Sustainable Water Management within Agriculture, Food, and Natural Resources Education

Abstract

Water scarcity is a global problem in which, through consumption and eutrophication of freshwater, agriculture has contributed. The impact of water scarcity necessitates research into how agriculture, food, and natural resources (AFNR) educators can support solutions. A subset of AFNR educators in the Great Lakes Basin participated in a professional development experience designed to introduce how online, sustainable water management tools could be incorporated within AFNR curricula. Participants were then surveyed about past and future intentions to incorporate the tools. Results indicated teachers planned to increase utilization of sustainable water management tools by 3.50 days per school year. Qualitative feedback suggested teachers planned to use the tools to achieve a variety of aims, including teaching about water usage, the relationship between soil and water, and record keeping. Participants were also asked to evaluate the alignment between sustainable water management tools and AFNR education. Teachers perceived the strongest alignment between sustainable water management tools and Environmental Services Systems and Natural Resources Systems pathways. Findings from this mixed-method study are discussed using the Model of Teacher Change, including recommendations for future professional development on sustainable water management and research on increasing the ability of AFNR educators to support water scarcity solutions.