In the spirit of the 110th anniversary of the American Association for Family & Consumer Sciences (AAFCS), which was celebrated in 2019, this paper traces Ellen Swallow Richards' lasting contributions to the discipline and profession, focusing on the years leading up to its formation in 1909. Within a span of approximately 15 years, she…

The development of home economics as a discipline parallels Industry 2.0 with technology appearing in early home economics research and curricula; introducing electrified technology, most often in the form of appliances, was a distinct and important role for professional home economists. While specific subdisciplines gravitated toward research…

Food literacy (FL) has become a key concept for many family and consumer sciences/home economics (FCS/HE) professionals, especially those with specializations in dietetics and nutrition, food studies, and education. References to food literacy have grown exponentially since its first mention in the 1990s (Begley & Vidgen, 2016) and are used…

Family life and Extension family and consumer science educators are encouraged to adapt existing curricula to effectively use with ethnically diverse audiences. Scholars have described different methods for culturally adapting programming; however, few have documented the process by which Extension educators may tackle this endeavor. The purpose…

New Extension state specialists face many uncertainties when beginning to work in their new position, especially when it involves a state unfamiliar to them. Literature reviews may not provide the latest and clearest picture of the needs and challenges in the state. Furthermore, the between-county variation of issues may differ greatly. The study…

Home economics education is not different from career education, but career education should include as a primary thrust preparation for family life. Career education itself is concerned with total development of all students, home and community learning, self-development, and is integrated learning. Just as career education will increase student…

Presenting subject matter from all areas of home economics in an interrelated manner will help students view the family holistically, as a part of the educational, economic, legal, political, and medical systems. Home economics can help students be aware of trends affecting the family and develop decision-making skills. (SK)

Attacks on family life programs are generally directed toward the qualifications of teachers. Thus, the author focuses on the need for clarifying and refining current selection procedures, and points up that such procedures, in the past, have involved a combination of techniques with considerable reliance upon professional criteria. It is noted…

This compilation of thirty-three transparencies, a supplement to the family life education curriculum guide (see related note), is designed for use by secondary education home economics teachers in teaching family life education classes. The transparencies, covering three areas in family life education, each consist of a captioned picture…

Presents a rationale and framework for reconceptualizing the present and future practice of home economics based upon the perception of home economics as a unified field concerned with home and family. The framework combines historic and contemporary views of home economics that integrate professional involvement over time, place, and role. (JOW)

SOCIAL CHANGES ARE REFLECTED IN FAMILY LIFE. IN PLANNING A PROGRAM AIMED AT IMPROVING FAMILY LIVING, IT IS IMPERATIVE TO CONSIDER THE EFFECTS OF CHANGES. FAMILIES HAVE MOVED OFF THE FARM, HAVE MOVED FROM PRODUCTION TO CONSUMPTION, HAVE SHIFTED FROM AN ECONOMY OF SCARCITY TO AN ECONOMY OF ABUNDANCE, HAVE BECOME SMALLER, WORK LESS AND LIVE BETTER,…

Recasts home economics using systems theory, social construction, and feminist principles in terms of private/public (Hestian/Hermian) space. Suggests that this framework provides a nongendered vocabulary with which to look at family and state as interacting, self-regulating systems. (SK)

A course was designed to enable girls to improve their personal appearance through special projects in hair care and styling, skin care and makeup application, good health habits including diet, exercise, improvement of posture, charm and poise; voice control; manners; and the selection of clothes that look best on the specific figure. The course…

Calls for recognition of the social and educational factors that perpetuate technical approaches in education, for the need to revise our own perspective of families within critical and interpretive modes, and for the need to clarify the role of family studies within general education. (JOW)

Examines the rationale for family studies education, the state of the discipline in school curricula today, and possible future directions educators might consider when planning new family studies courses. (NRJ)