Secondary vocational agricultural education in Portugal

Consultant"s final report covers the period of technical assistance, 9/11-10/11/81. Assessment of the current status of Portugese SAS"s was based on visits to five SAS"s, formal questionnaires, and informal discussions with government officials and teachers. Questionnaires returned from four of the five SAS"s visited showed that while 71% of teachers had a university education, only 39% had attended teacher training courses. The teachers were judged to need in-service assistance in nearly all the classroom teaching and school exploration competencies assessed (except handling of student discipline). A review of the in-service training program revealed an overdose of theory and a lack of training in pedagogy and technical material on the part of those teaching the courses (delegados). Recommendations for immediate program improvement are that the Ministry of Education"s Office of Agricultural Education (OAE): improve the content and organization of courses for grades 10-12 (specific recommendations are provided in an appendix) and integrate school farms more fully into the program; initiate a long-term (3-5 year) follow-up program for SAS graduates; develop specific guidelines and a handbook of instructions for delegados (OAE should conduct a workshop to this end); base in-service training on the assessed needs of teachers and employ experienced teachers in the program; use the instructional package developed by the consultant to improve classroom competency; and improve leadership among agricultural teachers and provide teachers with improved materials (several in-country and U.S. contacts for the latter are provided). To improve the teaching skills of agricultural instructors, USAID/P should select key agricultural teachers to visit the vocational agriculture program at Kansas State University, and contract consultants to: teach teaching methods in agricultural education at the university level and one or a series of 2-week intensive workshops on pedagogical skills to SAS teachers; assist the OAE in establishing a system to develop and distribute agricultural teaching materials; and help identify the skills needed in occupational areas offered in SAS programs.