home economics

Terminology

Family and consumer sciences were previously known in the United States as home economics, often abbreviated as "home ec" or "HE". In 1994, various organizations, including the American Association of Family and Consumer Sciences, adopted the new term "Family and Consumer Sciences (FCS)" to reflect the fact that the field covers aspects outside of home life and wellness. FCS is taught worldwide, as an elective or a required course in secondary education, and in many tertiary and continuing education institutions. Sometimes it is also taught in primary education. International cooperation in the field is coordinated by the International Federation for Home Economics, established in 1908.

These programs have been called human sciences, home science, domestic economy, and the domestic arts, the domestic sciences, or the domestic arts and sciences, and may still be referred to as such depending on the academic institution. Home economics has a strong historic relationship to the field of human ecology, and since the 1960s a number of university-level home economics programs have been renamed "human ecology" programs, including Cornell University's program.

By country

Internationally, Home Economics education is coordinated by the International Federation for Home Economics (Fédération internationale pour l'économie familiale).

Canada

In the majority of elementary (K-6) and public (K-8) schools in Canada, home economics is not taught. General health education is provided as part of a physical education class. In high schools or secondary schools, there is no specific home economics course, but students may choose related courses to take, such as Family Studies, Food and Nutrition, or Health and Safety.

Finland

Finland has a 110-year history in home economics teacher education. Household economics and nutrition have been taught at university level since the 1940s. Finland has made home economics a required course for boys and girls. When at university, home economics courses fall under categories of the culture and education of nutrition and food, consumer education, environmental education, and family education. The Finnish National Core Curriculum for Basic Education in 2014 also states to reach sustainable development, home economics must be one of the key elements throughout curriculum.

Germany

Between 1880 and 1900, the Reifenstein schools concept was initiated by Ida von Kortzfleisch, a Prussian noble woman and early German feminist. Reifenstein refers to Reifenstein im Eichsfeld, a municipality in Thuringia and site of the first permanent school. Reifensteiner Verband comprised from 1897 till 1990 about 15 own schools and cooperated with further operators. About 40 wirtschaftliche Frauenschulen, rural economist women schools were connected to the Reifensteiner concept and movement and allowed higher education for women already in the German Kaiserreich. The 1913 doctorate of Johannes Kramer compared different concepts of home economic education worldwide and praised the system e.g. in Iowa.

Additionally, home economics are taught as an optional course in lower- and mid-level secondary schools (Haupt- und Realschule).

India

Many education boards in India such as NIOS, CBSE, ICSE, CISCE and various state boards offer home science as a subject in their courses, sometimes called Human Ecology and Family Sciences.

Indonesia

Home economics are known in Indonesia as Family Training and Welfare (Indonesian: Pembinaan dan Kesejahteraan Keluarga, PKK). It is rooted on a 1957 conference on home economics held in Bogor; it became state policy in 1972.

Iran

The new books are Family management and planning lifestyle for girls in secondary high schools and a similar book for boys just as well.

Ireland

Home economics was taught to girls in the junior cycle of secondary school in the 20th century. It was added to the senior cycle Leaving Certificate in 1971, at a time when elimination of school fees was increasing participation. In subsequent decades new co-educational community schools saw more boys studying the subject. Increased third-level education participation from the 1990s saw a decline in practical subjects not favoured for third-level entry requirements, including home economics.

Italy

In 1945, just days before the Liberation of World War II, Ada Gobetti stated, "The most difficult problem will be that of the housewife. It will be one of the most difficult to resolve if one wants to create a new society." She wanted women, family, work, and society to form a new relationship through education and organization of the housewives. Although people were not taught formal classes of home economics, during the 1950s and 1960s home economics manuals had been fully published. These manuals were compulsory for children to read in school. These manuals focused heavily on how to be a good housewife during a new era of transformation and how to adapt to new behaviors and habits.

Starting from the Gentile reform of 1923, home economics was taught in the lower middle school and in the new unified middle school established in 1963. The name changed to Technical Applications, differentiated into male and female, which was taught until 1977 when it changed to the title of Technical Education, which no longer differed in relation to the sex of the pupils.

South Korea

In South Korea, the field is most commonly known as "consumer science" (소비자학, sobija-hak). The field began in schools taught by Western missionaries in the late 19th century. The first college-level department of family science was established at Ewha Womans University in Seoul in 1929.

Sweden

In Sweden, Home economics is commonly known as "home- and consumer studies" (hem- och konsumentkunskap).

The subject is mandatory from middle years until high school in both public and private schools but is regarded as one of the smallest subjects in the Swedish school system.

For many decades, the subject was only called "hemkunskap" and had a strong focus on the traditional common tasks of a home, family and practical cooking and cleaning. After the 2011 Swedish school reform, the curriculum have been restructured with more focus on the topics of health, economy and environment which includes Consumer economics as well as Consumer awareness.

United Kingdom

In 1852 Louisa Hope and others created the Scottish Ladies Association for Promoting Female Industrial Education. The intention was to ensure that females would learn sewing and in time other domestic subjects in separate gender based education. The Church of Scotland had decided in 1849 that it wanted female "schools of industry". Women were seen as centres of moral and religious values for families and upper class ladies in the new association saw it as their role to provide it.

In 1853 Hope published, The Female Teacher: Ideas Suggestive of Her Qualifications and Duties where she notes that women should be "keepers at home" and men should see to his "labour and his work until the evening". Education of females would elevate the "lower classes" and this was the "aim of the Scottish Ladies Association for Promoting Female Industrial Education".

Hope organised a petition of 130 signatures of "principal ladies of Scotland" demanding improved sewing lesson for girls in Scottish schools. The petition was supported by letters sent to newspapers and this was of underestimated influence. By 1861 grants were available to support this objective and in 1870 70% of schools were including sewing in their curriculum according to inspectors.

Thereza Charlotte, Lady Rucker (1863 – 1941) was a promoter of household science teaching. She helped establish Domestic Science as a university subject but only at one university in England.

In the UK, Home Economics was a GCSE qualification offered to secondary school pupils, but since 2015 been replaced with a course entitled Food and Nutrition which focuses more on the nutritional side of food to economics.

In Scotland, Home Economics was replaced by Hospitality: Practical Cooking at National 3, 4 and 5 level and Health and Food Technology at National 3, 4, 5, Higher and Advanced Higher. The awarding body is the SQA.

United States

Over the years, homemaking in the United States has been a foundational piece of the education system, particularly for women. These homemaking courses, called home economics, have had a prevalent presence in secondary and higher education since the 19th century. By definition, home economics is "the art and science of home management", meaning that the discipline incorporates both creative and technical aspects into its teachings. Home economics courses often consist of learning how to cook, how to do taxes, and how to perform child care tasks. In the United States, home economics courses have been a key part of learning the art of taking care of a household. One of the first to champion the economics of running a home was Catherine Beecher, sister to Harriet Beecher Stowe.

Since the nineteenth century, schools have been incorporating home economics courses into their education programs. In its early years, home economics began with the goal of professionalizing domestic labor for women whilst also uplifting the idea of "women's work". In the United States, the teaching of home economics courses in higher education greatly increased with the Morrill Act of 1862. Signed by Abraham Lincoln, the Act granted land to each state or territory in America for higher educational programs in vocational arts, specifically mechanical arts, agriculture, and home economics. Such land grants allowed for people of a wider array of social classes to receive better education in important trade skills.

Home economics courses mainly taught students how to cook, sew, garden, and take care of children. The vast majority of these programs were dominated by women. Home economics allowed for women to receive a better education while also preparing them for a life of settling down, doing the chores, and taking care of the children while their husbands became the breadwinners. At this time, homemaking was largely accessible to middle and upper class white women whose families could afford secondary schooling.

In the late 19th century, the Lake Placid Conferences took place. The conferences consisted of a group of educators working together to elevate the discipline to a legitimate profession. Originally, they wanted to call this profession "oekology", the science of right living. However, "home economics" was ultimately chosen as the official term in 1899.

The first book on home economics was Mrs. Welch's Cookbook, published in 1884 at Iowa State by Mary Beaumont Welch. Welch's classes on domestic economy were the first in the nation to give college credit on the subject.