Current Situation of Home Economics Education in the UK: Northern Ireland

Abstract

  The purpose of this study is to clarify Home Economics education in a secondary school in Northern Ireland.

  The study is based on a survey of the Home Economics curriculum, classroom observation and interviews with teachers during a visit to Northern Ireland in January 2017.

  1) Home economics in Northern Ireland is different from “Design and Technology” in England and Wales, and it is taught as a compulsory subject for boys and girls in the learning field “Life and Work” for 8th to 10th graders.

  2) “Life and Work” features four subjects “Personal Development”, “Home Economics”, “Local & Global Citizenship”, and “Employability”. Three key concepts of Home Economics are “Healthy Eating”, “Home and Family Life”, and “Independent Living”.

  3) Home economics was also positioned as an optional subject for vocational education.

  4) Design of a Home Economics lesson plan such as the number of class hours was implemented by each school. Different types of Home Economics classes were taught at the secondary schools visited in Belfast depending on the actual situation of each school.

  Home Economics in Northern Ireland is close to that in the Republic of Ireland. It is thought that the educational background of the two countries is the same.

  Although a unified curriculum exists, lessons vary because lesson construction is left to each school.