ABSTRACT

Home Economics Skills for the 21^st Century: Restructuring the Home Economics Curriculum: A Caribbean Approach

The field of Home Economics has moved beyond the home into the global sphere where its scope has broadened to relate to 21^st century concepts, issues, education and careers. While students at the secondary education level need to develop home economics skills, learning in this discipline encompasses more than just the home or local communities. Thus, the traditional subject areas, instructional design and delivery methods have become antiquated. There needs to be a curriculum that reflects the knowledge and skills for the home, community, related industries and careers in the 21st century. As such, this paper examines the need for a restructuring of the home economics curriculum at the secondary education level within the Caribbean.

The subject areas, particularly at the senior high school level, need to reflect the broader scope of the home economics discipline. Students at this level, considering a future career, should be equipped to envision themselves in such careers or roles and be motivated for further study and skills development at the post-secondary education level. Secondary research and curriculum reviews have been conducted, to provide a comparative analysis of the current CXC syllabus. The paper presents recommendations for the implementation of a 2-tier level (Grades 7-9 and Grades 10-12), secondary education for the home economics discipline, with proposed subject title changes at the senior level, to reflect a 21^st century focus. A restructured home economics curriculum will allow students to identify with the global society in which they live and will eventually work.

Key Words: Home Economics, Caribbean Approach, CXC syllabus, 21^st century careers        

Jacquline A. Smith

Yeates School of Graduate Studies

Ryerson University

Toronto, ON Canada

ABSTRACT

Professionalism and Home Economics

Professionalism in Home Economics is essential to the growth and development of the home economist. An understanding of the philosophy and epistemology grounding the profession is critical in an era impacted by technological and global changes. In Educational institutions, these changes have been observed in the form of rebranding and re-envisioning the profession to future proof Home Economics for the 21st century. Critical to this future proofing is the name change. This small scale exploratory research seeks to unearth the home economist philosophical standpoint on the changing profession.  How do they see themselves as professionals? What does the profession look like in the 21st Century? Data will be collected via interviews and focus group sessions. A cross case thematic analysis will be used to analyze the findings.

Key Words: Philosophy, Home Economics, Future Proofing, Epistemology, Professionalism

Hope Mayne, Ph. D.

University of Technology, Jamaica

ABSTRACT

Changing the face of Home Economics: Rebranding and Repackaging for New Insights and Male Inclusion

Home economics has its roots in education for life skills. The focus was for women to fulfil their roles as mothers and wives while providing possibilities for earning. This allowed women greater efficiency in carrying out their domestic roles while providing an avenue for greater financial freedom. The home economics course is widely viewed as a course for women. Young men are most times excluded as such a course presents the label of being too domesticated. This small scale exploratory research seeks to determine the needs of the home economics industry in regards to rebranding. I seek to identify strategies for its repackaging by way of curriculum overhaul, brand management, sensitization campaigns, and international certification. These objectives are intended to be achieved through collaboration with stakeholders in the vocation industry, curriculum consultants, and vocation specialists. Surveys and interviews will be used to collect data.

Keywords: home economics, rebranding, repackaging

Lola Bennett, M.A

University of Technology, Jamaica

ABSTRACT

Home Economics: Meeting the Needs of Families in a Changing Caribbean

Caribbean families have throughout history displayed remarkable resilience and a key reason for this has been their ability to modify and reconfigure itself to suit their specific social and political context (James and Harris,1998; Chamberlain,1999). A culturally appropriate definition of the Caribbean family, an understanding of its composition and its origins can best help to explain its evolution towards interventions for meeting the needs of these families and their communities. While similarities between the familial structures and the impact of multiple variables upon families in the Caribbean and other parts of the region of the Americas exist, nuances and yet distinct differences prevail. All territories in the region have experienced socio-political changes and the resulting economic and demographic trends have affected some territories more than others. Nonetheless the Caribbean family continues to recreate itself as it is impacted by global trends, more particularly the intra-regional changes in cultural, religious, economic and political policies and practices.

A dearth of current statistics for the critical variables of familial roles and structure, immigration, repatriation and their impact on the family tend to diminish the magnitude of these changes, their effects and interventions to mere conjecture. This lack of empirical evidence presents a challenge for scientific discussions, but because vast similarities exist within and between countries in the Caribbean the presentation will benefit from a qualitative approach derived from focus group discussions and available statistics. The presentation will discuss critical impacts and examine solutions and implications for home economics towards improving the quality of life for families.

Key words:  Caribbean families, trends, social change

Audrey A. Jones-Drayton, M Ed., IPHE, CPHE,

Samuel Jackman Prescod Institute of Technology, Barbados

2017