Purpose: This article examines and evaluates the potential contributions from action learning and action research with stakeholders to higher education in agriculture and food systems. Design/Methodology/Approach: The research is based on our experiences over the past two decades of running PhD courses and an MSc degree programme in Agroecology in…

Preparing students for a complex and dynamic future is a challenge for educators. This article explores three crucial issues related to agroecological education and learning: (1) the phenomenological foundation for learning agroecology in higher education; (2) the process of students' interactions with a wide range of various learners within and…

This article describes and reflects on a novel course developed at China Agricultural University to introduce Community-Based Natural Resource Management at the postgraduate level. This course, part of a larger educational renewal initiative addressing the current reform of China's higher education system, was developed through a participatory…

Higher education is a service that contributes to national development, integration and regional cohesion. Agricultural education in particular has been viewed in many developing countries as a significant contributor to sustainable development and poverty alleviation. In view of its public mandate, higher education in most countries is regulated…

Changes in education and agriculture in South Africa indicate that agricultural extension practitioners should facilitate continuous learning among farmers. This requires that extension practitioners acquire new skills. To provide these skills requires a critical examination of agricultural extension curricula in the light of South Africa's…

This study aims to establish the effectiveness of an industrial data set in the delivery of an active approach to teaching and learning across a range of programme levels from NVQ to MSc within Further Education (FE) and Higher Education (HE) Institutions in North Wales. The result described in the paper reinforces in FE and HE the advantages of…

Compares three models of agriculture in universities: (1) the current rigid departmentalized model; (2) the integrative university with cross-disciplinary linkages and information exchange with farmers; and (3) the active learning university with students and faculty integrated in the farming environment and two-way flow of knowledge and…

A Ph.D. course in ecological agriculture included a weeklong intensive workshop and individual research projects. The course demonstrated the usefulness of multiple approaches to learning research methods and perspectives and increased networking among researchers. (SK)

A South African university's community development program attempted to integrate Checkland's soft-systems method into Kolb's learning-cycle theory. Evaluation revealed shortcomings in the curriculum design, including the assumption of learner autonomy, necessity of assessing students individually, and difficulty of allowing learners to construct…

In both education and extension studies, the traditional approach (transfer of knowledge, learning as passive absorption) has given way to new discourses: in education, knowledge construction and in extension, participatory learning and research. The new paradigms have yet to be formed into effective praxis. (SK)

Agricultural education institutions in developing countries must address immediate production needs as well as food security, sustainable agricultural, and rural development needs. This will mean moving to an interdisciplinary, systems approach that incorporates new topics. (Author/JOW)

Literature reviews and interviews in Eastern and Southern African universities identified obstacles to women's participation in agricultural education. Innovative strategies in Tanzania (recruitment and policy changes), Botswana (infrastructure development), and Malawi (outreach to secondary schools) were identified. (SK)

British census and survey data show that at least one-third to one-half of farmers have further or higher education qualifications. Better-educated farmers tend to use more information sources, perceive a need for change, and be receptive to training and responsive to economic demands. (SK)

Describes a systematic curriculum development approach in Dutch and French universities for a modularized curriculum on biodiversity. Suggests that it is effective, efficient, and adaptable to new research results. (SK)

Interviews with 20 British agricultural educators with less than 5, 5-15, or more than 15 years of teaching experience identified the main influences on their development of expertise to be colleagues and administrators. Primary inhibiting factors were policy, rules, terminology, and timetables. Those who used reflection actively advanced most…