VALIDATING A PHILOSOPHICAL BASE FOR MARYLAND SECONDARY HOME ECONOMICS CURRICULU

According to information-processing theory, a teacher's pedagogical thinking and behaviors appear to be guided by an organized set of beliefs staged in the social context in which the teacher functions. This cognitive theory was applied to this study's problem: How do Maryland secondary teachers characterize the field of home economics? The research purposes were to: (1) validate the philosophical perspectives that characterize the field of home economics and (2) identify the philosophical perspectives of home economics that Maryland secondary teachers perceive to be the basis of their pedagogical decisions.;As there was no clearly-defined, uniformly-accepted theoretical base for the study of home economics, it was necessary to use content analysis methodology to systematically analyze the profession's historic and current literature for philosophical assumptions about the field. The assumptions were matched with five predominant philosophical schools-of-thought that have characterized the field: (1) Household Management; (2) Application of Science; (3) Manual Training; (4) Education for Women; and (5) Critical Science.;Members of the National Home Economics Curriculum Task Force of the American Home Economics Association (AHEA) were the experts who validated the philosophical assumptions/home economics schools-of-thought matches. The 65 philosophical perspectives judged to be representative of the construct 'philosophical nature of home economics' formed the Nature of Home Economics (NOHE) pilot instrument.;The NOHE research instrument resulted from the systematic analysis of the pilot. The 40-item, Likert-type scale was administered to 100 Maryland secondary home economics teachers, one-half of whom were members of AHEA. The nominal data was analyzed using summated scores, means, and measures of variability.;The preferred philosophical characterization of the field identified by Maryland secondary teachers was represented by the Application of Science school-of-thought. Two philosophically-contrasting schools-of-thought, Application of Science and Critical Science, received 75%+ subject agreement. The Education for Women model was the least-preferred characterization of the home economics field.;The teachers' responses did document, as hypothesized, that an eclectic pattern of philosophical perspectives inform Maryland secondary home economics teachers about the field. Inservice was recommended if Maryland and the Maryland Home Economics Association desire to implement the Critical Science approach as the basis for its programs.