Interpretation of Family Life Education Essay

Family Life upbringing has endured sixfold evolutions, commentarys and criteria since its origins in contemporary family science between 1881 and 1920. Currently, Family Life didactics has tightened the reigns of its purpose, created fundamental criteria and yet tranquilize leads itself to an assortment of interpretations. For the purpose of this paper, I will endeavor to give my individual definition of Family Life Education based on course readings and research, the guiding principle of FLE, a theoretical perspective that supports and, is most relevant to my definition of Family Life Education and, a personal philosophy of bringing up.What does Family Life Education open still for to me? Depending on the company you keep, this is a possiblely loaded question. Within the realm of my present circle, the question does hold a realistic explanation. Family sustenance schooling has been significant in the historical development of several educational enterprises ( arcus, vol. 1, 1993, p. 46) therefore, lending itself to the family life schoolmaster to select a track that best complements their bear philosophies and paid preparation.The definition by the National Council on Family Relations (2006) sums up what FLE means to me, Family life education is the educational suit to strengthen individual and family life through family perspective. The objective of family life education is to enrich and improve the flavour of the individual and the family life. As a future passkey in this distinctive field, I strive to get the umpteen characteristics of a well-rounded practitioner, including, precisely not limited to, sound knowledge of the professional capacity and to work, when needed in a multidisciplinary coming.As the possibilities to individual and family composition atomic number 18 endless, the ability to draw from another(prenominal) disciplines is crucial. It is probable that when working(a) with a family for instance that is struggling wi th an issue, the family life professional would need to utilize an come along that incorporated all of Gardners Multiple Intelligences (1983). In addition, it is also important to note Family life educators require used educational concepts as their solitary approach to multidisciplinaryintervention (Arcus, vol. 2, 1993, pg. 28) and this approach has created concern amongst scholars and professionals alike. To become multi disciplinary, Arcus (1993) offers that through the use of knowledge from a broader range of disciplines and through greater cooperation among the contributing disciplines, true multidisciplinary approach can be attained. As indicated previously, the composition of individual or family is infinite and special attention of necessity to be paid to issues of diversity.Within the profession of Family Studies, there is particular emphasis on valuing differences and respecting those distinctions (Arcus, vol. 2, 1993, pg. 28) come alongto a greater extent, creating eff ective working relationships with persons served. Lastly, to complete the puzzle of the well rounded practitioner, one must(prenominal) be able to utilize their own life experiences relevant to family life topics and to honestly accept those experiences as not to furnish hypocritical recommendations. To further personalize my definition of Family Life Education, I have compiled some additional ideas.It is unlikely that a professional in the field of Family Studies is wandering aimlessly without purpose or direction. Typically, they argon a part of an formation that is providing services to individuals or families with a set of defined necessarily. Even more likely it is the responsibility of the professional to origination, develop and deliver the services needed by means of effective classming. The Family Life professional becomes the program and an effective program does not rest solely on content (Brindis & Davis, et al, 1998, part IV).The professional must mobilize for acti on by increasing awareness and generating support of a program, assess the involve and assets of the populations served and show strong foundations that will serve to protect the potential of the program and last, but surely not least, design an effective Family Life Education program. Designing a new or adapted family life education program frequently entails many planning and management issues. The development is easier when the concerns are planned for at the onset. judge about how to advocate for the program, especially in the face of controversy. Expect controversy (Brindis & Davis, et al. 1998, sect. IV). Controversy or counterpoint is seguing to the subsequent topic, the guiding principles of Family Life Education. Intervention, the anti-conflict Being proactive in a reactive world. Intervention by way of education, this statement, in my opinion is the guiding principle to family life education. No matter how you virgule it, the opportunity to impart an intervention is en dless. Intervention can have many connotations.In solar day to day life it is regularly defined as an unwelcomed hoo-hah. For instance, a wife introduces an intervention for her substance abusing husband, of which does not indigence to admit to or take responsibility for his addiction. Therefore the husband would characterize the intervention as unwelcomed interference. For the purpose of family studies, the definition takes a neutral stance to denote the taking of clearly defined actions to fetch change (Encarta English Dictionary). The change is expected to be positive, indicating harmony or affirmation.Societies evolve along contrastive cultural, religious, historical, economic, geographical, and political paths. At any time, members of different societies view themselves and the world from distinctive perspectives. Yet global trends in communication and information dissemination, entertainment, and other economic and commercial exchanges always affect local realities, somet imes more than people living in those localities fully understand. How children, adolescents, and adults are assigned roles ultimately reflects the convergence of such social paths and global trends.The preceding statements have the potential to be segue ways and/or roadblocks to the family professional. The professional should move over family life education at an early age, to combat the notion of reaction and to introduce the idea of prevention, diminish the likelihood of ever intervening. The introduction of a program that would counter negative or damaging societal outcomes should implement age appropriate curricula, especially when working solely with school age children, which meets the developmental needs and matches backgrounds and life experiences of all individuals involved.What are universal interventions? As adapted from Family Health International (2001), Offer education and skill-building Engage young caretakers, including parents, extended family, or other adults such as teachers and youth workers. Engage youth themselves in program design, development, implementation, and evaluation. Ensure access to counseling and other services that respond to the special needs of the individual or family Augment collaboration and effective referrals among existing health and other development agencies and organizations. take aim program site managers, service providers, and others to improve their interactions with individuals and families Have clear goals, target populations, and indicators while building in monitoring and evaluation from the beginning of a project use such findings to improve strategies and services. The family life professional should strive to maintain balance and realistic programming and to ultimately provide information and activities that encourage skill development that is relevant and useful.Imparting a value system and norms when they are lacking or altogether absent to an individual or family is an asset to the overall prog ram, especially when follow through is a potential issue. A basic skill set is at least in place. Last but not least, ensure that your program is based on a solid theoretical model. Ability, Desire and Potential why MI surmise is relevant to Families Successful and unsuccessful people do not vary greatly in their abilities. They vary in their desires to reach their potential. John Maxwell During the tenure of this course, Family Study Methodologies, we have encountered many theories and how they are or have been significant to the field of Family Life Education. The theories have run the gamut from their birthplace in social surmise and social therapy to a current state of post modern, contemporary status. As indicated by Lavee and Dollahite (1991), there is a weak link between theory and research in modern family science and they go further to say, from multiple points of view, it is imperative to couple theory with research methods.There are multiple approaches to theory and re search in the family sciences (Sourcebook, pg. 17) and there is not one that is committed as the flagship theory to FLE. or else the interplay between scholars, families and the socio-cultural context that surrounds them (Sourcebook, pg. 18). These connections should pay special attention to the unique quality of families in society and how these families function within their environment. It is necessary to confirm what I mean by theory within the field of family life education.As defined by Gibbs ( 1972, p.5),sourcebook p 20 theory is a set of logically interconnected statements in the form of empirical assertions about properties of infinite classes of events or things. This definition lends itself to the notion of a abstract framework, a theory that has not come full circle. Gardners theory of Multiple Intelligences fits this description. Although there are several intelligences define which possess a sound theoretical foundation, eight to be exact, there are additional intel ligences waiting in the wings for validation therefore supporting the notion of the conceptual framework.Gardners theory is relevant to family life education, in part due to its flexible and expandable nature but mostly because the family is a phenomenal, progressive body that needs room to evolve, just as MI theory continues to do. References Brindis, C and Davis, L et al. (1998) Designing effective family life education programs. Advocatesforyouth. org. Four sections. Retrieved April 13, 2008, from www. advocateforyouthorg/PUBLICATIONS Lavee, Y. , & Dollahite, D. C. (1991) The linkage between theory and research in family science. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 53, 361-373.