Agroforestry education for high school agriculture science: an evaluation of novel content adoption following educator professional development programs

High school agriculture science programs are recognized as meaningful arenas to reach young agriculture professionals as they gain a foundational understanding of their field. Agroforestry content is largely lacking in high school agriculture science classrooms, despite its relevance to modern advancements in agricultural sustainability for economic, environmental, and social resilience. Due to the contextual nature of content adoption by agricultural educators, the curriculum implementation process for novel content is dependent on an understanding of teacher learning, teacher self-efficacy, professional development, and curriculum modification. This collective case study of agroforestry professional development for and content adoption among participating Missouri high school agricultural educators provides insight into the potential for the integration of agroforestry content in high school agriculture programs using a mixed methods approach. While substantial growth in expected classroom hours dedicated to agroforestry resulted from these professional development events, identified complexities of the teacher and student learning context necessitate alternative approaches to engage teachers and students in previously unfamiliar agroforestry content. The importance of teacher-learning support networks and experiential learning in curriculum and professional development emerged as major themes for effective agroforestry content implementation.