Teach Middle East Magazine Apr - Jun 2020 Issue 3 Volume 7 | Page 31

Sharing Good Practice
lens to frame education and what our
next generation should be learning.
Currently, every country in the world
falls short on more than half of the
targets of the 17 SDGs and a quarter of
the world’s countries fall short on all 17
of the goals (UN, 2015). Goal 4, Quality
Education, and specifically target 4.7,
relates directly to the contribution
home economics can make.
The
target is that “[B]y 2030, ensure that
all learners acquire the knowledge
and skills needed to promote
sustainable development, including,
among others, through education
for sustainable development and
sustainable lifestyles, human rights,
gender equality, promotion of a culture
of peace and non violence, global
citizenship and appreciation of cultural
diversity and of culture’s contribution
to sustainable development” (UN,
2015). But this is just one of several
SDGs that the teaching and learning
of
home
economics
education
are
fundamental
to
achieving.
Other strongly aligned SDG goals
include SDG 2 Zero Hunger; SDG 3
Good health and wellbeing; SDG11
Sustainable cities and communities;
SDG 12 Responsible consumption and
production.
Where these skills are lacking,
policymakers are taking action to
educate. Becoming Home Economics
literate is being seen as one strategy
which can assist in creating healthier,
more
productive
and
creative
individuals who strive for a sustainable
quality of life. Home Economics
literacy is a concept that has been
developed over recent time and is
defined generally as the amalgam
of multiple literacies including food,
health, financial, consumer and
environmental literacy. Its purpose
is to enable individuals like family
members, responsible consumers
and global citizens to make informed
choices and opt for appropriate
behaviours in order to safeguard
and enhance personal, family and
community wellbeing.
Pendergast (2015) provides greater
specificity,
arguing
that
home
economics literacy comprises the
Essential Dimensions and the Areas
of Practice of home economics
knowledge identified in the IFHE
Position Paper (2008).
This is
represented in Figure 1 and provides a
philosophical stance for the profession
and a curriculum structure for the field
of study.
The four Areas of Practice
are:
5 5 An academic discipline to educate
new scholars, to conduct research
and to create new knowledge and
ways of thinking for professionals
and for society;
5 5 An arena for everyday living
in
households,
families
and
communities for developing human
growth potential and human
necessities or basic needs to be met;
5 5 A curriculum area that facilitates
students to discover and further
develop their own resources and
capabilities to be used in their
personal life, by directing their
professional decisions and actions
or preparing them for life;
5 5 A societal arena to influence and
develop a policy to advocate
for
individuals,
families
and
communities
to
achieve
empowerment and wellbeing, to
utilise transformative practices, and
to facilitate sustainable futures.
The three Essential
Dimensions are:
5 5 A focus on fundamental needs and
practical concerns of individuals
and family in everyday life and their
importance both at the individual
and near community levels, and also
at societal and global levels so that
wellbeing can be enhanced in an
ever-changing and ever-challenging
environment
5 5 The integration of knowledge,
processes and practical skills from
multiple disciplines synthesised
through
interdisciplinary
and
transdisciplinary
inquiry
and
pertinent paradigms
5 5 Demonstrated
capacity
to
take
critical/
transformative/
emancipatory action to enhance
wellbeing
and
to
advocate
for
individuals,
families
and
communities at all levels and sectors
of society.
Home Economics
timetabled school
countries around
surprisingly not yet
In other countries,
is also finding its
is taught as a
subject in many
the world but
in all UAE schools.
Home Economics
way into lifelong
Home Economics Literacy Model (HELM)
Graphic Design: Joy Reynolds
Pendergast, D.(2015). Home economics Literacy: A vision for the field. Keynote address
presented at: Action for family and consumer well being - Home economics literacy
bringing skills to life. University of Malta IFHE Conference, March 19-21, Malta.
Figure 1. HELM – Home Economics Literacy Model