Agriculture Workforce Training for Collaborative Leadership (AWT4CL)

by Eric Kaufman -- A few months ago, The Leadership Quarterly published an article on “Zombie leadership: Dead ideas that still walk among us” (Haslam et al., 2024) .  The article focuses on the “strong residual commitment to an older set of ideas which have been repeatedly debunked but which nevertheless resolutely refuse to die” (p. 1).  For example, one of the axioms of zombie leadership is that “leadership is a special skill limited to special people.”  This belief persists, despite “mountains of research” that highlight the detrimental effects of leadership approaches based on elitism (e.g., focusing on “high potentials”).  These zombie ideas are problematic because they limit the potential of leadership development.  As noted in the article: “By only looking for leadership amongst leaders we only find it there and bury all signs of leadership from below. By only recognizing, training, selecting and nurturing a few in positions of leadership we ensure tha...

by Samson Adeoye -- With the increasing digitization of agriculture, cybersecurity has become an essential component of the agriculture curriculum ( Drape et al., 2021 ). Agricultural educators at the convergence of agriculture sciences and technology applications need to integrate cyberbiosecurity principles into their curriculum to prepare students to protect digital and biological systems from cyber threats. This integrative education is important not only for protecting sensitive agricultural data but also for ensuring the safety of food supply chains and the development of durable skills ( Aniagolu, 2024 ). The integration of cybersecurity into the agricultural curriculum not only has the benefit of preparing students for technical challenges but also fosters essential soft skills such as collaboration, leadership, and continuous learning. Embedding cybersecurity in agricultural curriculums can transform and empower agricultural students in several ways. Fostering Collaboration ...

by Samson Adeoye -- What comes to mind when you think of affordable education, workforce training, flexible education paths, transfer opportunities, local community impact, and diversity? Community colleges are perhaps your foremost thoughts. They are carriers and deliverers of such possibilities in a single package ( American Association of Community Colleges, 2022 ; Kolesnikova, 2009 ; Warner 2022 ). Community colleges are two-year colleges, originally called junior colleges, and have their origin knit into the fabric of the US education system as far back as the Morrill Act of 1862 which established Land Grant Universities ( Dury, 2003 ). Investigating students’ motivations and outcomes, Strada Education Foundation conducted research on the value of community colleges to understand how these specialized groups of educational institutions can better serve their purpose to students. The researchers collected data across the US from alumni of community colleges who graduate...

by Samson Adeoye and Eric Kaufman --  The summer of 2023 activities comprised three sequential sessions – a project evaluation and two check-ins – where different engaging avenues were employed to further the Agricultural Workforce Training for Collaborative Leadership (AWT4CL) project. Celeste Carmichael facilitated a focus group as part of the project’s formative evaluation to ensure continuous process improvement and enhanced learning. Members of the AWT4CL cohort met virtually to discuss their experiences and perceptions about the project. According to the cohort, the AWT4CL has helped to enhance their communication, networking, relationship-building, and collaboration skills and abilities. A participant recounted: “ I think it’s been very valuable, and one thing I think would serve us better is the networking aspect. I feel like we have developed relationships and been able to do some checks and balances for one another to improve our program’s consistency across the VCCS...

by Adam O'Neal, MBA --  Durable skills are in high demand by employers, but teaching these skills to students in an academic environment can prove challenging. Teaching classes focused primarily on durable skills can lead to students compartmentalizing the content into the context of a leadership class, for example, and failing to transfer the skills to practical applications in their field. In classes focused on content, group projects present opportunities to teach skills like teamwork, leadership, critical thinking and problem-solving. Executing this effectively in a way that explicitly conveys the skills being learned—without distracting from the content—can be difficult. I discussed concepts of durable skills—teamwork, communication, leadership, problem-solving and critical thinking—but I had no effective way to assess the process of executing the project. One possible solution is to create a structured instrument that addresses the durable skills being featured. Students...