Primary School Agriculture: Volume I: Pedagogy (GTZ, 1985, 144 p.): Part I: Pedagogical foundations of primary school agriculture: 1. Introduction

Primary School Agriculture: Volume I: Pedagogy (GTZ, 1985, 144 p.)

Part I: Pedagogical foundations of primary school agriculture

		(introduction...)
		1. Introduction
		2. Objectives for teaching agriculture in primary schools
		3. Approaches to the teaching of agriculture
		4. A Science-Based approach to primary school agriculture

1. Introduction

Agriculture occupies an important place in many Primary School Curricula. Often it is not a new element in the syllabus, however, but has been taught for many years in succession. Why bother to write a Teacher's Manual since there are already a number of Rural Science books, and why design a manual which goes beyond the level of factual information about agricultural topics?

The answer is that after Independence education proceeds from a concept which places education fully in the context of independent nations belonging to the group of developing countries in Africa. Education is supposed to serve the needs and aspirations of an independent nation with ambitious goals for development, needs and aspirations of a political, cultural and social nature as much as of an economic nature. It seems necessary, therefore, to define the place of primary school agriculture in relation to the overall aims of education and to make comparisons with similar efforts in other African states. From the discussion of aims and objectives on the one hand, and the daily constraints under which schools have to operate, on the other, the necessity of thinking about appropriate teaching methods will become apparent. It is in this broader framework that factual information for teachers will have to prove its usefulness.