Instructor's Guide

Chapter 1

Chapter 1 - Why and What is Family Life Education?

Questions/Problems for Discussion and Review – Chapter 1

Class Discussion

1. From the list of definitions in Box 1.1, choose the definition you think best describes the range of tasks and settings for family life education described by Thomas and Arcus (1992). Explain why you chose this particular one. In reviewing all the definitions, what do you see that has endured over time? What elements have expanded or contracted?
   
2. Do you agree with Herbert Spencer that public school curricula should include parenting courses? Why or why not? Spencer observes that formal education has largely ignored this aspect of education. Is this still the case? What do you think is the reason?
   
3. How do the demands and stresses of family life today differ from those in the past? Consider particularly the dual-career family; single-parent lowincome family; immigrant family.

Research Problems

1. What makes prevention and education programs hard to document in terms of effectiveness? Find examples of research that document the effectiveness of prevention strategies.
   
2. What do you see as the value of prevention/education programs, in comparison to crisis intervention and remediation programs?

Case Study Design

Using the three examples at the beginning of this chapter and the three other examples in Chapter 12 as cases for study, complete the following tasks through the use of reasoning, research, and interview. (Over a period of several weeks, as you study the succeeding chapters, you will add to your “found” knowledge.)

1. After reading the example, what basic information do you have about
   a.  The target population
   b. The training and task of the family life educator
   
2. What additional information would you need in order to design an effective family life education program?
   
3. What programs have been developed and assessed for this population? Find some examples.
   
4. Design a short-term and a long-term program for this population.
   a. How canyou determine what the learning goals should be for each program?
   b. What format and teaching methodologies will you use?
   
5. Develop an assessment design to measure program effectiveness.