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What is LifeKnowledge?
LifeKnowledge is a comprehensive framework developed by the National FFA Organization that ensures every single student enrolled in agricultural education realizes the FFA mission of premier leadership, personal growth and career success. Through LifeKnowledge, all students enrolled in agricultural education have the opportunity to develop as leaders.The LifeKnowledge program approaches this mission in three ways:
- LifeKnowledge provides the first comprehensive definition of leadership.
- LifeKnowledge is delivered through a variety of instructional materials designed to engage all types of learners.
- LifeKnowledge provides teachers with practical and effective tools and materials to help your child better prepare for the future.
What is the purpose of the LifeKnowledge Initiative?
The LifeKnowledge initiative is designed to make it easier for teachers, state staff and university educators to make a positive difference in the lives of students by developing their potential for premier leadership, personal growth and career success through agricultural education.LifeKnowledge provides teachers with ready-made strategies necessary to deliver the highest levels of premier leadership, personal growth and career success to each and every student. In addition, LifeKnowledge provides tools teachers can use to evaluate whether or not the strategies they use are truly challenging students and helping them develop everyday.
What makes LifeKnowledge so unique?
The LifeKnowledge program integrates proven brain-based teaching techniques to engage your child. The materials developed for LifeKnowledge are different because they use hands-on and interactive learning techniques to uncover your child’s individual interests as they learn about agriculture and develop skills that impact their career success. The LifeKnowledge lessons are designed to be turn-key. In other words, agricultural educators can seamlessly integrate LifeKnowledge into technical lesson plans, such as plant and animal sciences.Why was LifeKnowledge developed?
In 1999 the National FFA Organization began a major initiative to re-examine how we prepare young people for success in life. Agribusiness leaders and supporters of FFA challenged the Organization to prove participation in agricultural education programs and FFA really does develop premier leadership, personal growth, and career success for students. The research found students weren't’t fully aware of the choices they made and how those choices would impact their futures. The educational system was not preparing them to be engaged in everyday life for the betterment of their lives and their communities. As a result, LifeKnowledge , Real Lessons for Real Life was born.How does LifeKnowledge help teachers reach their students and get the message across?
The LifeKnowledge materials offer lessons that are fun, interactive and engaging. The lessons are very flexible, so they can be used one at a time or all together in a complete course of study. These tools help teachers key in on topics students’ are interested in so they can help the students develop skills to make the best choices for their future and become effective leaders within their community, school and careers.What comprises LifeKnowledge?
LifeKnowledge features three key components. At the foundation is the first comprehensive definition of leadership. More than 1,000 teachers, teacher educators, industry representatives and others defined 16 competencies that are the necessary signs of success and “essential learnings” of leadership. LifeKnowledge includes 257 lesson plans structured to help FFA advisors and agriculture education teachers prepare your child through middle school and high school to become proficient in these 16 competencies. Another 100 lessons are targeted to college-age students. LifeKnowledge also includes 100 lesson plans for collegiate agricultural organizations to use in their member development. Finally, LifeKnowledge includes professional development opportunities for your child’s teachers such as distance-learning and instructor-led programs which train teachers to use the LifeKnowledge lesson plans and instructional materials. As a result, teachers can better prepare your child to become more engaged in everyday life for the betterment of their lives and their communities.Why is LifeKnowledge important for our youth?
The world our young people are entering requires greater individual accountability in work, community and meeting the demands of family. Individuals need the ability to lead, be it a team of one or several. That skill is not innate. Leadership skills must be taught, and LifeKnowledge does that so our youth can make a difference and be better citizens, better employees, better customers and better local leaders.How do teachers feel about LifeKnowledge?
Teachers across the country are commenting on how excited their students are about learning and the difference they see in their students by the end of the LifeKnowledge lessons. Students are learning what it takes to be effective leaders and how to work together to accomplish more things. Teachers who attend the training sessions say they are excited about teaching these lessons and have found that their students are excited to learn.How has LifeKnowledge impacted students?
LifeKnowledge lessons engage students’ attention and result in teacher interaction with everyone in the classroom. A study of more than 300 students unanimously showed they felt LifeKnowledge lessons were more involving and engaging than other lessons and that LifeKnowledge gave them more of what they wanted out of a class – hands-on experience and interactivity.How is this program helping young people prepare for their future?
The LifeKnowledge program is designed with a different kind of learning in mind. Its cutting-edge method of teaching gives the instructor lessons that center on leadership, personal growth and career success, helping the student excel in the skills needed for their future and real life.How many students does the LifeKnowledge program expect to reach in the future?
With so many teachers and students already involved in this program, at the current rate of growth, the LifeKnowledge program has the potential to reach more than 8 million students over the next decade. Eventually, FFA hopes to license LifeKnowledge lessons for use outside agriculture education, reaching millions of students for decades to come.What’s next for LifeKnowledge?
On the horizon are self guided lesson plans and student assessments where teachers and students can measure their growth in areas such as responsibility, conflict resolution, and career exploration.What are the long-term goals of LifeKnowledge?
The long-term goals of LifeKnowledge to provide consistent teaching strategies and instructional materials that enable teachers to infuse premier leadership, personal growth and career success into every facet of agricultural education using the most thorough methods possible. Ultimately, the measurable outcomes that are addressed using the instructional materials created should assist state programs in directly addressing education standards.
For School Leaders
