The Farm Apprentice: Agricultural College Students Recollections of Learning to Farm "Safely"

The CROPS Curriculum Experiment: Evaluating the Farm Safety Knowledge Gained Among Secondary Appalachia Youth

“…NSAC believed what youth learn as children will likely shape how they work as adults along with the beliefs, attitudes, and values they will pass on to the next generation of farmers. It is not enough to only focus on the knowledge of health and safety on the farm, but instead, get to the root of farm safety attitudes and beliefs (Sanderson et al, 2010). Lortie (1975) coined the term "apprenticeship of observation" (p. 65), which resulted from his study with pre-service teachers.…”

“…The term "farm apprentice" (Sanderson et al, 2010) can be used to describe the role that a farm youth may have, where they feel like part of the team and are providing valuable help to the operation of the farm. Here, they help with running the farm while at the same time are learning skills to carry on to their own farming career.…”

“…Children are often taught farm work by observing and mimicking the adults that takes place in dangerous settings (McCalum et al, 2006;Reed et al, 2008). When working on the farm, children are often put at risk where they operate machinery that is old and damaged (Sanderson et al, 2010). While the adults on the farm have exposed the children to perform jobs and tasks that put the youth at a high risk of injury, the emphasis is on task mastery rather than safety training.…”

Supervisor Involvement and Professional Development Needs Associated with SAE Programming and Safety

“…In agriculture, children often learn safety behaviors and attitudes by working alongside family, friends, or other mentors. Sanderson, Dukeshire, Rangel, and Garbes (2010) concluded that as children progress to young adults they develop clear ideas about how to farm safely through a process called "farm apprentice" which involves observational learning and modeling of mentors. Due to this farm apprentice phenomena, Sanderson et al (2010) reported agricultural college students described themselves as being exposed to dangerous activities at an early age but believed they had the capacity to control injury risks.…”

“…Sanderson, Dukeshire, Rangel, and Garbes (2010) concluded that as children progress to young adults they develop clear ideas about how to farm safely through a process called "farm apprentice" which involves observational learning and modeling of mentors. Due to this farm apprentice phenomena, Sanderson et al (2010) reported agricultural college students described themselves as being exposed to dangerous activities at an early age but believed they had the capacity to control injury risks. Therefore, at the interpersonal level, teachers, parents, and employers all play critical roles in preventing injuries through their own actions which are modeled by youth during their learning experiences (Schwebel & Gaines, 2007).…”