| The purpose of this study was to answer two key questions: First, should forestry education be integrated into Oregon's overall public instruction; and more specifically, into that of the secondary education component? Second, if forestry education should be integrated into Oregon secondary instruction, what educational units should constitute the curriculum? The membership of the Oregon Society of American Foresters was used as the frame for this investigation. The sample consisted of 400 randomly selected respondents.; Data were collected through the use of a survey instrument. In addition to demographic information about the respondent, the instrument was designed to determine the values and perceptions of the respondent in three areas; the importance and emphasis on forestry education, the involvement level of foresters/timber industry in forestry education, and the instructional units which should be contained in a forestry education curriculum.; Data analysis consisted of frequency counts, percentages, measures of central tendency, t-tests, and ONE-WAY ANOVAs. Composite means were used to meet the objectives of the study, but the effects of working status, job classification, gender, work experience, and educational level were also explored.; The following conclusions were drawn from the analysis and interpretation of the data in this study. Professional foresters in Oregon do believe that forestry education is important and should be infused into the public school curriculum. They believe that they collectively must greatly improve their efforts in promoting forestry education. Professional foresters do not believe that the public school system has done a sufficient job in instructing Oregon's youth about the importance of the practice of forestry, nor do they believe that Oregon public school graduates are well enough informed to vote intelligently on potential environmental legislation placed on public ballots. Professional foresters believe that forestry education curricula should give the highest priorities to units of instruction which fall in the categories of forest ecology and/or forest management. |
