Middle School Rationale
Resource showing the relevance of and ideology behind Middle School FCS Programs. This information can also be found at the following link: https://www.isbe.net/Documents/Rationale_For_Middle_School_FSC.pdf
RATIONALE FOR MIDDLE SCHOOL FCS
It is the aim of FCS courses that all students increase their ability to act responsibly and productively, work cooperatively, apply concepts of balancing school/work and family, create solutions to critical and emergent issues, utilize technology effectively in personal and family settings, and maintain healthy lifestyles. FCS education provides the bridge needed by all students to deal with life and career issues.
FCS at the middle level prepares students to acquire personal skills and plan ways to transfer those skills to the workplace; investigate and assume appropriate individual and family roles; understand and apply concepts of balancing work and family; and acquire skills and attitudes that lead them to contribute to the good of the community and society. FCS curriculum includes acquisition of problem-solving, decision-making, higher order thinking, communication, literacy, and numerical skills in applied community, work, and family contexts. It is the aim of FCS courses that all students increase their ability to act responsibly and productively, to synthesize knowledge from multiple sources, to work cooperatively, and to apply the highest standards in all aspects of their lives. Family and Consumer Sciences Education provides the bridges needed by all students to deal with major societal issues such as work-and-family, child and elder care, family and community violence and crime, and usage of technology.
• Essential process competencies needed for living and working successfully in the 21st Century are addressed in each grade-level program, including five competency areas: (1) Identify, organize, plan, and allocate resources; (2) Work with others; (3) Acquire and use information; (4) Understand complex interrelationships; and (5) Work with a variety of technologies. Three types of foundation competencies (basic skills, thinking skills, and personal qualities) and four integrative focuses (citizenship, leadership, volunteerism, and managing change) unify the topics in each grade-level program.
• FCS programs at the middle school are based on curriculum and instruction standards that incorporate:
o student-centered curriculum with emphasis on hands-on involvement; o focus on practical problem solving skills in developmentally appropriate real-life applications;
o activities that carry into family, work, and community settings; o activities that aid students in planning for school-to-work transitions;
o increased efforts to maximize involvement in total school programs and in development of the school’s basic educational goals for all learners; and
o learning environments, including project-based learning, designed to meet developmental needs of students.
• Laboratory experiences and other types of student-centered, hands-on projects are expected in every unit of study. Laboratories and projects can be effective in middle school FCS Such projects should focus on the high-priority FCS academic standards and should build student abilities for learning and for peer cooperation and support. Service learning and/or large-group product development are strongly recommended. Possible examples include:
o Personal image
o Caring for the environment
o Personal space
o Caring for children
o Production: Class/group-produced items of service-learning and/or marketing or economics lessons
In conjunction with the listed topics, FCS instruction:
• Emphasizes thinking, communication, leadership and management processes
• Builds connections between content and action through service learning, hands-on projects, production of goods and services, student research, projects and events of the "Family, Career and Community Leaders of America" youth organization, etc.
• Enables authentic application of other content areas including technology, health, art, language arts, mathematics, science, social studies, etc.
THE NEED FOR MIDDLE SCHOOL FCS
EDUCATION
• Based upon the body mass index for children ages 10-17, 4.8 million children are classified as overweight and 5.1 as obese.
• Fifty-three of every 1000 births are to unmarried women ages 15-44, with 47% ages 15-17.
• Seventeen of every 100 children live in households where food is insecure.
• Eighty-five of every 100 workers in 2010 consisted of working parents, who require quality child care.
• The early child care field needs to fill 400,000 to 500,000 positions by 2018.
• Half of the fastest growing CTE programs are related to Early Childhood and
Culinary Arts, which are associated with higher than average employment growth.
• Research proves that hands-on engaging education prevents high school drop outs.
PHILOSOPHY OF MIDDLE SCHOOL FCS
1. We believe that FCS combines academic learning and hands-on application as part of an educational process intended to be useful to the students today as well as throughout their adulthood. Our students learn to:
• apply knowledge gained through interdisciplinary connections to real life applications
• use critical and creative thinking skills
2. We believe that FCS programs are an essential part of the effort to nurture and strengthen interpersonal, family, and community relationships. This is accomplished through an emphasis on:
• building a positive self-image in each student and encouraging mutual respect for others
• develop positive communication and employability skills
• balancing personal, home, family, and work lives
3. We believe that FCS provides opportunities for all students to succeed by:
• preparing our students to meet the needs of the workplace through career-related contexts
• offering authentic opportunities for our students to develop a wide variety of skills for immediate and future use.
PROGRAM GOALS FOR MIDDLE SCHOOL
Family and Consumer Sciences Education will prepare students for family life, work life, and careers in Family and Consumer Sciences by providing opportunities to develop independence and the knowledge, skills, attitudes, and behaviors needed for:
• Becoming responsible citizens and leaders in family, community, and work settings
• Using critical and creative thinking skills to address problems in diverse family, community, and work environments
• Promoting optimal nutrition and wellness across the life-span
• Functioning effectively as providers and consumers of goods and services
• Successful life management, employment, and career development
• Strengthening the well-being of individuals and families across the life span
• Managing resources to meet the material needs of individuals and families
• Balancing personal, home, family, and work lives
• Appreciating human worth and accepting responsibility for one’s actions and successes in family and work life
These program goals are achieved through course work aligned with the following Family and Consumer Sciences national and state standards.
• Career, Community, and Family Connections
• Consumer Science and Family Resource Management
• Interpersonal Relationships
• Leadership
• Individual and Family Development
• Education and Family-Community Services
• Nutrition and Wellness
• Hospitality, Food Science, Dietetics, Food Production and Services
• Child Development and Parenting Education
• Early Childhood Education and Childcare Services
• Textiles and Design
• Textile, Apparel, Housing, Interiors, and Related Careers
INSTRUCTIONAL PRACTICES FOR MIDDLE SCHOOL FCS
High quality middle school family and consumer sciences program ensures that teachers assume responsibility for ….
Promoting family and consumer sciences communication by: •
• Proving performance tasks and open‐ended problems that facilitate class discussion.
• Eliciting student’s reasoning, justification and clarification of meaning, orally and in writing, and/or in illustration.
• Modeling correct language and terminology during problem solving situations.
Addressing student learning styles by:
• Varying instructional methods and activities to address student learning styles by presenting information through visual, auditory and kinesthetic modalities.
• Providing students with access to a wide range of teaching materials to accommodate their learning strengths.
• Encouraging a variety of student responses based on various learning styles.
Providing time for exploration by:
• Ensuring that students have opportunities to explore, discover, and investigate problems.
Making instructional connections by:
• Regularly making connections with within family and consumer sciences topics and to reading and math concepts and skills
• Incorporating objectives that naturally align with state and national standards Relating class experiences to life experiences.
• Aligning student activities with academic expectations.
Engaging students in problem solving by:
• Teaching a problem‐solving approach.
• Encouraging the use of different strategies for problem solving.
• Challenging students to think by using open‐ended problems.
• Promoting the use of 21st Century Skills in all units and courses.
• Selecting tasks that promote the understanding of concepts and the power treason and solve problems related to family and consumer sciences.
• Providing opportunities to solve authentic classroom, home and workplace challenges
REFERENCES:
https://www.doe.in.gov/cte/middle-school-family-consumer-sciences
http://www.aafcs.org/res/branding/One-Page_FCSed_Fact_Sheet.pdf
http://www.ascd.org/publications/curriculum-handbook/394/chapters/Major-Trends-inFamily-and-Consumer-Sciences.aspx