How Educational Philosophies Shape Family and Consumer Sciences and Home Economics Education: A Commentary

I began my teaching career in the mid-1970s totally unaware of the construct of educational philosophies. I attended teachers' college (1970–1972) to obtain a home economics teacher's license and certificate rather than a Bachelor of Education degree within an Education department. I do not remember ever being taught about this aspect of teaching. That is not to say it was not taught, just that I do not recall internalizing educational philosophy as an important part of being a home economics educator. It was not until 25 years later (early 2000s), when I began teaching home economics teacher education methods courses at a university (as part of an Education faculty, not a Home Economics department), that I discovered the notion of educational philosophies as espoused in educational foundations courses and textbooks. From then on, philosophical awareness was the mainstay of my approach to teaching preservice home economics teacher education methods in these courses.