| The purpose of this study was to describe effective teacher characteristics as perceived by secondary agriculture students and secondary agriculture teachers, along with developing an instrument by which to assess these characteristics.;The research was focused in a 63-school geographical area. A panel of teacher educators and state supervisory staff was used to determine those secondary agriculture teachers within this geographical area classified as either effective or less effective.;The research was conducted in two phases, using both qualitative and quantitative design. The qualitative segment of the study involved individual interviews with teachers who were determined to be effective by the panel of experts, as well as focus group interviews with the students of these effective teachers. During this phase, teachers and students identified characteristics of effective agriculture teachers.;The quantitative segment of the study involved four groups also identified by the panel of experts: effective teachers, less effective teachers, students of effective teachers and students of less effective teachers. A 200-item instrument was developed during this phase, utilizing the information gathered from the literature review, focus groups and individual interviews. The instrument was administered to the four groups to determine if differences in effectiveness existed.;The results revealed that both students and teachers of agriculture had identifiable conceptions of attributes of effective teaching, and they generally agree on these attributes.;Effective and less effective teachers, along with their students, assigned high ratings on the instrument. This indicated that students were pleased with their teachers' performance and teachers were pleased with their own performance.;This research also revealed that many of the essential attributes of effective teaching do not relate to technical content or pedagogical knowledge. Instead, they relate to humanistic factors. However, most teacher training programs evaluate pre- and in-service teachers on technical aspects, including subject matter and methodology. By utilizing tools which enhance humanistic teaching skills, teachers may have the opportunity to greatly increase their effectiveness. |
