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Chelsea Walley
75836098
EDCP 391A
Teaching Platform Statement
CONTEXT
Understanding what you believe, and why you place greater value on certain features
over others, is a significant exercise for teachers. What we bring into the classroom and
emphasize to our students is greatly shaped by the philosophy we hold about the purpose of
Home Economics education. In developing a teaching platform we are able to examine and
evaluate our understanding of Home Economics, and develop an awareness of how our
judgements will potentially influence our classroom. Ideally, teachers who are cognizant of their
biases will be able to fully justify their beliefs and contemplate how these might impact their
teaching practices. In assessing the value and relevance of our perspective, it is also important
for teachers to examine how the focus and relevance of Home Economics has changed over time
as the composition and function of families has shifted.
Home Economics is a subject with a very traditional history which is rooted in the
gendered division of work. Central to the discipline is the concept of the family; the family
represents a "major source of nurturance, protection, and renewal for the individual" (Fleck,
1980, p. 19) and is a foundational unit in the functionality of society. The nature and importance
of Home Economics is then tied to the health and value of the family in our society. Over time,
the makeup of families in Canada has been changing, which has also affected what goals are
seen to be at the foundation of Home Economics education. The separation of 'boys' and 'girls'
subjects was a practice well established across educational systems, with girls expected to move
into a 'caring' profession or the home of their husband (Leach, 1998, p. 14). However, with
changes in social perceptions of gender and shifts in family structures, Home Economics
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represents an important content area to all students (Smith & deZwart, 2010). Today's families
are more frequently troubled, faced with high poverty rates, incidences of abuse, substance
addictions and weak support systems (Canadian Home Economics Association, 1996, p. 169).
Families and societies today are also no longer isolated, our economies are now global in nature,
and what happens in one place has impacts around the world (Smith & deZwart, 2010, p. 19).
Traditionally Home Economics was established for the purposes of increasing health and
hygiene, the promotion of cultural values, and to recognize women's rights to participate in
education (Smith & deZwart, 2010, p. 16). However, as values and characteristics of our society
have moved towards greater gender equality and multiculturalism, the importance of the
discipline for students today has noticeably shifted.
PHILOSOPHY AND RATIONALE
While "Foods" classes have been seen as a 'dumping ground' for the less academically
inclined students in today's schools, the content of the Home Economics discipline offers
important knowledge for all students. Just as the families of our society have changed over time,
Home Economics must also shift its focus to address the impacts of these transformations. To
that end, identifying areas where the family has undergone noteworthy changes are key to the
development of my teaching platform. My personal beliefs about what the goals and focus of
Home Economics education should be stem from this approach, and take the form of three
distinct and interrelated themes: life skills, health and awareness.
First, Home Economics teaches students important, everyday skills that many of them are
not learning at home. It has become increasingly common that parents today do not teach their
children any basic food and textile skills, increasingly relying on restaurants, take-out and prepackaged alternatives (Lichtenstein & Ludwig, 2010, p. 1857). As youth are facing greater
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turmoil in their home lives, students are also often unfamiliar with the vital family and parenting
skills that can interrupt cycles of abuse, under-achievement and poor health (Smith & deZwart,
2010, pp. 17-18). Overall, the theme of poor skill development extends to include everything
from not knowing knife safety or to how to repair missing buttons, to lacking co-operation and
problem solving techniques. It is therefore extremely important that the student experience of
Home Economics works to develop "practical and critical thinking skills that equip them to
handle the increasing complexities of daily life" (Smith & deZwart, 2010, p. 17). In many ways
these are the very traditional elements that Home Economics is seen to encompass, and I think
that they represent at truly important educational approach, emphasizing the value of kinesthetic
learning, lived experience and tactile interactions with knowledge. The development of the skill
base of adolescents should represent a major aspect of the field of Home Economics, as it has the
potential to greatly impact their lives in the present, and the families they may develop in the
future.
Second, Home Economics should incorporate further development of student's
understanding of health. Across all of the courses offered in the discipline, there is a common
theme of healthy individuals and families. In our current context this is often emphasized along
the lines of weight, obesity and health related illness, because such a significant proportion of
North American adolescents are dealing with unhealthy Body Mass Indexes (Lichtenstein &
Ludwig, 2010). However, this must also be extended so that students become aware of the need
to be holistically healthy, expanding their perception of health to include the mental, physical,
social and even financial dimensions. This includes developing strong financial management,
positive self-images and positive interpersonal relationships (Smith & deZwart, 2010). Health
education in Home Economics cannot, and should not, begin and end at diet, weight and
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exercise. While these are important aspects of health, being able to understand how they are
linked to relationships, self-esteem, body image, our environment and our society are vital to the
health and growth of our students. It is also essential to remember that a healthy lifestyle learned
in adolescence will eventually lead to the development of healthy families when today's students
are adults with families of their own.
Finally, Home Economics must also illuminate the multitude of ties between individuals
and groups in our society. There are innumerable connections between individuals, families,
communities and countries which link us all together in unique, and often inequitable, ways. In
developing students of Home Economics, it is important to foster awareness and make our
students conscious of these connections as well as how their role as consumers impacts other
communities, families and individuals (Canadian Home Economics Association, 1996). As our
world has become increasingly globalized, students' awareness of how these global connections
are interrelated must also expand (Thomas & Smith, 1994, p. 23). Home Economics should teach
students how to identify what the potential consequences of their actions and consumption
choices might be on the world around them. Our students should be able to recognize how
current consumption patterns work to distance their choices from the lives of individuals around
the world. With this recognition, awareness and openness to the diversity of lifestyles and
cultures in our world must also be developed. Schools and communities in Canada are sites
which reflect much of the diversity in race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, family form and
sexual identity that can be seen around the world (Thomas & Smith, 1994). Students ought to
become conscious of how such diversity can impact families, children and society to gain a full
understanding of equity and intersections of identities.
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CONCLUSION
The identification of my personal philosophy of Home Economics and the rationale
underlying my approach uncovers some of the important ways values can impact teachers. Quite
clearly, the three arenas I personally emphasize are skills, health and awareness. In selecting
these particular themes instead of others as being vital to Home Economics education, I have
already demonstrated one area in which my philosophy narrows how and what I will teach. It is
important to be conscious of the way in which these beliefs will be subtly or overtly
demonstrated; it is more likely that skill development, health and awareness will become
incorporated into lessons, or even the topic of lessons, throughout the year. It can be expected
that the resources that are drawn upon, the projects that are assigned and assessments made will
encourage the development of students in the areas of Home Economics that the teacher
determines to be of the greatest value to students, their families, and their communities.
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WORKS CITED
Canadian Home Economics Association. (1996). Home Economics/Family Studies education in
Canadian schools: A postition paper. Canadian Home Economics Journal, 46(4), 168170.
Fleck, H. (1980). Education through Home Economics. In Toward Better Teaching of Home
Economics (pp. 18-23). Macmillan.
Leach, F. (1998). Gender, Education and Training: An International Perspective. Gender and
Development, 9-18.
Lichtenstein, A., & Ludwig, D. (2010). Bring Back Home Economics Education. American
Medical Association, 303(18), 1857-1858.
Smith, G., & deZwart, M. (2010, May). Home Economics: A contextual study of the subject and
Home Economics teacher education. Teacher Inquirer, pp. 16-21. Retrieved from
http://bctf.ca/publications/TeacherInquirer.aspx?id=14468
Thomas, J., & Smith, G. (1994). Toward and ideal of the person educated in Home Economics:
An invitation to dialouge. Canadian Home Economics Journal, 44(1), 20-25.