| The purposes of this study were (1) to articulate a philosophy of teacher education in agriculture that reflects the values and beliefs of agricultural education leaders in the South Pacific, and (2) to develop guidelines for teacher education in agriculture at the University of the South Pacific. The respondents constituted a sample frame of Ministers/Directors of Education; Senior Education Officers (Agriculture); and Teachers of Agriculture from 6 South Pacific countries. In addition, expatriates who had served as Teacher Educators in Agriculture at the University of the South Pacific were also involved, but their results were analyzed separately for comparison purposes.;The first part was philosophic in context, and consisted of 49 statements pertaining to teacher education in agriculture in the South Pacific. Respondents were asked to indicate how much they agreed or disagreed with each. A Likert scale of 5 was used to make manifest the degree of agreement or disagreement for each statement. Respondents who disagreed with a statement were interviewed on site and their responses recorded. The second part of the questionnaire was guideline-oriented. It consisted of 45 statements, each with corresponding items to which respondents were asked to check those which they thought were applicable within the South Pacific. In addition demographic information concerning sex, age, highest level of education achieved, number of years on the current job, and job status was also obtained.;An instrument reliability coefficient was determined using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences computer program. Weighted means were used to determine which philosophic statements from part 1 would be acceptable for a philosophy in teacher education in agriculture. Descriptive statistics were used to describe part 2 and the respondents' demographic information.;The study concludes with (1) a recommended statement of philosophy and (2) guidelines for teacher education in agriculture in the South Pacific. Implications arising from the stated philosophy and guidelines, and recommendations for further research are also included.;A two-part questionnaire was administered using the drop-off method. Eleven areas of teacher education in agriculture were examined under both parts. These were recruiting, curriculum, student teaching, student personnel services, public relations, instructional materials, research in teacher education in agriculture, staff development of teacher educators, inservice teacher training, purpose of teacher education in agriculture, and evaluation. |
