BY: AU ST I N L A RG E T E X A S F FA A S S O C I AT I O N E X E C U T I V E D I R E C T O R
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TELLING THE AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION AND TEXAS FFA STORY
ebruary is one of my favorite months of the year! While agricultural science teachers and FFA members spend much of the month traveling to major livestock shows and invitational CDE contests, our team in Austin devotes most of this month to networking with external partners, state agency staff, and elected officials to tell the incredible story of agricultural education and career and technical education. For those of you who don’t know, February is National CTE Month as well as the month in which we celebrate FFA Week. It’s a great time for advocacy efforts because there are a plethora of resources and a focus on CTE, allowing us to spread the good word. So how do we keep our advocacy efforts alive during the other 11 months? Advocating Locally When thinking about advocating for agricultural and career and technical education at the local level, we have to start with a mindset of building effective relationships. People naturally listen to and trust those they already have a relationship with. How do we become those trusted advisors? Make room at the table for those
who don’t know or understand your program. It’s easy to invest time into relationships with those who understand what we do, but often we see a bigger pay-off when we are mindful of those who don’t. When we invest time into these relationships, we help people to see the value of agricultural and career and technical education. Extend invitations for administrators, parents, community members, etc., to attend your local chapter meetings or visit one of your classes. Volunteer your program to help with other school or community events. Small gestures matter and are effective to building quality relationships with those who are familiar and not familiar with our program. Focus on the “why” more than the “what.” As I’m sure we all remember from our teacher preparation programs, context is a key factor in learning. This philosophy is highlighted in a well-known TED Talk by Simon Sinek. Mr. Sinek describes what he calls “The Golden Circle” of communication and states “People don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it”. Most of the time in agricultural education we focus our messaging on the “what” (i.e. contest success, livestock show
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placings, group pictures in blue jackets at an event) and don’t put enough emphasis on the “why” (i.e. premier leadership, personal growth, and career success.) I encourage you to put some thought into the “why” behind the undertakings of our program. It’s a lot easier to garner support for the “what” when we help others see that each day we develop students through agricultural education to grow future leaders, build vibrant local communities, and strengthen agriculture. We rise by lifting others. Synergy is the concept that the combined efforts of multiple groups collaborating together yields a
“WHEN THINKING ABOUT ADVOCATING FOR AGRICULTURAL AND CAREER AND TECHNICAL EDUCATION AT THE LOCAL LEVEL, WE HAVE TO START WITH A MINDSET OF BUILDING EFFECTIVE RELATIONSHIPS.”
