There is no doubt that those working in the agricultural sector will need to solve problems. On a large scale, there are the problems of addressing climate change, achieving net zero and conserving the environment. On a day to day basis, livestock, the weather and machinery breakdowns can all cause unforeseen problems that need to be rapidly addressed if operations are to run smoothly.
Undertake an online search for the skills needed to be a farmer and generally problem-solving will appear fairly high on the list. In a list of competencies required to meet the current challenges and create new sustainable approaches to farming ‘interdisciplinary problem solving’ is first (Wals, Mulder and Eernstmann 2013). The Skills Imperative 2035 report (Taylor et al 2022) which reviewed the literature about the essential skills expected to be in demand in the future labour market identified one of the top three as problem solving / decision making.
In light of this, it is worth considering how best to approach the inclusion and development of problem solving within the vocational curriculum. Problem solving is a development of inquiry based learning and takes a student centred approach through experiential learning during completion of authentic tasks. A report on how to teach vocational education (Lucas, Spencer and Claxton 2012) stated that real-world problem-solving is core to any vocational pedagogy but identifies that it can take many forms and requires structured processes for feedback and reflection.
