Family Education

What is Family Education?
The initiative of Family Life Education or FLE was taken by a number of Professional American organizations along with several universities in order to provide the social science education, to try and strengthen the American families. In the words of the National Council on Family Relations or NCFR, an American organization for Family Life Education, Family Life Education is “The educational effort to strengthen individual and family life through a family perspective.”

How is Family Education useful?
The objective of Family Life Education is to enrich and improve the quality of individual and family life. Family life education includes the programs and courses that help to make the day to day life of an individual or a family better in all possible aspects. It includes programs like family financial planning courses, pre-marriage and after marriage education and Parenting classes etc. Family Life Education differs a lot from a formal Family Therapy. The main cause of FLE is to prevent the Family difficulties before they happen rather than waiting for them to happen and then solve them. As far as the Family Therapy is concerned it mainly deals and helps the family with the problems that have already occurred. Therefore, FLE provides the families with education and enrichment programs, by which the rate of family problems in future can be prevented.
History of Family EducationThe National Council on Family Relations was founded in 1938, solely for the purpose of Family research and education and that is the reason why the NCFR is by far the oldest non-profiting professional organization established for the purpose of family education and family research and to provide a home to Family Educators and Researchers. The first ever Certified Family Life Educator or CFLE was founded in 1985 by NCFR and according to 2007's readings, there were around 1300 CFLE's operating in the US and Canada.

The concept of Family Life Education was laid in public policy during the 1880's. As mentioned in the US Hatch Act of 1887; "The federal resources for research and education should focus on agriculture in its broadest aspects". The concept of Family Education became more vivid as it also included the stress on development and improvement of rural houses. In that era this was done by putting the focus on Home Economics and skills that were required for making food or sewing cloths. Later in the 20th century, the concept spread across the country. Programs like "Victory Gardens" were offered in which they offered the education and skills regarding home canning, gardening and nutritional info for the homemakers.

In 1912, the evolution of Family Education took another step up as President William Howard grounded an agency for children's welfare with the name of "Children's Bureau". The primary objective of the agency was to report for the mortality and birth rates amongst infants, juvenile courts and orphanages along with other social welfare for other known issues. The concept of Family Education was also found in the agency, as the agency also provided the booklets to the parents regarding child care. In the 20th century, the subject of home economics also included education regarding child development, parenting, relationship-enrichment and communication skills. Soon Universities and Colleges offering the degree programs in the subject area of Home Economics renamed the degree as "Human Ecology," "Family Studies," "Family Education" and "Family Science" etc.

How long does it take to complete a degree in Family Education?

Three options are available to people who want to pursue a career in Family Life Education. They can obtain a bachelor's degree in Family Education which is a 4 year long program, a master's degree that usually ranges from 1-2 years or graduate certificates, that may take up to 1 year to complete. Institutes usually provide both full time and part time study options, along with distance learning facility.

What are the requirements to complete a degree in Family Education?

Individuals who are enrolling in Masters of Family Education programs must have at least a bachelor’s degree in a relevant field from an accredited university or college. Students are generally required to complete their credit hours, study a number of courses and clear all examinations in order to obtain a degree in Family Education. These degrees cover modules like Interpersonal Relationships, Child Care and Family Development etc.

How much can I make after completing a degree in Family Education?

You can work as social workers or marriage and family therapists after completing a degree in Family Education. According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, the annual median pay of marriage and family therapists was $50,090 in 2018. The number of jobs in this field in 2016 was 41,500. Also, the employment of marriage and family therapists is predicted to grow by 23%, which is much faster than the average rate for all other professions.