EDUCATION AL PERSPECTIVES I 39

HOME ECONOMICS EDUCATION Waves and Trends

Virginia Clark

Since its beginnings, home economics programs have reflected changes in

society and the family

Vocational home economics has existed as a part of public education since the Smith Hughes Act of 1917. This Act appropriated $7-million for vocational education in agriculture, trades and industries, and home economics. The focus of the Act was on the preparation of workers. A 1918 federal circular stated this reasoning for including home economics: "Home economics finds its place in the school curricula because it furnishes vocational education in that occupation in which 93% of all American women ultimately engage . ... "'

Since its beginnings in the early 1900s, emphases of home economics programs have reflected changes in society and the family. However, the major focus has re­mained consistent - the achievement of optimum quality of life for individuals and families.2 Today, two types of educational programs exist: (1) those which prepare per­sons for the occupation of homemaking, and (2) those which prepare persons for paid employment in home economics occupations.

Because education is an integral part of society, the rapid changes in economic, social, physical, and tech­nological environments are factors to consider in planning an educational program. Home economics merges these factors with what is happening to and in families.3

Identification of present trends and future prospects in home economics is enhanced by examination of past events. This paper seeks to present a brief history of home economics education and to address possible future trends.

Looking Back , •.

In the late 19th century, programs were established to help women develop housekeeping skills needed to ac­complish the work of the home. Solving the problems of efficiency, health, and economy to achieve "better" family and home life provided focus for these problems. Program emphasis has evolved to the development and use of human and material resources within the family for the achievement of a quality life.

Home economics education focuses on total family wellbeing. Through synthesizing concepts from a variety of areas of family concern and study, home economists address family and related problems and concerns in a more efficient manner than would be possible in a frag­mented approach. The ultimate goal of the consumer homemaking education program is to improve the quality of life for families and their individual members - to strengthen the family as one of our basic social institutions. 4

Literature in home economics education pinpoints the family econo-system as the core for subject matter.5 In other words, home economics deals with the reciprocal ef­fects family and society have on one another. Brown and Paolucci6 proposed the following mission for home economics:

... to enable families, both as individual units and gener­ally as a social institution to build and maintain systems of action which lead (1) to maturing and individual self. formation, and (2) enlightened, cooperative participation in the critique and formulation of social goals and the means for accomplishing them.

The field drawn from home economics is an integrated area of study synthesizing knowledge gathered from many disciplines. However, the content of home econom­ics deals with the ways in which knowledge from these combined disciplines can contribute to the wellbeing of families and individuals as they function in society.

Throughout the years, home economics have been con­cerned with the use of skills and theory to solve the

40 I EDUCATIONAL PERSPECTIVES

practical problems of families. These problems have re­mained the same, but their solutions have changed depending on the interacting variables in each situation. Home economics subject matter has used theory, research, and practical application to aid students in making judge­ments.7 Thus, theory, practice, and interdisciplinary con­tent have formed the knowledge base for vocational home economics.

Looking Ahead ••.

The knowledge base for home economics of the present and future remains the same - theory, practice, and in­terdisciplinary content. A theory can be defined as a hy­pothesis, supposition, or conjecture ("I believe this will occur .... "). In 1972. members of the Future Homemakers of America (FHA), a vocational youth organization for students in home economics courses, were asked to envi­sion the 1984 family. Their prediction included overpopu­lation, pollution, malnutrition, inflation, disintegrating families, and changed roles for men and women.8 Many of these predictions have become realities. The National Association of School Boards of Education, in 1984, listed trends that seem most likely to "shape American society through the rest of this century and into the next ... "9

Four broad topics were included: Demographics headed the list. "It is said that we are a

nation of immigrants, an aging nation, a nation on the move .. . . More than any other factor, shifts and changes in population have defined our country, and will continue to do so."1° In future years, America will have the most educated, politically active group of older citizens ever. Predictions are for the Hispanic population to be the lar­gest minority by 1990. The population is rapidly moving south and west. The number of "young" is steadily rising again.

Economics was listed second. Although predictions in this area are more uncertain than in other areas, trends show possibilities for the future. An aging population will cause an increase in the number of active workers paying for retirees; the dependency ratio will grow. Char­acteristics of families will continue to change in this area, with more women working. more two-earner families, and more single-parent families. Almost half of the child­ren born in 1980 will be raised, basically, by one parent.

Technology and lifestyle were listed, also. A shortage of technical professionals will continue, but the shift caused by computers and related technologies will provide more service-related jobs involving low-level interactions with computers. Computers will continue to increase in homes, and as the number rises the uses for them may also increase. Changes in the lifetime work pattern could occur, with the traditional work-retirement routine yield-

ing to cycles of work, education, leisure, and training. Politics and values completed the list. Trends in politics

seem to lean toward becoming more diverse and multiple. Decentralization in all areas seems to portray the future for the political arena.

In 1970, Alvin Toffler stated: 11

Even those two brilliant anti-utopias, Brave New World and 1984, now seem oversimple. Both described societies based on high technology and low complexity: the ma· chines are sophisticated but the social and cultural rela· tionships are fixed and deliberately simplified. Today we need powerful new utopian and anti-utopian concepts that look forward to superindustrialism, rather than back­ward to simpler societies. These concepts, however. can no longer be produced in the old way.

The old ways for home economics have, in many cases, ceased to exist. The ultimate goal of improving individual and family life has remained the same, and the analysis of factors which impact on families and individuals has always been a means for determining the content of home economics programs. However, the "pace" of socie­tal changes has created a need for constant change in practice. John Naisbitt states, "We are living in the time of parenthesis, the time between the eras .... The time of the parenthesis is a time of change and questioning." 12

Naisbitt's statement reinforces the idea that individuals must have the ability to question, to analyze, to make ra­tional, reasoned decisions in today's changing world. Home economics can provide students with opportunities to develop these abilities in "real life" situations. All areas of home economics can be taught using this approach: examine the facts; determine the possibilities and conse­quences; select an approach act; and accept responsibility for the actions.

A problemsolving approach is particularly appropriate because diversity has become a way of life and with it the problems of society seem to have compounded: mental illness and suicide are on the rise; drug abuse, par­ticularly alcohol, is rampant; violent crimes have in­creased; "people" abuse and neglect is widespread, etc. Al­though the solutions to all these problems cannot be found totally in the schools, part of the solution lies in education. "We need to understand that the purpose of schooling is not just preparation for more schooling but also, and especially, preparation for life - for ourselves and for our contributions to society as a whole."13 Home economics can provide this preparation for life.

Through the interdisciplinary content in home econom­ics, students are allowed to draw on knowledge and skills learned in "academic" classes, such as math, science, and English, and apply them to life preparation. Basic knowl-

edge and skills in academic areas can be extended and en· hanced in home economics through activities which focus on their use and application in the students' lives, i.e., the use of math through calculating calories needed and/or used, or calculating child care alternative costs; the use of science through analyzing the chemical compo­sition and characteristics of textile fibers, or exploring op· lions in cutting energy costs. Recent examination of edu­cation programs and the reports which have resulted make it important for teachers to emphasize the ways home economics reinforces and gives meaning to academ­ic preparation, as well as life preparation.

The subject matter of today's home economics can offer students the chance to understand themselves, and this approach is proving to be successful - learning for self understanding, self development, and career preparation, not just for the sake of education. Studying development of children can aid in understanding personal develop­ment; application of art principles in dress can improve self-esteem; management of resources can improve per­sonal environment and thus increase self-esteem. The list of examples could continue for pages. Understanding of self has proven to be essential in positive growth and development.

Finally, home economics education must teach "change." Our changing society requires flexibility in educational programs. "The responsibility for change, therefore, lies with us. We must begin with ourselves, teaching ourselves not to dose our minds prematurely to the novel, the surprising, the seemingly radical." 14 Home economics has changed radically - a female-oriented field of study to a co-ed orientation; a field of study which focused on a family consisting of a male working, a female at home, and several children, to a focus on many types of families, i.e., both adults working, no child­ren, one-parent families. The challenges and possibilities these changes offer are endless and exciting for home economics. We have, indeed, come a long way!

EDUCATIONAL PERSPECTIVES/ 41

Footnotes

1Calvin, H.W. Principles and Policies in Home Ecoriomics, Home Economics Circular No. 4, Washington, DC : Bureau of Education, 1918.

2Hughes, R.P. The National Census Study of Secimdary Vocational Corisumer arid Homtmakirig Programs: A Final Report, Ames: Iowa State University Research Foundation, Inc., 1980

3Keiser, M.B. "Critical needs for home economics research" in Home Economics Research journal, 12 (4), pp. 450-454.

4simpson, E.J. Educating for the Future in Family Lift, ERIC Clearinghouse on Adult, Career and Vocational Education, Columbus Ohio ; The National Center for Research in Vocational Education, 1981, pg. 1.

5B!ankenship, M.L. and B.D. Moerchen. Home Economics Education, Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1979. Also, M. East, Home Economics, Past, Present, and Future, Boston: Allyn and Bacon, Inc., 1980; F.J. Parker, Home Economics: An Introduction lo a Dynamic Professiori, New York : Macmillan Publishing Co., Inc., 1980; M.T. Tate, Home Ecoriomics 11s a Profession, New York: McGraw-Hill Book Co., 1973.

6Brown, M. and B. Paolucci. Home Economics: A Definition, Washington, DC: American Home Economics Association, 1978, pg. 23.

7Brown, M. A Conceplu11I Scheme and Decision - Rules of the Selection and Organization of Home Economics Curriculum Content, Madison: Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction, 1977.

8American Home Economics Association. "How does youth envision the 1984 family?" in /ournal of Home Economics, 64 (8), pp. 20-24.

9National Association of State Boards of Education. "Thinking strategically about the future," in Education Week, 4 (11), pp. 18-19.

•0rbid., pg. 18. 11Toffler, A. Future Shock, New York: Bantam Books, 1970. 12Naisbill, J. Megatrends, New York: Warner Books, 1982,

pg. 249. 13spitze, H.T. "Yes, our nation is at risk, but ... " in /ournal of

Home Economics, 76 (2), pp. 50-52. 1+roffler, A. The Third Wave, New York: Bantam Books, 1980,

pg. 443.

Virginia Clark is Faculty Member. Louisiana Tech University, Ruston, Louisiana.