstcrl:
( 1 ) For rescarch qucstion 1 the findings are as klloivs:
Farm management skills Required tor effective functioning of the
school Carin.
(A) Skills for planning the school fill-111 inclucle the skills for:
( 1 ) Forinula1ing of specific objectives tbr [he fa1-111.
(2) Choosing the bcst firming and cropping systcm
(33 Sekcting suitablc soil for planting crops
(4) Detrnnining what crops and fiues~ock to produce.
(5) Selecting dcsIraklc fou~~tlnlion stock of livestock for husbardr-y
practices.
(6) Selecting chemicals for use in controlling weeds pests, parasite and
discase of crops anti animals.
(7) Sclccting of soil conscrvo~ion progralnlnes to be embarked up011 in
the sch001 farnt.
(8) Planning kreding progrmmes For farm atainmls
(9) Budgeting for the school farm
( I 0 ) Planning for the procurement of farm inputs.
(H) Skills Tor organizing the school farm inch& the skills for
( 1 1) Arranging the productive resources available for erf'cctivc usc.
( 13) Iclentifying ~ h c needs of students
( 13) Sourcing fur and procuring farm inputs,
(14) Assigning specific tasks/ duties/ portions of' the school f i~rm to
individual students,
(1 5 ) Organking brccding progcwnmcs Por farm anitnals.
( 16) Preparing armual farm calendar.
Identifying and analysing thc problems emanating duri~lg the
running of the school tjrnm.
Ensuring accountability to the schwF adrninis~ra~ion on [he r u ~ ~ n i n g
of the sclrcm! farm.
Skills for directing the scl~ovl T a m include thc skills for:
Supervising of studcnts work in thc farm
Applying appropriate fertilizers to crops
Supenking ~ l ~ u maintenarfce and storagc of farm tools and
equipment.
Determining soil types and propertics in rciation to crops 10 be
planted
Fecding of livestock with the right feed ~ n i x t ~ ~ r e and quantity.
Controlling weeds, pcsts, parasites and discases of crops and
ani~nals
Making and implementing dccision.
Skills for controlling the school farm include thc skills h r
,Making proper observation on the perform~nce d s~udc r~ t s in the
farm.
Making proper inventory of the farm assets
Kecping accuratc rccorcls of financial involvement of the farm
Monitoring thc movclncnt of' P ~ n l tools during practical work i n
tIlc f i l m .
Carlying out pcrioclic evaluation of completed tasks by studmts
Dctcrmi~~ing thc underlying causes of cieviatiort h l n set objectives.
Adopting al~cmativc caursc dacf ion to achieve set clbjwtivcs
Applying disciplinary action Ski11 not required, as idmtif id by the
teachcrs induccd the skills for:
The skills not rcquircd as identified by thc teachers includcd lhc
skills for:
Sclecling appropriate fwding s N f s for feed Sormulation
Forinulating fccds Ibr difkren~ types of livesrock in thc farm.
Forming cotnmitlecs far spwific farm activi1ic.s
Determining nutrient availability in soil through soil testing.
For Research Question 2 the Findings are FoJlo~vs:
Farm h4anagemcnt Skills Already Possessccl 13y The Teacher I-:vr
Effective Use in the School Farm,
(A) Skills possessecl for planning the sc41rrrol farm include the skills Tor:-
(D) Skills needed for controlling the school h r n ~ include those for:-
( 14) Making p1.oper inventory of thc fmn assc~s.
( 1 5 ) Keeping accurate 1.ecords of the financial involvcmc~~ts of thc hrm.
( 1 6) Carrying out pcriodic cvduation of coniplcted tasks by students.
( 17) Adopting altcrnative course of action to achieve sct objcctive
Hvpotllescs
Thc findings from tcsting of tllc hypotheses revealed that; r - 1 here was signilicant difference in the mean ratings or responses
o r N.G.E, ND /HND, and clegree tcachcrs on niamgemc~it sl,ilis
required fbs effective functioning of the school farm.
There was significant difference in the mean ratings of responses of
NCE, NDI FIND and degree teachers on mntiagerncnt shills
possessed for effective use in the school farm.
There was significant difference in the mean ratings of responses of
NCE. ND/ HND and degree teachers on rnanagcmcnt skills
needed for improved perrormance in the sc110o1 farm
Discussion of Findings:
Thc discussion of h e findings of the study was organised based on
rhe three research questions and the thrce liypothcses formulalcd hi- lhc
stud!;.
( 1 ) I:ar~n n~anagc~nent skills required by teachers for cffectivc
functioning of thc school i'arin.
T l ~ c findings of the study revealed that thirty - thrce out ofthe thirty
sevcn identified ~nanagetncnt skills wcre rquirccl by teachcr for cl'leclivt.
fi~nctioning of the school Fmn. These skills arc dustel-ecl inlo thc
managelncnt f~irlchmi of planning, organising, directing, and controlling
of the sc110o1 farm activitics.
'I'en (10) out of eleven skills were idontificd as skills I-cquircd liv
planning thc school fasm. 'T'hc skills identified i~;ould be effective in the
h n n platining activitics such as csplained by Thierxf, klckarnp imd
GI-cecli~ig (1977), ha t plannings is an analytical fulure oricntcd activity
which implics dctesmination of dcsit*ed ob-jeclives schecluling and
specifying to accomplish stated objectives. Most of thc skills itlc~~tificd it1
this study for planning thc school h r m were therefore meant for selcctlng
of better alternatives for uchicving the set objective of the farm such as
fnrmulatirlg of specific o b j e d w , C ~ U Q S ~ $ the &st farming and ct,irpping
system, selecting desirable foundation stock, selecting suitabk svil for
planting crops etc. ?'liese &ilk when applied produce a good p h n on
which the activitics of organking and t11e pcrforrnance of r~thcr
management fi~iictio~is will occur smoothly.
In the nxmageinent limction of organislng ;he schou! farm, dghr
out 01' nine skills were identified by the teachers as maxigcmcnt skills
required fw effective f~mc~ioning of the s c h o l farm. These for
arranging the productive resources available for effective use: idcntilying
the needs of students; sourcing for and procuring farm inputs, orgnnising
breeding progralnmcs for livestock and so on are in consonance with 111~
view of Osur-rla (1995) that organising represents thc \\jay 1-csources
c.onncct togcthcr to achievc ob-jectivcs and that much depends on the skills
of the innnagel.. Thus the skills icientified for organising the school i'r~l-111
were skills involved in linking students and their needs with the available
scsousces such as capital and other inputs to achicvc the scl-loo1 farm
ob.jcctivc. Also the findings are in agreement with the observatioi~ of
?'hiel-auf et a1 ( 1977) that cestain skills are necessary for c.ftecrive
organisation of ideas and project. 'These skills identified by the teaclicrs
were rcquircd skills fbr arranging the fiictors of production as weli as
putting af h e resources both men and materials in yiacc fbl- opesarion
toward achieving sct goals of the f i l r ~ ~ ~ activities. S L I C ' ~ skills iikc
iclen~jfying the needs of' students, sourcing for and procuritig of I';lrm
inputs, assigning of specific tasks / dulics to individual students: ensuring
of acc.ountability to thc sc.hool administration and so on, are sccl~~ired
skills that focus on rcsyonsibility, authority and accountability. This is
supporlcd by the view of blackiew ( 1974) who stressed that in 01-gmising,
good authority is requir-ed and this involvcs the nbdity to inspire l'rccly
given support without having to order. Thc finclings above arc covered by
his vicw.
In ~iianagenicnt skills required for. directing S~~nctions of (he school
farm seven skills out of' ninc drawn were idcntilicd by thc tcachcrs. 'l'lie
findings agrce with the observation of Thierauf ct a1 (1977) that thu
nianagcrial f~inctions of directing perfor~ns the r~mction of providing
instruction and guiding. I t dcals, with leadership in thc school fBm, thc
tcachcr rcquircs skills to lead by cxa~i~ple. Oncc thc plan has been
forn~ulatcd and the o r g a n i d o n Iias been properly sh-uclul-cd to
accomplish drawn up plans, directing f~~nctions stimulate the 1iicn11~1-s
to\\m-ds ach~evenicnt of desired goals. Skills idcntificd in dircctins ihe
school fir111 includcd skills for supervising students in the pesfonnancc of'
farm u~osk, skills for demonstrating approved practices like application ol'
fertilizers to crops. determining soil types and properties m d so 011. - - 1 hus teachers rcquirc thcsc skills to help them guide and direct tllc
studcn~s in car.rying out lhc school farm activities.
Respondents identified all the cight managemen( ski 11s fbr
controlling he school h rm as being rcquirecl for cllcctivu firnctionil~g of
the xhool fi lm. TIlcsc skills idcntifiecl by the tcachers arc skills lor
obsclwtion, monitoring, cval~~ation, rccord keeping, regulations, and so
on. The identified skills are relcvant in thc performance of controlli~rg
functions on the school I'arm. Such controlling functions arc cIcscribcc1 by
Reeves and Woodward (1970) as the task of ensu.ing that schcdirlcd
acrivitics 1;lcrformcd arc producing the dcsircd results. Skills in contl~llilig
of the scl~ool f i l m arc required to scwe as checks by the a g r i c u l t ~ i ~ ~ l
science teacher to find out whether thc planning organking, and directing
skills applied in fitm xtivilics liavc yietdcd the desired rcsults.
SkilIs Sol. controlling activities in the school Sam such as
determining the undcrlyitig courses of' dcviation from sel o~jectivtts and
adopting alternative course(s) of action couIc1 contribuk to the
performance oS controlling Sunctions in sc.11001 farm such as nokd by
OIaitan, et a1 who emphasized that thc co~ilrolli~ig f~~nctioli of
management (cvalualion) provides the basis for dccision malting l ha~ nlay
Icacl rowad (a ) ~wiecving of a pl-ogramii~c of activity (b) rcvisirrg ~ h c '
activities of a programme and (c) for acco~rntability. Tlius these skills oi'
controlling tlic Farm activities arc very relevant for ci'fectivc fiinctiouii~g
of thc scli001 farm.
A11 the managcmet~t skills identified by thc leathers are also in
consonance with skills idcnlified indcpcndcnily by Onuchego (1978) in
animal production inanagemcnt Stone (1978) in tIic managemcnl of
tools and machincry. Duar (1983) in crop production and Olailan (1984)
in soil ~nan, d 5 cmcnt.
'I'he skills in crops ~nan;lgement are also rclcvant based on 111c'
obserwtion of castlc Bcckel- and Nelson (1987) that crop production
rmnagment involvcs intcrrelatcd decisions regarding cwp sdwtion.
cropping systcm, fei-tilisi~lg. weed, pcs~s and disease control.
In soil management, the skills idcntificd by the teachcrs agrce wrth
ski!ls put up by I-1a1-hnoun (1988) which incIude among nthcrs, skills
requircd fix selecting thc right type of soil in relation to crops to hc
grown, fertilising, sslucting and applying of soil co~:~crvation programlnes
and so on, -17hcse ski 11s ivhich are impct-ativcs ihl- good soil management
are important tincc no meaningful agricultural production can bc carried
out without good soil. 'l'hc yield of crops dcpcnds on how well the soil can
support thcir grocvh and production.
I'hc non - identification of the remaining four matlagemen1 shills
out of the thirty scvcn m y have been as a result of the respondents
perception of soinc of thc skills bascd on professional culnpetewc in
specialising areas. For instance thc formulating of fccds lor diffcrcrlt types
of livestock in thc ~ ~ I - I I I . Fecd fomulation is a spccialiscd arca in ar~ilii:tl
sclcncc atid ~-equil-cd p1.ofcssi011~11 skills. Also 6etermining nutrient
availability in h e soil tlirougll soil testing rcquirc Imnvledge a n d skill i l l
soil scicncc i t could thercforc be assunled that this was why most of he
teachel-s felt that thc skills in these areas are not require for effective
ti~ncrioning of' the school farm. They may ho~vcvrr resort to olhcr
methods of determining nutrient availability in soil and purchasing o f
fccds fi-om conimcr-cia1 sourccs.
3 - Skills I n Fa-111 ~ ~ ~ I I L L ~ C I I I C I I ~ Already Possessed By rl'enchc~s I'or
E f k c ~ i v c Ljse In l'hc School Farm.
Managclnent is vicwed as a responsibility for nchieviny desircd objcciii es
(knoutz 1963). The oxten[ to which thc objjectivcs of a business 01.
organisation is achieved depends on thc managcrs skills. ilccording to
Osuala (1995) the greater the skills of thc manager the better tllc
management. Thus the possession of farm n~anagement skills by thc
agriculture science teachers detcimines the levcl of their usc and c f f c c h c
rnanagernent of the school farm.
Thc !tsults of the findings of this stilcly rcvcaled tlial Agr icu l f~~~-a l
sciencc teachcrs possesscci sixken out of t l~c t i dvce l'antl
nsmagernent skills. idcntificd as rcIcvant for effective iisc in thc scllool
f am. This s h o ~ l s that the tcachcrs lacked more than 50 Pcr cent o r 11ie
skills I-equirccl for effective f~rnctioning of thc school farm. This revelation
confirms thc observation of Nkajemejc (1988) a11d Okcke (1991) who
indepenclcnt ly highligh tcd that Agricultural scimce [eacliel-s lack
necessary practical farm managc~ncnt skills and ahat this had hincicrl-d
their utiliwtion of the school farin in tcacliing Practicals to slucler~rs. 1 his
has also adversely cfkctcd slcill acquisition and dm elopmc~it by s tudc~~t s
which are prc- ~ ~ q u i s i t e s into agricultural occupations. 7 .
I hough the agricultural sc'rcnce teachers chimed to prosscsc
sixteen of thc lirm mnnagcmcnt skills. this i ~ u ~ n b c r coulcl not bc segarclcd
as being cnough to enable them manage the sclrml farm effcctivcly. This
may be onc of the reasons responsible for rhe non- rcalisation thc
objectives of school Farm projects. Evcn when the management skills
possessed arc applied in thc farm, desired resulls h a w always bccn
doubtfill. This is bccause for thc school farm to firnction effectively and
the set objectives achicvcd, the teachers have to possess all or almost all
thc ~~m-mgeiiieiit skills identified in this st~ldy.
3 Farm Management Skills Nceded By Teachcss Tor Improved
Perfo~+rnance In The School Farm.
The findings in the Farm ~nnnagcrnent skills 11cedcd by teachers f'or
improved pcrformancc in the school farm rcvealed thai tcachcss agrucd 10
scvcnteen out of thc thirty - thce skills idcnlified Tor effcctivc
f~~nctioning of thc school lilrln, as thc skills they necded for improi cx l
performance in the school farm. This is more than 50 Per cent of the total
number of skills required for effective fiinctioning ol'the school i'a1.m.
I t nfas also obscrved that thc skills identified by the teachers, as
tilose necded for iinpl.ovcrncnts are the sliills thcy lacked. 'l'his finding
confirms one of thc principles of necd assessment, that need is a
discrepancy between an existing situation and a .Icsirablc statc; the
clifferencc betwccn 'what is' and 'What ought to be' as put fbrward by
Nzeivi ( 1 985).
l 'he agricultural scicnce teachcrs need for morc than 50 per ccnt of
the skills rcqi~irecl ['or cl'f'cctivc fi~nctioning o f the school h-111 SO tend 10
explain why the school firm was not i~tilised for teaching and Icarning of
agr-icultural science skills i n sccondal-y schools as observed indepcndcntly
by Okotic (1974) and Etcng (1980). This is becausc the teachcrs cannot
give what they do not havc to the students. Therc would bc efl'cctii c.
managernerlt of school farms if agricultural science tcachers possessed the
rclcvant n~anagerncnt skills Uko (1977) in her study on he problems o r
schooi farm managerncnl obscrved that school agricultural p rogrmmc
could only bc unhanccd through cffcctive nianagernenl of h e scllool Sarln.
From the fbre going ~hereforc. there is nced for irnprovcment on [he
skills of a y i c ~ ~ l t u r a l science teachers to enable them acquire the skills
rhcy lack and to better disposc them for cffeclive management of scliool
farm to produce studcnts who would be job creators rathcr than job
seekers, The need for school farm managerial skill improvement had been
stressed by E ~ e u g u (1983) who cxcrted that tcachcrs nced to improve r m
thcir sk i l l s to mect thc demands of 6- 3- 3- 4 systcms of cducatiui~ wtiich
is vocational (skill) oricntcd.
Hvpothesis I
Ifypothesis I revealccl that the mean rating of'rcsponses o r teachers
with NCE. NU/ I-lND ; ~ n d degrec qualification on managemen[ skills
required for effective functioning of'thc school fasin d;STcred significantly
The dilTercnce in the mean ratings of teachcrs may havc resulted Tram t l ~ c
perceptions of the levels of requirements of these farm management skills . . due to thc Ievcl of IIIC mchcrs preparation clul-ing thcis tcachcr tra~nlng
progammcs.
A l w that thc teachers dirkred in 111cir opinion docs not rccluce thc
csedibility and sclevancc oS thc various skills as r a m managcmi-111 shill i
~ecluircci for c f r e c h e fiinclioning of thc school farm. ' l l~is is bccausc the
skills identiilcd are in line with those outlined differently by Bear (19S3),
1 00
cnstlc, Recker and Nclson ( 1 987) in crop production tnanagemcnt; Olnilan
1084. and Hastmoun ( 1 988) i n soil ~nanagement~ Onuchego (1 978) In
livestock Inanagelncnt. Massic ancl Douglas 1973, and stonc (1978) ill
tnanageinent of farm equipment and tools.
Th~ls the skills identified by the leachers are the skills requil-cd lix
rffectivc planning organising clirccting and corltsollin~ of farm activities
which include crop production, soil managcment livestock ~nanagemcnt
and managemenl of f3m cq~~ipmcnt and tools.
Hypothesis 2
I-Iypothcsis 3, showcd that the lalean rating O F the responses of NC'E
tcachers, ND / I IND teachers and cicgre~ holders on skills lhcy posscssud
for effect~vc usc in tlic scl~ool farm differed sigificaaltly. This means that
the management skills posscssecl by these different gsoups of tcachers arc
different. The difference in \he Icvcl of possession of skills by tllo
agricultural science teachers wcrc not unconnectccl ivith thc nloclc o r
system of' preparation of the ~eacher which bordcrcd on admir~istration,
trainec interests and cur'ricular contcnt aS the tcczcl~er prcyaratirsts vis - a -
v ~ s their job at gracluntion. As idcntifieb by Ohitan (1996), there arc tiko
mocks or systems of preparing NCE vocational 1 Technical teaclms lor
skilled progranmes in secondary schoolu. Okiifnn obscrvccl that in the
single control mock. vcwaticm;ll tcchtaical pri~grrtn~mcs are be~tc r plna~~iucl
and in~plernentecl than in the d u d controI mwle whcre the pragranmcs
were sun in the same institution with gcncral cducation bias, with ICSS
emphasis and attention to the technical disciplines. Thus teachers prcparect
under thc singlc conlrol system would be better equipped with skills and
would possess mose skills and be more effcclive than thosc prepared in
dual control system wherc the heads of the institutions are of k c gcncrnl
cducation bacicg~-o~~rlcl and know Iittlc or nohing aboul voca~ior~~d i
technical education pl-ogranmcs and their neects. particularly agl-icull~~sai
science and thc component school farm activities.
Another cause of the di ffercnce in farm nianagclnent hl\ ills
possessed by thc different categories uf agricultural science wud~er-s !nay
be froin the cur+ricular which the teachers were exposed to during training.
The universities colleges of technology / polytec1mics and colleges of
cducation operate with scparatc cur-riculat- in thcir teacher- pro pa^-ation
progl-ammcs. The occupational programmes are not harmoniscd nrnollg
these categories of teachers l~ence the disparity in the possession of skills
for cffcctivc use in h c ~mnagenlcnt of school film.
Another reason for the significant diffcrencc in the levcl of skill.
possession of the teachers may be thc disparity in the levcl ul' tBcilitic~
available and employcd in the teacher preparation in the diffcsent
preparation schools tllcsc fiwilitics includc lecturers, equipment and tools.
finance and adequate time fos thcorics. practicals and de~nonstrations
Some of the scl~ools better equipped with thesc facilities than others,
'Therefbrc the trainers in the bctter equipped institutions would be better
disposed ro bccome products with relevant school h r n r nianagclnenl skills
o n graduation.
I'his is in linc with tho suggestion made by Olairm (1990) that
vocational tcchnical pi-ogl.a~nmcs in schools which could no1 inect thc
accrcdilatlon rcquiwmmts Sor vocational. / technical rcachcr [raining in rhc
universities should bc transfcrcd to Polytechnics / Collegcs of Iccl~~iology
/ collcges off education whcre racilitics are available and call be shared.
Hyposthesis 3
The t.csult of hypothesis testing on managcment skilk n~cded by
NCE, ND/ HND and degree hoIders for improved pcribrmance in the
school farm ~wca led hat [lie teachers dificred significantly in h e n i w n
ratings of their opinions, This implics that thc teackrs clikred
significantly in the skills they need for improved pclfoorrnancc in the
school farm.
The cause of h c diffcrcncc in thc sillcs needed for improvcmen~ by
tile difh-cnt tcach~r-s in ~ h c qualification levcls could be seen as a resull ol'
the disparity in the managerwrit skills posscsscd by tlxc teachcl-s. Since tllc
tcachers ciiffcred in the tnanagunlcnt skills they posscssed for effcctivc use
i n the school f i s ~ n , those skills Ihey lackcd are 111e skills they need
improvement o11 hence the diffei-cnce.
CHAPTER FIVE
SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION
This chaplc~ pxxnts the sumniary of the rescar-ch, problc~iis.
purpose of 11w s~ucty. nietliodology and the tmj01- [inclings. . fhe
conclusions. ~.ecomincnrlations and suggestions for further studies arc also
discusscd.
Restatement of the Problcrn:
The need for skill devclopmeni and occupationaI education was onc
of thc major reasons for the introduction of thc 0-3-3-4 systcin of'
cducation in Nigcsin which sawi tlic introduction cf practical Agriculti~rc /
agr~cultul-a1 science in secondary school systcm. 11 was envisaged rhar the
in1roduclion of tllcse vocational programme in the two-tier secondary
levels would cnable btiidc~its clevclop skills rclevanr f'or jobs i l l
agriculture. The devclopment of skills rclevant for job En agricuhmre
dcpends on effcc.tivc management and utilisation of t l~c school fmn i n
teaching and lcarning processcs. Studics by Nkqjcra~eje (1988) and Okekc
( 1 09 1 ) rcvealcd dif'kren tly that ngricul turd scicme teacl~crs werc nor
utiiising thc sct~ool form 10 improvc thc teaching or agricultural science.
because they laclted neccssaly practical nxmagcinent skilk. Schoali
mspec~ol-s and supervisors in Imo State repwiud lack of etil'edvc
management nncl utilisatiu~i of sc.11ool farms as OIK' of the cauws oi' tile
student's lack of interest and nun-acquisition of relcvant agricult~~ral
skills. Inorder to make the Inio State Government actualise the new
direction of providing qualitalive education, to c w y child and maltirlg
agricultural scicncc one of the ctisciplincs, studen~s can IWW develop enlry
- level skills for economic sul-viva], There is therefore R C ~ for kacliers lo
improvc upon tlmcir skills to enable them management kc school farms as
effective laboratories for students to acquirc entry level skills to prepse
thrm for a g r i c t ~ h - a i occupations. -I'his study ivas ~hcrefbre elndertrthen
sl~ccilicaliy to achicvt. h c following:
( 1 ) Determining farm management skills squired by tcachers Ifor
cfl'ective f~inctioning of the school I'rzrnm.
(2) Detcrtilining management skills already possesscd b). thc
agricd~ural science teachers
(3) Determining hrm management sldls needed for- in~proveinent bv
agricultural sciencc teachers for contr-olling school farm aclivi~ics.
Description Or Pr~cedurc,~UsccI
fielevant Liter;~tirscs werc rc-vicwed on major cor~xpls of the topic. I'hrcc
1-escarch questions and three Ilypotheses were anscvercd and tcstud
respectively by thc stucly. A total population of five hundred and f i f i l
three agricultural science teachers were uscd for the study. A structurcct
ql~estionnairc was developed, valida~ed by experts and uscd lo clicit
responses froin the teachers. 1;ivc hundscd and fifty threc questionnair-cs
werc distributed while Iivc hundred were completed and returned
comprising of two hundrcci and nincty-degrec holders, one hundlcd and
sixly N.C.E. holders and llfty NDkIND holdcrs reflecting ninely pcr- cent
return. 'fhc data obtaincd werc analyscd using frequency, meail anti
standard deviation to answer the rcscarch questions while analysis of
variance (ANOVA) was used to tcsl thc hypothescj.
Major Findings Of Thc Study: Form thc data collcctecl and
analyscd the major findings of the s t ~ ~ d y are as follows.
1 ) Thirty-thrce (33) fasin managcment skills wcrc sccpirecl for
effcctive fi~nctioning of h e school farm.
3 ) Agricultural scicnce teachers posscsscd less than fifty (50) per cent
of h r m management skills rcq~lired for effective use in 111c school
fill-m .
3 ) Agricultural science teachers nccd improvement in more than fiSty
(50) per cent of the management skills required for improvcci
performance in ~ h c school farm.
Couclr~sio~l:
'I'hu fbllocving cot~clusions were drawn based on tho findings 01-
thc study.
Management skills in platuling organising, d'irecting and
conlrolling are requircd by agricultural science t e a c h s for erective
functioning of the school farm. l'hese fan11 management skills rcq~~ired
were identi ficd.
Agricultui.al science teachcrs lack most of the farm mnnagcrnenl
skills requii-cd for cf'icctive use in the school faarm.
Management skills neciled for improved pcrfornlance in the sc l~oo 1
farm by agricultural scicncc teachcrs were idcntificd and if ' the skills wcsc
ilnprovcd upon thc teachers w o ~ ~ l d be equipped with skills that wul~ld
enable thcin managc school Firms eITcctively for the benefit of the
st udcn ts
Inlplicntions Of Tlw Stady
'I'hc s ~ u d y has in~plications for training and retraining of' tcachoi-s in
Agr*icultusal s c i c ~ ~ c c .
If the identified skills rcquired for effective managcmcnt of the
school farm are inlegrated into agricultural education programmtrs of
colleges of education and fxultics of education in the Univcrsitics and
LI t i h e d for training of teachers, they would equip would-be agricdti~ral
science teachcrs with thc relcvant h n n managcrncnr skills which wo~~lc l
enable them managc the school fdrdrm ef'fcctively for the realisation of
spcciticd objectives.
Also il' the identilicd skills needed for impri~ve~nent arc orgal ~ised
into ivork shops or short courscs and utilised for- retraining of' I ic lr l
tcachess of agsicultusc it would help them improvc tllcir peifoi.mam-e in
rhc inanagemmt of school farm for thc bcneiits of stuckr~ts ancl
community in agricultural production,
I ron the contrary. thcse skills are not integrared inlo agricul~usal
tcachcrs training ptngralnmcs, the problem of teacher's inability to
manage the school far111 will linger. on.
Rtxommrndations:
Froin tho findings of this research, i t is recotnn~enclcd that:
I . Fac~~lties of education in universities and other institutions
involved in tcaclm preparation should Incorporate specific
prac~ical l'arm ~ilariagume~it skills from this slr~cly inlo their training
programmes in order to equip would - bc teac.hel-s with the skills
for good pcrlbr~i~at~ce aftcr graduation.
7 . The oSl?cials ol' ministry of education should usc the findings of
this research io organise tvorksllops and seminars for thc retraining
of tcaclws in the ficld.
3 -. Agriculturd science 1cac1ioi.s cul-I-ently kaching in secondarj,
schools. should be accoin~nodatetl on short duration pl.ogramliles to
improve on skills they Iackcd for effective ~nanagement of tliu
school farm.
Srrggestions For Fu rthcr f<esenrclr
Study shoulcl bc conducted to isolate the skill needs of dif ' lcrc~~~
groups of tcachers (N.C.E, NDkfND, degree) on rhe school h-la
management for l x q - m c of providing training and retraining tu ~nnhc
the111 more effective.
Adains. J.F. (1980). The Challenge of estabhshing a school Sarrn.
A~ricnl tura l Education Magazine 53 (7).
Adechja, 1.0. ( 1 992). 1'1-aining and Leamirig Prwcss. Lagos:
On~cga Pwss.
Adeleke, G.O.& Lawal S.A. (1998). Improving thc ~~iianaqernent of
SCIIOOI fami i l l Secondary Schools in Itesiwajtl L,G.A. Ojw S h k . . --
Unpublished B.Sc, thesis. U.N.N.
Adeniji, h4.O. ( 199 1 ). Countdown to Senior Secondary Certif'ic31o
Examination: Aqricul tural Science. Nigeria: Evans Pub. LTD
Aclerelcgbc, A. ( 1986). Educatitig Nigeriar~s in thc cighlies;
Technical and TecImological Eclircatiora in Nigeria 111 B.O. IJkcjc. (ED).
Issucs and Conccrns i n Eclucatimal Acl~ninistratioii Lagos: TvIacn~illii~ti
Nigeria I-'~tbs.
I O.N. ( 9 ) Ulilisation u f sc11001 far111 for llir
Tmprovemcn\ of T C ~ C I I ~ I I P / I ~ I - ~ C L I ~ ~ U I ' ~ ~ Science in Senior S e c o n d a ~
school in Rcnue State, Unpublished Ph.I). Thesis, University of Niycria,
Nsukka.
A g ~ s i o b o , O.N. a n d Olairan, S.0. (1981). Introduction lo tlic
teaching of I-lomc Ecormt~~ics. Chiclicster: John Wiley. -
Anclcsson, W.C. (1975). Propagation of lil~odench-ons by tissuc
culturc. Uevelclgrnent of a c ~ ~ l t u r c 111ediun1 for multiplication of schools
India: Prenticc-I Iall.
Anlhonia, N. (1979) Manacc~nent accounting. London: Longman.
Rear, F.P. (1953). Soil and Fcrtilizcrs. New York. Wiley ancl Sons
Inc.
Blaci,ic, W. ( 1 97 1 ). 'Authority' S A M . Advanccd h / lana~cmc~i t
Journal Oct. 197 1 , 47-45.
Bod~niun, G.B. & I<u'uin, .I. (1970). Soil Puddling. Soil sciemt:
society jo~~l-nal I3 27-30.
Bradford, I.A. & Johnson. G.L. ( 1 962). Farm Managcmcg
Analysis. London: John W'ilcy and Sons Inc.
Castle. E.N; Beckcr, WI.11. & Nelson A.G. (19137). Far111 busitless
Managetnenl the decision-making process. New York: ~Macm illan Pu blisIless.
Gl~arles, F.F. & Jiggins. 3. (1986). Agricultural rcsexch for
resource-poor farlners. A spersimoniaus Paradigm. Discussio~i Paper 230.
Brighton: PUS. University ol' Sussex.
Darcy, C.M. ( 1 974). 'l'hrue Stagus in dcvcloping competency bascd
teacher Education (CB'E) PIiI Delta Kappa11 VoI. 55 ( I).
Ekong, A . 0 . ( 1 (197). School farm and narcten M a n a , q e r ~ i a
Lecture Manual. Uni\ of Agricultural Education. University of Uyo.
Eteng, I.A. (1980). A changing Pattcrn of Socialisation and 111ci1*
impact on national dcvelopmcnt. issues in National de~:elopment.
Ewing. D. (1964). (ed) Long ranee ~ ! a n n h g for h ~ I a n a ~ c ~ n u n l .
New Yosk: I Iarpcr and Kow.
Ezugu. L C . (1983). A comparative study of the role of
vocational educn1m-s i n thc 6-3-3-4- systcm of education as perccivecl-bv
vocatio~nl Educators and ~ k i r e~nployers in Anambra State. UnpubJisI~c~I
R. Sc Thcsis U.N.N.
Farrcl, J. ( 1 983). The school farm: Educating through Laboratory
experience. Aq.icr11tural Education maxazinc 56 (3).
Fayol, 1-1. (1949). General and Industrial Manaqenicnt. trans
constancc storcs. London, Pitman P. 107
Fcdeml Ikpublic of Nigeria, (1951). National lJolicr on Educalinti,
Lagos: N,E.R.C. Prcss,
Finch. A. I Iamilto~~: 1.B. (1975). Issues in thc Implemenlation (JI '
perfortnancd co~npctency I3ascd 'l'cacher Educat io~~ Prograrnnie. Jourlml
of industrial 'reacher Eb~~c;ction Vol. 12, No 4.
Forclineimer, 0. (1977,). Accountability for Fimctional Execr~lives:
S.A.M. Advanced Mana.~emonl Journal P. 15-20,
Glass. E.H: & -1-hiii,nsto~i, [I.D. (1978). Traditional and modc1.11
Crop production in Perspoctivc. Biosicencc Journal (109).
Ha1.tina11, iI.'1'; Koli-anclc, A.M; Iiubatzky, V.E.& Flockcr, F. 1 .
(1983). Plant Science: Growth, development and utilisation of cultivalcd
plants. Nciv .Jesscy: I<cgenr/prenticc hall.
Hauston, W. ( 1970). Cotnpetcncy based teacher Educalion,
progress, ProbIcms and prospects. W.B. Hauston & B.R. I-Inwon (ED)
Chicaqo Science Rescnrch Association.
Humby, A S . ( 1795). Oxf'urd advanccd Learner's dictionary -d
current English. .I. Csowthel. (Ed) ncw York: Oxford Univcssity PI-oss.
Horsey, P.& D1anchat.d. K.1 I . ( I 972). ~Vanagenlent of
Orqanisational Bcliaviour. lltilising human resocrccs. New Dellli:
prenticc hall.
I-lull, I I.S. (1 972). Mehods and ProbIcms in apprenticeship systcrn
New York: The Ccntusy Ibbs.
International rice Them-ch institute (IRRI), (1973). Tropical rice
gsowcrs handbook. Uaitin~ore: The John's Hopkins Press.
Iwuanyanw, . (1986). Identification of strategies fbr
Motivating Studenls' interest in farm Practicals in Secondary Schools i n
Aniocha L.G.A. of Bcndel State. UnpubIished BSc Thesis UNN.
Juma, C. (1987). Ecological Ccmplexitics and agrici11tu~J
Innovations. The use of indcgenous genetic resources in Bungama,
Kcnya. I'i~pcr pr-exntcd at IDS Workshop on Farmer and agriculturxl
research. Cor-np1cmentar.y Method. Brighton. University of' Susscx.
Kenedft, C. cPr. 13eachell, 1-I.IM ( 1974). Response of' India-Japmica
rice hybrids to low tempcsatul-es. SABKO JOURNAL, 6 17-32.
Klein, F.M. (1985). The Mastcr teachcr and cul-1-iculu~n I.,eader+ 'I']lc
I,lemmta~-v School Journal 86 ( 1 .)
Knoutz, 1 I . ( 1963). Making Sense of' management Theory. Harvasd
business. Vol, 40 No 4 July- ,4ugust.
Leagan, J.I1. (197 1). Extension and lModernisation,. In J.P. Lcagan
& C.P Loomis (ED). Bchaviournl Change in Agricullure - ItI~aca ncw
Y o l k
Massic. J.L. L! Douglas, J . (1973). Mar~aging a contemporary
introduction. Englcivood CIiKs: PI-incc-ha11 Inc. ----
N kajemcje, M. ( I 988). The school Carna. A p a p s prxsc~rtcd at thc
state workshop Ibl- Agri~~~ltur-a1 Sciencc teachrts. Erlugu.
Nivachukwu, in. ( 1998). An enterprise fcr a school A paper
presented at the state worksl~op for Agricultura1 sc ie~~ce P a n i d of science
Teachcrs Association of' Niguria (STAN). Oivesri.
Nzcwi. U.M. ( 1 985). Competencies needed and possessed by
tcachcrs oi' Primary scicnce. An unpublished M.ED. Thcsis. Univcrsily ol'
Nigeria.
Orbtad, 11. (1961). A n inquiry illto the ficedorn of Decision,
London: Allen anti IJn\ \ l i~i .
Ogbazi, N.J. (109 1 ) . P~*oduction Technique in A~riculturc. The
school Farm. Unpublished h4anuscript. UNN.
Ojukwu, V.I. (1992). An anajysis of the school T a m as effective
tool in thc teach in,^ of a~ricultural sciencc in Secondary Schools in
Aniocha and Njikoka L.G.A. Unpublished t3 .S~. Project U.N.N.
Okekc, 13.0. ( 9 I ) P~.ofessional irnprovenicnt r~ceds of
a~ricultural Science teachers in Sc.conda~y Schools, Wnplishccl B. Sc,
Thesis, U.N.N.
Okekc, C.C. (19%). An evaluation of the Comparative
effectiveness of IWO inst~wtional approaches upon science studcnts
ad-lieuemen t and a11i ti~dc, UIIPLI blislled PI1.T). ' f ies is- 'EJnivc~*sily ol'
N igcria N s L ~ ! ~ ka.
Okorit., J.U. (1983). Agricultural Science for teachers t r a i n i ~
co1leces. Singapo1.c: 1-luntsmen OSfxt publishers
Okoric, S. tJ . (l9SX). AjiricsrItural Science Tor scnior S e c n i ~ d a ~
Schools.Nigcria: Summcr cducalional Publishers.
Oltorie. J,U. (1988). Carccr guide fbr schools. Nigeria: summer
educational publishers
Okoric, J.U. ( 1998). Teaching and Lcarning Manipulative ski 11s.
Lecture hanclau~. llnivursi~y oC Nigeria nsukka.
Okorie, J.U. 22 IJzc-ii, S.C.O.A. (1988) Elcments of' ~uidancc,
vocational and careur I ?ducam Onitsha: Sulnmcr uducational pub1isl1c:r.s
Ltd.
Olaitan, S.O. (1975). A strategy for improving thc tcac1lin.g of
g ~ i c u l t u r a l sc icn~e ilt the secondary school level in Ondo State-a'
Nigeria. New Yol-k: CO~IICII University.
Olaitan, S.O. (1984). &I-icultul-a1 education in thc rsopics. Loudon:
Mac~nillan publishers.
Olai tan, S .O. ( 1 984). Vocational cclucation and National Inn11
power dcveiopmcnt constraints and slsategics. Thc Vocational Educator.
Nsukka: University oi' Nigeria
Olaitan, S.O. & Ogbazi, J.N. (1938). Educating for relevance: A
case for thc intcgratim of work experience skills into Senior Seconcluy
School vocational Programme in Nigeria. In Eti~ii (ed) Iietevancc&
Nigeria education. UNI.IOS.
Olaita~i, S.O. & Ag~~siobo, N.N. (1981), I'rinciplcs or' Practice
teaching,Chichesrcr: Wiley.
Olaitan, S.O. Agwubuike, C.C. & Akubilo C.J.C. ( I 99 1 ) . J~mior
Secondar)! a ~ r i c ~ [ t ~ r r e Nigel-ia: Longman.
Olnitan, S.O. &L Ali, A. (1997). 'The n i a k i n ~ - or 0 c r r r r i c u h ~
(Theory, process, product aid evaluation). Onitsha: Cape Publishers
Internatio~ial Limitcd.
Oll-titan, S.O. cYr. Fkong, A.O. (1999). Prcfxe To Operalions
Research Onitslia: Capc P~~blisher-s International Limited. --
Olaitan, S.O. Nc\~acliukc\~ii, C.E. Otiyemachi, G.A; Igbo, C.A. C !
Ekong, A.O. ( I 999). Cwiculum development and mana.qement
vocational tectmical Education. Onitsha: Cape PuI)lishers International
Limited.
Olivin. P.F. (1976). Supervision for today's SchuoI. New York:
Onszi, O.C. (1974). An analysis of the training needs of potential
Agricultural es!c.nsior~ workers in Northcrn Nigeria. Jounlal of rural
Economic clcvclopmcnt Yol. 0 No. 3 .
Onuchcgo, E. (1976). I-low can we tackle successfully our acute
meal shortagu pl-oblcm.. Sundev Observer Benin City: Pg. 9.
Onwi~cmc, I . C. & Sinlm, T.0. (199 1). Field Crop prodi~ction in
tropical Afi-ica. Netherlatmlds: c.T.A. Ede Publishers.
Os i~a la , E.C. (1095). IJrincip!es and Practicc of Small busincss
manngemccin Ni.qeria. Nsukka: FuIladu Publishing Company. -
Phipps. I ,.Y. ( 1 972). ffandbook on a~riculturr \ l education i n h b l &
Scliools. Danvilc, illinoise: The Interstate Printers and Publishcrs Inc.
Phipps. L.Y. S- Cook. G.C. (19GS). Handbook o m
vocational ay-icul1ul.c.. Danvilu. Illinoise: Thc Inte~sltale Printers.
Plaster, 1J.J. (l(102). Soil Science and ~Vanagentent: I n s t r u c _ t s
guide. New York: Delmar Publishcrs.
I ~ c w c s , T.K. Sr Woodward, J. (1970). "The study of management
conlrol" Industrial 0r.qanisatfon: Behavioui* and control (cd) .I.
Woodward. l*onc.fo~l: Oxford Univc.1-sity press.
Simmons. I ! .A. ( l c ) ( ~ O ) . The new science of rnc?na,qcrnent Decision.
NCW Yolk: Hnrpcr & Row.
Stonc, J. A. F. (1978). Management. London: Prenticc Hall.
Thict-uaf, R. 1.: Klckamp, R.C. & Gte~ding, D.W. (1977).
Manawment Principles and Practices. A Cor~tirlgeixy and Queslionnrtirc
Approach. New York: John Wilcy & Sons.
Torshcn, 1C.I'. ( 1977). Tl~c h4astet-y approach to co~npetencv-bi~sed
education New York: Academic Press.
Uclo, A.U. (1980). Mc?nc?gynent Ibr a dynamic Economy. Cciltre
for Managen~cnt Devclopincnt. Im~gman Publishers.
Uko: L. L! LIIU. S. (1997). I't.able~ns iaf hlanagc~nent 01' s d ~ r ~ o l
~ ~ ~ P [ I I S i n Elil~nrn L.G.A. Llt~publisl~cd t3 .S~. l'hesis. University ol'Ilj,o.
Upton, M. ( 1973). Farm Managenlent irm Africa. 'fhc p r i n c i p z
of Production and Planning: London: London University Prcss.
WaIton, E.V. & 1-Iolt. O.M. (1965). Profitahlc Southern Craps.
Engle\vood T 1 ifF: I't.cnticc-1 Iall lnc,
M;at\s. R. ( 1980). Our Future ciepcnds 011 us. Aj.yicultural Educat im-I
60 (210).
Webster Encyclopedic unabridged dictionary of 11ic Englisll
Language, ( 1994) Ncw York: Gramcrcy books.
WiIliams, S.K.T. ( 1978). Rural Development in Nigcria. Ile lfc:
University of Ere.
Woln-ian (1973) in Ezeji, S.C.O.A. (1999) I,ecture hardout
LJnivcrsity of Nigcriil, Nsukka.
Youdcowci, A: Kadigama, 5.K; Ogbazi , J.N & Adcsiyan, S.O.
(1987). Junior Scconda1-rl A a r i c ~ ~ I t t ~ l ~ for Nigerian Schools. Lagus; Wcst
African book publishers Limited.
Zurub , A.Ii. and I iu bba. P.A. ( 1 983). Development and Validation
of a11 ins~nlmenr to assess scimcc kacl~crs' needs in developing counll ius.
Journal of Iiesearch in sciencc Teaching Vol. 20 Nu 9.
APPENDIX I
UNIVERSITY OF NIGERIA NSUKKA
DEPARTMENT OF VOCATIONAL TEACHLX EDUCATION
QUESTIONNAIRE
'Topic: Skill Impsovcineni Ncccls of Agricultural Scicrm Tcachers 170s
Effective Manageincnt Of School Faun in Seco~~daly Schools In 11110
State.
Dear respondent,
This instruincnt is ~ncant for eollcction oS data on (hc skill
irnprovemcnt nccds of agricultural scicnce teachers, with the intent ion of
making hem manage the school f i ~ r n ~ s cffectivcly for thc bendit of
agr~icultusal scicnce students in sccondal-y schools in 11110 Statc.
You arc plcase rcq~~ustcd to give your honcst responses to thc
questions asked. yous iniosmation % i l l be treated in confidence.
MGBEAHUFtIKE M. N (Mrs.)
APPENDIX I1
Department of Voc. Tr. Ediicatiori.
University of Nigeria,
Nsukka.
October 2,2000.
The Principal of Stcondaty Schools,
Imo Stale.
L 1.m m OF INTRODUCTION
h4l-s Mgbuahcri.ikc Mauroen N. is a Post p d u a t u Studcnt of tlw
dcpariiiienl of Vocational Teacher Education of thc University of Nigcria
Nsukka.
She is undertaking a rcsearch on Ihc Skill improvement nceds of
Agricultural Science l'cachcrs.
Please givc hcr h e co-opcratiot~ and assistance shc ncecls.
-1 hanks you.
. . . . I . . . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . . .
Head of Department
Reliability of lnstrl~~i ient
The adn~inistsation of the instrument using test re-test rrrethod yiuldcd t l~c
following reliability ~ v i l h Pearson product momen1 correkition coefficient
(r)
r sy = zxy
rxy = Correlation coefticicnt bctween X and Y
xy = Sum oSci*oss products of deviation scores Scu-
X and Y.
Ss..Sy = Standard deviatior~ of X and Y scores
11 - Number. of paired observation.
Part
I I
I I I
I V
FORMULAR FOR ANALYSIS OF VARIANCE USED FOR TESTING
THE THREE HYPOTHESES
a) Toal S u m ofsquares (TSS)
b) Sum of Squares .ctwc.cn group: (SS,,)
c) Rcsiclual Smi of Squares (Sum of' Squares within groups)
(ass)
d) (if between gl-oups = (42 -I)
G = n u m bcr of groups.
df within groups = (nl-1 ) -I- (11~ - I ) + (n3 - 1)
APPENDIX V
FORiMULAK FOR CALCULATING CORRELATION IWI'IO (E')
E' = TSS - RSS
TSS
Where:
E' = C:orrcla~ion ratio
'TSS = Total sum CIS Squ~~res
KSS = Residual Sum of squares
(sum of s q u m s within groups)
QUESTIONNAIRE
Topic:Skill improvcmen~ needs of Agricultural Scicncc teachers, I'or
cffectivc mar~agumcnt of school fru.n~ in secondary schools in 1n.10 Sti~ic.
PART l
INTRODUCTION: I'lcasc insert chcck (4 ) insiclc thc box as applicable
to you
PERSONAL DATA
1. Name of school ( )
7 -. Qr~ali fication
a) N.C.E. ( )
B) NIYHND ( 1
C ) I ) c ~ " c ( 1
1NSTRUCTlON Please check (4 the response in the colu~nn which
expresses your opinion regarcting the management skills required fbr
effective iitnctioning af the school farrn,
Very highly r cqu i td VMR
1-I ighty rcquired 1-1 R
Averagely rqu i~ .ed AR
Sligh tlg r e q u i d SR
Not required N XI
Manogenlen[ skills required ibr planning of t!;c scliool fami
T'l-te folloi~ing skills arc required far cfl'cctivc
Planning of 11ie school Lmn:
Fomulatil~g oI' specific Objectives
for ~ l ic firm.
Choosing the best fanning
and coppilag systems
Selecting suitable soil for planting crop:
Dclemining what crops ilnd
livestock to product.
Selec~ing dcsirablc Soundation stock
fo t- h~isbanclry I'ractices
Selecting chemicals tbr use in
controlling wecds. pests, Parasites
and diseases of crops and animals
Selecting of soil conservation
programmes lo be crnbarked upon.
Selecting appr-oprialc fcoding stuffs
for fccd form~~lalion
Plnnnillg breeding progrnmlncs ibr animals
Budgeting for the school farm
planning for t lw procul,cmcnl of hrnm ~ n p u t s
Skills for organising tlie school farm
incluclc ~ h c skills of
Arranging thc 111-otluche resources
available for cffcctivc usc.
Idcnti fyiiig thc ~ w d s of students
Sa~~rcir'tg for i ~ t l r l ~vocuring ol' l'a1-n-t inputs
Assigning spccific tasks/ duties/ portion
of tfic farm to individual students
Organising brcecl in2 programmes for
farm animals
Preparing annual farin Calendar.
Iden~ifying and analysing the problcrns
emanating during thc running of tlie
school f'arm.
Formins con~n~irtces lix- spccilic Surm act~vi l ics
Ensuring accountability to tlic school
administration on tlie running of thc
school faun.
Management skills I-ccluirerl for
directing tllc school Lrm~ include the
skil!s for:
S~pcrvising of'st~ldcnt work in the farm
Applyins appropria[c Sci4lizcrs to crops
Supervising ~ h c maintcna~~cc and storagi
of farm tools and equipment.
Delermining soil types and properties
in relation 10 crops to bc plantcd.
Fosmuiating feeds for diffcrwt types
of livosrtck i t I lhc ht~irn
detem-rini~~g nu&nl availability
in soil alrrough soil tests.
Feeding of livestock wirh the right
feed and quantity.
Controlling weeds, pcsts, parasites
and Aiseascs oI'cl-ops and animals
Making and it-rrpletnenting c1ec.isions
Management skills required Ibr
contrdiug tho ~cI-7001 fartn incluclc thc
skills for
making obsewa~ion on the perfbrn~ance
of s~uden ts in rhc Fwn.
Plaki~ig proper i nvcrrtuly ol'rhc farm
assets.
Keeping accurate records of financial
involvelncn[ in the f irm
Monitoring tlic movemc~il of hrm
tools during pracricals \vor.k i r x thc farm
Carrying out periodic uvaluation of
complctcd tasks by students.
Dotermining the ~~nclerlying causes
of deviation Srom set objcctivcs.
Adopting alternative course of action to
achieve set objectives.
Applying disciplinary action.
PART I11
Farm management skills alueady possessed by teachers for effective
use in the school ti11.111.
INSTRUCTION: Plcase check in appropriate column the lcvel at
which you posscss the management sltills
VMP= Very liiglily possessed. HI3= Highly possessed AP= Averagely
possesscd, S1' = Slightly, Possessed, N P Not posscsseci.
(41 what lcvcl do you posscss llic Ibllowing
n~anagcment skills Sor:
Planning of thc school fB1-111
forii~ulating specific objective for the
farm
Choosing tho best farming and
cropping syslcms
S ~ l e c ~ i n g sui~ahlc soil for planting crops
Detcl-ming crops and livcsrock to proclucc.
Selcc.ting desirable fo~indation stock
for husbandry practices.
Selecting chen~icals for Ltse in
controlling weeds, pcsls, parasites and
diseases of crops and rmilnals.
Sc Icc~ ing ol'so~l cwlscl.varion programn-ie l a
bc cmbarkcd upon in h e school h r m
Planning breeding programlnes for
farm animals.
B~ictgcting for t l ~ school i n n .
Planning for Ihc procuretnent of fanu
inp~lls
(B) Organising of thc school farm
Arranging thc protluction resources
available fbr cffeclive use.
Identifying the necds of students
Sourcing for and procuring Tam inputs
Assrgning spccific tasks / dutics / portions of
thc larm LO inclividual sludents.
Organisin2 bl.cctling progJammx
for farm animals.
Preparing, ant~ual far111 cnlenciar
I d c n t i f j ~ i n ~ cncl analysirsg h c problems
emanating cl i~ing the r~iilniiig ofthe
school farm.
Ensuring accountability to the school
administration on thc sunning of tlic
school farm
Dircctjng of'tlic school f i l m
Supervising of sti~dcnts work in the farn
Applying appropsiale fcl-iilizcrs to crops
Strpcsvising thc mainterlance and storagl
of farm tools and cquipmcn~.
D e t m ~ i n c soi! types nnc! proper~ics
in rclation to crops to be planted.
Fccdirig of livestock with the rig111 fced
and quantity.
Contr-olling w r d s . pcsts, parasite. and
diseases oi'crups a d Fxni animats.
Makin2 and irnplcn~cnting ciccisions
Making observation on tho pdormancc
of studen~s in tllc I'arnl.
Making Isroper iwcntory of the fir111
assets.
Keeping accuratc r*ccords o f the
financial involvements ol'thc farin.
Monitorirlg the ~nownen t of fal.in tool:
during practical i w r k in ilic hrm
Carlying out pcriodic evaluation of
coinpletcd tasks by students
Detcl-r~iini~lg tl~c i~ndoriying causes
of dwiation Srom sct objjectivcs.
Adopting altomat ivc courses of
action to achiuvc sct objectives.
Applying discipli~inry action.
Selecting appropria~c feeding stuffs
for fccd foriiiirlation.
PART 9V
35
36.
37.
F a m manngcmcn[ skills nccdcd by tcacliers fur i t~~provcd
perfbrinancu in the school lam.
Furinulating feeds for different
ty,pcs OF Eivmtock in the farm
Fornming commitlees for specific
farm aclivhies.
De~crmining nutrien\ availability
in soil through soil resting.
INSTRUCTION: Plcase clicck in appropriate column the level at
which you necd tlw rnanagcnlcnt skills
VHN= Vcry highly nccdcti. HN = Highly needcti, AN = Averagely
needed, SN= Slighlly necded, NN = Not needed.
At what levcl do you need
Thc Solloiving m:~~mync t l t
skills for:
Irnpr~vccl pl;m~ilig offhe school
Fomulating ol'specific ol~jectivcs
for thc school farm.
C11wsing the best farming and
cropping sys~cms.
Selecting suikhlc soil fo r planting crops
Dcterniining what crops and livestock
to produce.
SeIecting desirable fouridation stock
for husbandry practices
Selecting ch~~t i ica ls for use in controllin
weeds, pests, parasites and diseascs
of' hr-m animals
Sclccling nf soil co~~sci~vol ion programmes
LLI 1 3 ~ embarked upon in ttic school.
Planning brceding progrnnimes for
fwn animals
B~~Igeling for the school f'arm.
Pla~ming for the procurement
of farm inputs.
B) Improved Organising of the
school farm.
Arranging tht. productive resources
available for e ffcctivc usc.
Identifying the nceds ol'studcnts
Sourcing for and procuring farm inputs.
Assigning spxifir: taskskluticsi portions
of thc farm ro individual students
Organising brceding programmes hi-
farm aninlals
Preparing annual farm calcnclar.
Identifying and analysing thc problerns
emanating c t ~ r r i ~ y h c running of the
school famm.
Ensuring accountability to the school
acln~inistration on the running of thc
school farm.
C) Improvcd directing of the school
fa rrn
Supcr.vising students ~vo1.1~ in the Fann
Applying appiqxiatc ferlilizers to crops
Supervising thc mainlenancc and storage
of farm tools and quipment.
Determining soill ly lscs and properties
in relation to crops to be planted
Fecding of liws!mk with right feed
and quantily
Controlling s~~cccls. pests! parasites
and diseases ol'crops and animals
Malting and iml~lcnwntirig decisions.
Improved contidling of scllool far11-i.
Making obscsvation in tlie perforn~ance
of students in 1I1c 1;~-~n.
Making psopcr inventory of the farm assets.
Keeping accurate I-ecords of the
fhmcial 'Fi-suohcmcnts of the farm.
Moinrocing t!w movements of f'arm
tools during practical work in tlie ktrni.
Carlying ou! pcriodic evduation of
complcted tzsks by students
Dctcrnrining thc underlying causes of
deviation tkom scl ob.jectivcs.
Adopting altcmritivc course of
a c h n to achicuc sct ~b~jectives.
Applying iliscipli~~ary action
Selecting npprupriatc feeding sturfs
for I'eed f c ~ n ~ u l a t ion.
Formulating feeds for different
types of livestock in thc fa rm
Fomi~ag C O ~ ~ T ~ ~ ~ C C S for specific farm
activities.
Determining nut!-icnt availability in
soil t\~rough sail ~ c s h ~ .