The place of photography in vocational agriculture in Southwest Virginia

Field: Arts and Humanities (Social Sciences)

This study was an attempt to determine the use of photography as an aid in teaching and public relations in vocational agriculture in southwest Virginia. The fifty-six vocational agriculture departments in the southwest Virginia supervisory area were included in the study. \n\nThe questionnaire technique of research was used in the investigation. Questionnaires were formulated and sent to each of the head teachers in the fifty-six vocational agriculture departments in Southwest Virginia. The response to the questionnaires was exceptional, 93 per cent being returned. \n\nThe most significant findings of the study are summarized as follows:\n\nl. Eighty-four and six-tenths per cent of the vocational agriculture teachers in the Southwest Virginia supervisory area are using photography in teaching, in public relations, or in both. \n\n2. More teachers use photography for public relations purposes than for teaching. \n\n3. Of the forty-four teachers who used photography for their professional work, nearly two-thirds used it for both teaching and public relations purposes, while one-third used it for only one of these two purposes. \n\n4. Kodak and Argus cameras were used more than any other makes. \n\n5. The film size most commonly used was 35 mm. \n\n6. The average number of photographs made for teaching purposes by the teachers included in this study was 53.7. \n\n7. More photographs were made and used for teaching the enterprises, F.F.A., Farm Shop, and Beef cattle, than for teaching any other enterprises. \n\n8. The average number of photographs made for public relations purposes was 28.9. \n\n9. The photographs most commonly made and used for public relations were those classified under the All-Day and veteran’s Training phases of the vocational agriculture program. \n\n10. Distribution of photographs to the group and individual illustration were the most common methods of using photographs in teaching. The method rated highest by the teachers, however, was that of slide projection. \n\n11. Weekly newspapers and bulletin boards were the most common methods by which the teachers used photographs for public relations purposes. Bulletin boards was the method by which the largest number of photographs were used. Weekly newspapers was the method by which the second largest number of photographs was used in public relations;. \n\nConclusions \n\nl. Photography definitely has a place in vocational agriculture in Southwest Virginia. The majority of the vocational agriculture teachers included in the study use photography in teaching, in public relations, or both.\n\n2. The number of photographs made and used by the instructors for teaching was very small in view of the many teaching areas under which they might be appropriately used~\n\n3. There seems to be little justification for largely limiting the use of photographs in teaching to the three enterprises, F.F.A., Farm Shop, and Beef cattle.\n\n4. Apparently there is a need for a critical study of the photographs needed in teaching the various enterprises of local importance and systematic planning for securing these photographs. \n\n5. The number of photographs made and used by the teachers for public relations purposes was relatively limited in terms of the various phases and activities of the vocational agriculture program for which they should be used. \n\n6. The use of photography for public relations purposes was largely confined to the All-Day and veterans' Training phases of the program. There is no apparent reason for this unequitable practice. \n\n7. Projection techniques have not been adequately employed as methods for using the photographs which the teachers have secured for teaching. \n\n8. The most common methods by which the teachers used photographs for public relations purposes were weekly newspapers and bulletin boards. Whether these methods were the most convenient or the most effective was undetermined in this investigation. \n\n9. The results of this study indicate a need for a further study to determine the most effective means of using photographs in teaching and public relations.