ELEMENTS OF QUALITY FAMILY LIFE EDUCATION RESOURCES AND PROGRAMS - Corwin

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3 C H A P T E R

ELEMENTS OF QUALITY FAMILY LIFE EDUCATION RESOURCES AND PROGRAMS

C ountless family life education (FLE) resources of one kind or another exist today. These resources include workshop curricula, newsletters, videos/video-based curricula, books, lay publications, support groups, and Web sites. The materials cut across many content areas, from parenting and marriage education to individual development. Family life educators (FLEs) are faced with the decision of whether to adopt and adapt existing resources or to create materials of their own. Many of these resources have been developed in educational outreach settings, such as land grant universities, while others have been developed and distributed commercially. However, these materials are of varying quality, not always following high development standards (Hughes, 1994). How do FLEs determine the quality of existing resources as they consider the many options available to them? Or alternatively, if they decide to develop their own resources, what elements would appropriately be included?

Beyond materials is the broader FLE program, which we define as comprehensive, multilevel, collaborative, community-based educational efforts for children, youth, families, and communities. While many of these kinds of

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comprehensive programs have been created, few meet the test of time (Lee, Mancini, Miles, & Marek, 1996). What are the elements of successful, sustained programs, and how can we infuse those essentials into our efforts in communities?

Chapter 2 provides a framework for the design of comprehensive FLE prevention programs. In this chapter, first we take the discussion a step further to spotlight and evaluate the specific features of quality FLE resources. Second, we review the elements that research shows hold comprehensive programs together once they are in place, and provide examples of programs around the United States that contain these elements.

THE NEED FOR STANDARDS OF QUALITY FOR FAMILY LIFE EDUCATION RESOURCES

Most fields have standards of quality, often embodied in professional bylaws and licensure criterion. For example, the professions of social work and marriage and family therapy have long had established criteria for practice. In FLE, progress has been made over the past two decades in the professionalization of FLE. For example, in 1984, the National Council on Family Relations (NCFR) became the first professional organization to establish criteria and standards for FLEs, later giving birth to its Certified Family Life Educator (CFLE) program. Certification requires at least a bachelor's degree, completion of college courses spanning 10 different family life substance areas, and an internship, plus the equivalent of 2 years of full-time related work experiences. In 1993, Family Service Canada followed suit by announcing its own Canadian Certified Family Educator (CCFE) program. In addition to these professionalization efforts, recent efforts have also specified the ethical and professional standards of FLEs and family science professionals in general (Adams, Dollahite, Gilbert, & Keim, 2001; Brock, 1993). Advances have also been made in clarifying the content of FLE, teaching, and evaluation strategies (Hughes, 1994).

Despite these developments, recommendations for accepted standards of FLE practice have lagged behind (Hughes, 1994), specifically the nuts and bolts of how to put together quality family life educational resources. Such standards are important to guide development efforts if implementers are to maximize their effectiveness. Such a model would suggest minimum standards whereby the quality of a resource might be judged. Thus, a model would serve both as a helpful resource development device as well as a tool by which one could make decisions about adopting a particular set of materials for use in one's community FLE setting.

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ELEMENTS OF QUALITY FAMILY LIFE EDUCATION RESOURCES

Work by Hughes (1994, 1997) provides a useful basis for the assessment of a wide variety of educational products, be it a workshop series, video, Web site, or other educational media. These elements include content, implementation process, instructional process, and evaluation. Some of the elements are consistent with the program design framework discussed in Chapter 2 and are repeated here as part of the assessment process. While some of the elements have a more direct application to program curricula, we agree with Hughes (1994) that most of the items can be applied to most any FLE resource.

Content

When evaluating the quality of an FLE resource, there are three elements of the content that are important to consider: the theoretical/research base, the context-sensitivity of the information, and the practice base.

Theoretical/Research Base

Is the resource based on current scholarship on the topic? Quality FLE resources will have a clear link to leading-edge scholarly thinking and, where appropriate, will clearly indicate a specific theory and research base that undergirds the resource. The scholarly base is then woven into the goals, objectives, and activities of the materials. Undergirding such resources are specified, widely demonstrated ideas about how positive predictable change occurs under certain conditions. The job of the materials is to provide those conditions that facilitate desired change. For example, a research- and theory-based marriage education program curricula to enhance the quality of participants' marriages and protection against divorce would seek to address, through knowledge and skills, the documented risk factors for marital trouble (such as mishandling of marital differences) and enhance protective factors (such as nurturing love and friendship). Thus, materials based on leading-edge theoretical principles

and research, rather than someone's intriguing ideas or good intentions,

are more likely to produce the outcomes we want as FLEs. These principles become the "teachable" ideas for the lay audience--ideas the audience really needs to know.

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Context

Materials based on sound theory and research can miss their mark if their principles are not applicable to the diversity of individuals or groups in the target audience. Thus, the research and theories must be evaluated for their applicability to either a wide diversity array of individuals or to the specific target audience (Myers-Walls, 2000). This effort is especially critical, since much of social science research that undergirds FLE materials is biased toward White, middle-class families. For example, FLEs developing curricula to help lower-income families make transitions from welfare dependency to self-support would make sure that the theory, research, and interventions are based on an understanding of the complex needs of limited resource (limited in terms of education and perception of personal resources as well as income) at different levels of their social ecology (at the individual, family, and community levels) (Christopher et al., 2001). A parenting newsletter series for single parents would include an understanding of the challenges and strengths single parents bring to parenting, as well as general principles emerging from parenting research across groups.

Practice

Quality FLE resources employ not only leading-edge theory and research but also the best practices/interventions available (Hughes, 1994). Whereas the theory and research articulate what needs to be taught, the practice part of an educational resource details how the ideas are to be taught or what methods have been used most effectively to teach the principles. For example, in developing a multisession workshop series for strengthening single parents, FLEs would review the practice literature that details how such workshops for single parents have been taught in the past, the specific methods that were used, and how effective they were. Then such methods would be incorporated into the program.

Instructional Process

Teaching Plans

Hughes (1994) warns that even materials based on strong scholarship and best practices can fall flat if the design for delivery (e.g., teaching plan for a workshop series) is ill conceived or the material is presented poorly. As a beginning, well-designed teaching plans would include goals and specific, measurable learner-centered objectives, focused on producing changes in

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participant knowledge, attitudes, behavior/skills, and aspirations (Bennett & Rockwell, 1995). Directions on how to facilitate the learning process would be included, including the amount of time to be spent on each teaching activity. A variety of teaching activities and formats would be used, allowing for varied learning styles, sensory modalities, and developmental needs/abilities. These activities would be closely tied to goals and objectives. A variety of teaching aids might also be used, including visuals and video clips (see Chapters 4 and 7 for additional discussion on goals, objectives, and methods).

Presentation

According to Hughes (1994), two important presentation features are the readability of participant materials and the appropriate use of examples. When the written word is used to convey FLE information, it must be accessible to all within a target audience, neither talking over their heads nor talking down to them. It's also important to cull resources to find and share the examples and stories that fit the life experiences of the participants. From comic strips to photos and video media, care should be taken to illustrate a wide variety of situations without any demeaning reference to any racial, ethnic, or economic group or type of family. Instead, a wide portrayal of a variety of groups is appropriate, or portrayals especially suited to the target audience. Attractiveness of the resource is also important. For example, the visual appeal of an FLE Web site may be the most important element initially to encourage further exploration. Although the material must be tied to sound scholarship, it doesn't have to look or sound that way. For example, the best research for marriage education audiences can be placed in reader-friendly, engaging language instead of stilted, scholarly writing and say much the same thing.

Implementation Process

Well-designed and presented materials may still fail if they are not implementation savvy. Hughes (1994) argues that "failures in implementation" are likely "the most important point of failure" of FLE programming (p. 77). Many programs are doomed before they start because of their failure to consult the target audience and assess their needs (Duncan, Box, & Silliman, 1996). In fact, wise FLEs will consult with the target audience at every stage, from program design and implementation to evaluation. Quality resources will show evidence that FLEs have formulated their implementation approach based on the assessed needs of the target audience. Characteristics of the target audience would also be described in materials such as age, developmental

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