Sue L T McGregor Professor Emerita Seabright NS Canada B3Z2Y1 Suemcgregormsvuca wwwconsultmcgregorcom IFHE Council Meeting London Ontario July 2014 Home economics IS a missionoriented profession ID: 316363
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Slide1
Resisting Home Economics Philosophy
Sue L. T. McGregor Professor Emerita
Seabright NS Canada B3Z2Y1
Sue.mcgregor@msvu.ca
www.consultmcgregor.com
IFHE Council Meeting, London Ontario July 2014Slide2
Home economics IS
a mission-oriented profession
A mission is a statement that clarifies the
present
state or purpose of a profession or organization; it answers three questions about why the profession exists:
WHAT it does;
WHO it does it for; and,
HOW people in the profession
should
do what they do.
Note
that the mission (what we are
now
) is connected to the
vision
of where the profession sees itself going in the
futureSlide3
Mission versus vision
Mission - desired level of performance and our responsibilities to our ‘clients’
Vision – where we are going in the future - A source of inspiration
Slide4
Mission of Home Economics
Our accepted mission is to
“enable families, both as individual units and generally as a social institution, to build and maintain systems of action which lead (1) to maturing in individual self-formation and (2) to enlightened, cooperative participation in the critique and formulation of social goals and means for accomplishing them”
(Brown & Paolucci, 1979, p. 23).Slide5
Mission-oriented
In a mission-oriented profession, knowledge is generated for the sake of
doing something
with it; knowledge is needed in order to accomplish any practice that (a) has moral overtones (i.e., someone could be harmed) and (b) benefits society as a whole (Brown & Paolucci, 1979)
Inner, self knowledge and knowledge about the belief-anchor of the profession
is central to a mission-oriented profession – that means practitioners have to reflect on their philosophy of practice
Indeed - in mission oriented professions, practitioners are
expected to be both academically AND philosophically qualified
to assume the responsibilities of their practice (Ellie Vaines)Slide6
this means getting philosophical
If a profession is oriented toward
a mission
, those in the profession have to carefully consider how their practice serves, impacts and influences others’ lives –
Slide7
What is philosophy?
from
philo
-
"loving" +
sophia
"knowledge, wisdom" and from
sophis
"wise, learned”Philosophy is Greek philosophia "love of knowledge, pursuit of wisdom; systematic investigation”
Philosophy comprises
beliefs
, which are ideas accepted as true (includes set of rules, statements, doctrine, valued ends, and principles)
Philosophies are ideas abou
t what is important in order to achieve high
quality, ethical, and normative practice
normative means standards of correctness - what
should
be done; it is based in norms, which are standards of behaviour that are considered
norm
al; also norms can refer to a required level of achievement or performance – standards of professional behaviourSlide8
Role of Philosophies
A
philosophy of practice
helps practitioners make decisions that lead to the formation of ethically consistent, morally defensible practice
Without a
philosophy of practice
, home economists cannot know what is motivating them to make very large decisions with moral overtones (people can be harmed if the wrong decision is made).Slide9
Philosophy con’t
Contributes to
professionalism
because it offers goals, values and attitudes for which to strive
Helps practitioners be aware of
what
they are doing and
why
they are doing it; helps them better appreciate and understand their professional actions
Can be used to help interpret, organize and use information and perspectives while making decisions about practice and taking particular actions (or not)Slide10
A home economics philosophy has two parts - form and substance
FORM
our focus
how we come to know about them, and
what values and ethics shape our practice
with and for
them
SUBSTANCE
The
unique perspective (viewpoints, outlooks, ideas, standpoints, beliefs)
from which we work with and for the
form
of our philosophy; this part of our philosophy sets boundaries to our practice and gives meaning to our work
.Slide11
Current, Accepted Philosophical Form of Home Economics
Individuals and families (alone and as social institutions) are our
focus
(
reality
).
We come to know about them
by studying their day-to-day lives lived out in their homes and households, shaped by internal and external factors (knowledge
). The intent is to improve, optimize and enhance their well-being and quality of life (
values and valued ends
). Slide12
Long standing
substance
of home economics philosophySlide13
Evolving
substance
of home economics philosophy Slide14
WHY does home economics philosophy matter?
We are making professional decisions (ethical and moral) about problems facing humanity (lived out in families) that may not have solutions in our lifetime.
We need deep-rooted ideas about what
should
guide our mission-oriented practice, which is focused on morally laden, practical, perennial problems faced by families, problems that span generations, but need different solutions. Slide15
Philosophical engagement
It is the act of
constantly improving one’s understanding of the world and one’s place within it
by way of improving one’s thinking and skills for critical reflection, discussion and dialogue.
means always considering how one’s
practice might need to change
to reflect the insights gained from constantly improving one’s wisdom, defined as deep, thorough and mature understandings of life and the world.Slide16
Philosophical unawareness
Practicing from a state of philosophical unawareness and disengagement is irresponsible because it can result in irrelevant, unethical or harmful practice;
at worst, it can lead to uninspiring and boring practice that is behind the times and not invigorating
.Slide17
Why do home economists seem to resist engaging with the idea of philosophy?
Slide18Slide19
Resist has two meanings
To struggle against something
Refrain from doing something by
refusing
to give in to temptationSlide20
Five reasons people resist or fear philosophy
Feel intellectually inadequate or are intellectually disengaged
Intimates there are crises
Threat of exposure of intellectual indolence (inactiveness)
Fear of revelations about self or profession
Indifference (apathy- lack of courage, energy and determination)
Slide21
Feel intellectually inadequate or intellectually disengaged
Philosophers think
above
the general level of thinking (they examine the world and their relationship with the world, and how that affects their work and life)
Perhaps some home economists to not feel elevated to this level of thinking
ALSO – in today’s world, people do not think anymore – they let others think for them, meaning they become intellectually disengaged
Perhaps some home economists have fallen victim to this aspect of our consumerized worldSlide22
Myth that philosophizing means there must be a crisis within the profession
Ironically,
philosophy finds
its very life
in crises
Only in the constancy of questions and reflections can a profession and its professional members grow and evolve
Paradox
complicates things as well:
By their very nature, questioning and reflection mean constancy of doubt and the unknown, which can present
as a crisis
unless
people realize that all professions and professionals under go their own crisis of confidence and will succeed and flourish
if
they learn from the processSlide23
Threat of exposure of intellectual indolence (inactiveness)
Philosophy concerns itself with questions about existence and what it means to be human (the meaning of life and one’s work); this is called
exist
entialism
Some home economists may be afraid of intellectually exerting themselves to this level of thought because it means coming to grips with the
deeper side of their practice
(so they become intellectually inactive)
They may shy away from philosophizing because they fear others will discover they have become intellectually and philosophically indolent (inactive)Slide24
Fear of self revelations
Philosophizing means
thinking deeply
about issues and how one’s approach to practice might change with the resultant insights
Some home economists may fear and resist philosophizing because of the
revelations about themselves or the profession that might emerge
They may feel their personal and professional integrity could be compromised if they were to learn something about themselves they did not know, did not like, or did not know how to deal with
To avoid this discomfort, they resist philosophizing Slide25
Indifference
In addition to
fearing
philosophy, some home economists may simply be
indifferent
to the role philosophy plays in their professional life!
Indifference means lack of concern
Indifference also means
apathy
(lack of interest or enthusiasm) and apathy cripples professional growth
Apathy also means spiritlessness, which equates to lacking courage, energy and determination. Apathy and indifference do not bode well for a healthy profession(al):
We need
courage
to move forward,
energy
to sustain the forward momentum and
determination
to keep going in the face of adversitySlide26
Another reason....
To be fair, perhaps we are not so much philosophically unwell or languid, or fearful or
resistful
as we are
philosophically naive
, meaning we lack experience, wisdom and judgement as it pertains to
how important philosophy actually is to our practice
.
After all, most home economists leave university without ever taking a philosophy course (myself included). This means they embark upon their career without the basis for critically reflecting upon the philosophical aspect of their practice, to balance their solid grounding in theory/knowledge and skills/competencies.Slide27
Regardless, home economists need to be able to answer these questions:
Why
am I doing what I do?
What is the
impact
of my actions?
Do my actions
harm
anyone?Do the people affected
have a say
in my decisions about how to help them achieve well-being?Slide28
They cannot answer these questions without a professional…Slide29
SUGGESTION …Professional Philosophization
Consider the merits of
public philosophization,
conversations focused on the validity of certain ideas, beliefs, meanings and values (these sorts of public conversations have been interrupted in today’s modern culture)
These public conversations would entail
thinking together publically
about the role of philosophy in home economics and how it shapes our practice (overcome fear, resistance and indifference)
These public conversations could bring comfort and inspiration – we would be thinking together professionally about home economics philosophySlide30
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