Sociocultural tensions and wicked problems in sustainable agriculture education Christopher D. Murakami 1 • Mary K. Hendrickson 2 • Marcelle A. Siegel 3,4 Accepted: 14 October 2016 Ó Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2016 Abstract Future practitioners of sustainable agriculture and agroecology must have the capacity to address the wicked problems in the food system to make progress toward sustainability. Undergraduate sustainable agricul- ture students from a variety of backgrounds may struggle with the question, is the challenging and complex work of addressing wicked problems of agroecology for me? Our case study investigated sociocultural tensions associated with identity encountered when wicked problems teaching units were integrated into the Advanced Practices of Sus- tainable Agriculture course at a large, Midwestern Land Grant University. The research and course employed a four-part framework that focused on (1) attending to indi- vidual needs and identities, (2) facilitating practice-based and community-based learning, (3) engaging in problems situated in regional contexts, and (4) supporting awareness of local and global political and ecological issues. Researchers used a community of practice theoretical lens, and focused on the sociocultural tensions that may have impacted individual and community identity formation. Two wicked problems teaching units are described by drawing upon documentation and audio recordings from planning meetings, course sessions, student and instructor interviews, and course artifacts. Vignettes were constructed to situate four interrelated types of sociocultural tensions encountered by instructors and students. These tensions reflected forces at the individual, community, local, and global levels which interact to influence learners’ capacity to become full participants in sustainable agriculture. The study fills a gap related to affective dimensions of learning like identity in agroecology education. Dilemmas and implications related to identity, pedagogy, and epistemol- ogy are discussed. Keywords Wicked problems Á Sustainable agriculture education Á Identity Á Sociocultural tensions Abbreviations APSA Advanced Practices of Sustainable Agriculture MLGU Midwestern Land Grant University SSI Socioscientific issues Introduction Sustainable agriculture involves engaging in complex ecological, economic and social challenges to improve the sustainability of local and global food systems. Kreuter et al. (2004) described the journey to sustainable food systems as a collection of wicked problems, culturally and politically embedded in ever-changing contexts and lack simple answers. Hamm (2009) suggests that wicked prob- lems in the food system cannot be addressed using expert & Christopher D. Murakami Murakamic@missouri.edu Mary K. Hendrickson hendricksonm@missouri.edu Marcelle A. Siegel siegelm@missouri.edu 1 Assessment Resource Center, University of Missouri, 2800 Maguire Blvd, Columbia, MO 65201, USA 2 Department of Rural Sociology, University of Missouri, 201 Gentry Hall, Columbia, MO 65211, USA 3 Department of Learning, Teaching, and Curriculum, University of Missouri, 321 Townsend Hall, Columbia, MO 65211, USA 4 Department of Biochemistry, University of Missouri, 321 Townsend Hall, Columbia, MO, USA 123 Agric Hum Values DOI 10.1007/s10460-016-9752-x