Agriculture Workforce Training for Collaborative Leadership (AWT4CL)

Author: Curtis R. Friedel     -- Solving complex problems can be challenging, and often more complexity in the problem requires more individuals to be involved as a team. To facilitate the problem-solving process in a team, it helps to think about the different aspects of solving a problem. These include characteristics of the individual, the desired outcome from solving the problem, the situation or context of the problem, and the problem-solving process. Each of these aspects of the problem-solving are independent of each other.  To be able to better Identify and Analyze Problems , one must better understand the complexity of problems of agriculture that affect everyone from producers to consumers. Knowing what step one is in the problem-solving process, can indicate what step is next and what technique to use. If we use the right techniques throughout the problem-solving process, we can be more effective in finding solutions that offer the most benefit. More Abo...

Author: Jama S. Coartney     -- Empowering Students Through Curiosity: Embedding the “Ask Good Questions” Badge into Your Curriculum The ability to ask good questions can be a differentiator in the workplace. Beyond the classroom, it’s about cultivating curiosity, fostering deeper understanding, and building authentic professional relationships. Yet, despite its critical role in communication and career readiness, question-asking is often an underdeveloped skill. Why “Asking Good Questions” Matters Research highlights a significant disconnect in perceptions about career readiness. While students rate themselves as fairly competent at asking questions, employers and faculty often disagree. This gap points to a need for intentional instruction and practice to better develop this skill. Asking good questions is particularly crucial in fields like agriculture, where learners frequently interact with diverse stakeholders, including farmers, specialists, and policymakers. Her...

Author: Jama S. Coartney     -- Boosting Workforce Readiness: Integrating the “Listen Effectively” Badge into Your Curriculum Why Listening Matters Now More Than Ever In the evolving workforce, communication is more than just speaking clearly—it’s about truly listening. Listening effectively is a foundational skill for career readiness that too often gets overlooked. According to the APLU report on Critical Growth Areas for Students Today, “Listen Effectively” is a competency where students frequently overestimate their preparedness compared to assessments from faculty and employers. The takeaway? Listening needs a more intentional place in our curricula. As educators and workforce readiness professionals, we can bridge this gap with a simple but impactful tool: digital learning badges . Introducing the Listen Effectively Digital Learning Badge The Listen Effectively Badge is one of three digital learning badges in a professional communication series, alongside Co...

Author: Jama S. Coartney     -- In today’s fast-paced world, the ability to communicate effectively is more than just a useful skill—it's essential for professional success. Whether talking to a farmer, consulting with an extension agent, or discussing agricultural regulations, communication skills play a crucial role. The badge Communicate Effectively—also known as "Communicate Accurately and Concisely"—highlights a key skill that helps learners develop. Improving this skill will help to build the capability to share information clearly and meaningfully. Why Does Effective Communication Matter in Agriculture? Communication is particularly important in agriculture, where people often engage with a variety of stakeholders.  Agricultural work frequently requires collaboration across multiple areas of expertise. Clear communication becomes essential for smooth, productive interactions. Digital learning badges are a tool that can help integrate learning into the curricul...

Help Your Students "Level Up" Learning: Take the Welcome Badge Tour -- Author: Jama S. Coartney     -- As educators, we’re constantly looking for ways to make learning stick—and to help learners recognize how their education connects to their futures. Digital learning badges may be able to help. This post introduces the Agriculture Workforce Training for Collaborative Leadership (AWT4CL) project Welcome Badge module . Designed with instructors and facilitators in mind, the Welcome Badge module offers a brief orientation to the AWT4CL project and digital badges. At the end of the module, there's an opportunity for you to go through the process of claiming a digital learning badge—just like your learners will need to do. How Can Digital Learning Badges Motivate Learners? Consider the success story from the Agricultural Sustainability Institute at UC Davis , where a badging system helped learners clearly connect their academic achievements with sustainable career practices. ...

Authors: Jama S. Coartney and Eric K. Kaufman     -- In today’s job market, technical know-how alone is no longer enough. Success in the workplace depends on an additional set of competencies—what employers call durable, soft, human, or employability skills. Some examples include communication, teamwork, professionalism, leadership, and decision-making. Research shows  these essential skills are often underemphasized in course design and delivery. So, how can educators close this gap and better prepare learners for success? This blog series introduces a new approach to bridging the gap between classroom learning and workforce readiness.  Digital learning badges developed by the Agriculture Workforce Training for Collaborative Leadership (AWT4CL) project can help learners build capacity. Grounded in research and aligned with employer needs, these badges target the core durable skills identified by the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU) a...

by Jama S. Coartney   -- This past month, Stockholm, Sweden hosted the third annual summit for the Inner Development Goals . The conference brought together global leaders in business, academia, civil society, and government interested in bridging the inner and outer transformations essential for meaningful change. The Inner Development Goals (IDGs) are a framework of personal growth and inner skills designed to help individuals create positive change in their lives, communities, and organizations. Developed as a complement to the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) , the IDGs focus on cultivating essential human qualities such as self-awareness, empathy, critical thinking, collaboration, and resilience. The IDGs are divided into five dimensions: Being – Self-awareness, mindfulness, and inner calm Thinking – Creativity, critical thinking, and long-term vision Relating – Empathy, active listening, and trust-building Collaborating – Courage, inclusion, and conflict...

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 Eric Kaufman -- While many students pursue post-secondary education as a way to advance their employment prospects, research shows that a post-secondary degree falls short of this goal far too often. "While policymakers typically think of STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) programs as a sure pathway to college-level employment and high wages, the reality is more nuanced" ( "Talent Disrupted" Executive Summary, 2024, p. 2). Many employers are reluctant to hire recent graduates, preferring instead to hire applicants with more experience in the workforce. While the rational varies, employers say recent graduates often cannot handle their workload and tend to struggle with professional behavior, including basics like eye contact (Intelligent, 2023 ). Part of the problem may be the way that we approach college coursework, typically focusing more on students' knowledge than their behavior and their resilience in the face of un...

by Ben Casteel   --  Lemurs are the world’s most endangered mammal.  All species of lemur come from one large, isolated island – Madagascar; however, you don’t have to necessarily travel across the globe to see these fascinating creatures.  At this moment, you may be wondering what lemurs could possibly have in common with the training and development of our agriculture workforce.  Actually, there is a lot to learn about lemurs and agriculture, but today we will be examining how the engagement of students with these exotic animals is helping to close the gap in needed employability skills . In last month’s AWT4CL blog post, we heard from esteemed colleague Heather Butler about Facilitating Field Trips and Guest Speaker Sessions for Effective Student Learning and how building in extra time in the planning phase helps to facilitate a truly great field trip.  Over the past few years, I have witnessed students gaining even deeper insight and opportunity for gr...