Preface

This manual is intended for teachers who are teaching agriculture or gardening to the upper classes of primary school. Its aim is to provide a realistic pedagogical background to primary school agriculture, in line with current reforms.

Such factual information has to relate first and foremost to the pupils environment if one of the main aims is to be achieved, namely making school more relevant to the people. Since the two major types of environment treated, tropical rainforest and humid savannah, are typical for the humid tropics, it is hoped that the manual may be of value in African countries with similar natural conditions.

The present book, volume I, entitled Pedagogy, covers the pedagogical background. This volume is divided into three parts:

- Pedagogical Foundations,
- Teaching Methods,
- Examples for Practical Use.

Under Pedagogical Foundations, we discuss several pedagogical approaches-regarding the inclusion of agriculture as a subject in primary school, give a short analysis of agriculture teaching in Cameroon and an East-African country, and propose a scientific approach which is adopted throughout the manuals.

Under Teaching Methods we discuss topics of practical importance in everyday school life, e.g. the "scheme of work", the structure of teaching units, various indoor and outdoor activities as part of primary school agricultural instruction, the use of scientific methods of observation and experimentation, etc.

These discussions, which are sometimes of a general nature, are given a practical basis in part three. It contains a number of lesson notes and teaching units organized according to the principles laid down in the first two parts. In addition, it includes a few background information texts written by teachers. These notes illustrate how classroom teaching and practical work may be combined.

Volume II will provide factual information on questions which may arise when teaching agriculture.

This manual could not have been written without the help of many people who cannot all be named here.

Special thanks are due to the Government of the United Republic of Cameroon who made my stay in their beautiful country possible, and to the Cameroonian educational authorities who supported IPAR research and pilot project work in Environmental Studies with patience, sound advice, and invaluable administrative assistance, as well as to the German Agency for Technical Cooperation which agreed to fund this follow-up work to the project.

I am greatly indebted to Mr. V.J. Divine, a member of the senior staff at IPAR-Buea, who taught me a great deal about Cameroonian agriculture and Rural Science, and who gracefully submitted himself to the rigours of extensive field research.

I would also like to mention the contributions of those Cameroonian teachers, colleagues, and friends who participated in the IPAR-Buea school farm scheme and attended the respective seminars. Their contributions in the form of written material and discussions have helped to make the manual what it is.

Miss P. Smithson's and Miss Germann's art work deserves special mention; it facilitates the reading and complements a large part of the text.

I would also like to express my gratitude to Dr. and Mrs. Greenland who edited the manuals as far as language is concerned and, last but not least, to Mrs. H. Winkler who never lost spirit in what sometimes was a very tedious job typing and correcting the manuscript.

Herbert Bergmann