Early Success for New County Extension Educators- Part 2

Darrell A. Dromgoole, Associate Professor and Extension Specialist, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service.

Jeff Ripley, Associate Director- County Operations, Texas Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service.

Scott Cummings, Associate Department Head and Program Leader; Professor and Extension Specialist, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service.

While County Extension educators are generalists in terms of subject matter expertise in the areas of agriculture, natural resources, nutrition, health or youth development their role as an educator is nevertheless vital.  To be successful as an educator, it is critical that quality time be devoted to improving and enhancing subject matter expertise by Extension educators.  There are a variety of roles that must be fulfilled by Extension, but the most important role is being an educator.

As Dr. Bob Robinson, Regional Program Leader Emeritus once stated, “Anyone can make coffee and bring donuts to a meeting, but it’s the educator who will make the difference!”  There are a number of steps that can be taken to enhance Extension educator’s subject matter expertise early in their career. A few of these resources are listed below:

• Work with Regional Program Leaders early in your career and determine what subject matter skills need to be developed or enhanced to effectively address issues in a specific county. Once these gaps in knowledge are identified, Extension educators should partner with subject matter specialists to solicit advice regarding the development of a personal development plan to address these gaps in knowledge. Specialists are valuable resources to agents in developing subject matter skills and directing Extension educators to the most appropriate conferences, printed resources, and online content to enhance their subject matter skills.

• AgriLife Research scientists should be utilized as a resource for information. Developing a professional relationship with AgriLife Research scientists can equip Extension educators with information related to cutting-edge research being conducted in a specific subject matter area. Remember, the heart of Extension’s mission which is to help Texans better their lives through the application of science-based knowledge, create high quality, relevant continuing education that encourages lasting and effective change.

• Research scientists at other Colleges and Universities should be utilized to provide Extension educators with research-based and evidence-based information that can enhance subject matter skills and information that can be integrated into educational programming efforts.

• Participate in professional development training related to subject matter. When attending a professional development training it is important to focus on the training and not be distracted by other demands on your time such as telephone calls from the office or the temptation to visit with other Extension educators about unrelated subjects. Extension educators should be fully invested in participating in these trainings and should approach them as an opportunity to increase their knowledge and skills in a specific subject matter area.

• Extension fact sheets and publications are an excellent source of information related to various subject matter topics. Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service has a wealth of information on various topics and these resources should be utilized to strengthen your capacity to improve technical skills associated with subject matter.

• Research reports and/or research briefings can provide a tremendous amount of information related to groundbreaking research related to various subject matters. Extension educators should take time to study these types of reports and if the information is unclear a specialist in that subject area can assist in interpreting the information.

• Co-workers and other Extension educators in the District or Region can provide new Extension educators with information, resources and advise in regard to enhancing their technical expertise.

• Result demonstrations can serve to provide Extension educators with hands-on experience related to specific subject matter areas. Careful observations and monitoring of result demonstrations enable the Extension educator with valuable information and translates to effective teaching tools.  Result demonstrations provide evidence that an improved practice or technology is applied locally.

Remember, Extension educator’s most important role is that of an educator and these purposeful steps should be taken to enhance your subject matter expertise.  In the upcoming Next Step to Success for New Extension Educators, we will provide some tips related to enhancing your skills in program development.