Table Of ContentMihaela Robila · Alan C. Taylor Editors
Global
Perspectives
on Family Life
Education
Global Perspectives on Family Life
Education
Mihaela Robila • Alan C. Taylor
Editors
Global Perspectives
on Family Life
Education
Editors
Mihaela Robila Alan C. Taylor
Queens College, CUNY East Carolina University
Queens, NY, USA Greenville, NC, USA
ISBN 978-3-319-77588-3 ISBN 978-3-319-77589-0 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-77589-0
Library of Congress Control Number: 2018944670
© Springer International Publishing AG, part of Springer Nature 2018
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Contents
Global Perspectives on Family Life Education:
Introduction ............................................................................................ 1
Mihaela Robila and Alan C. Taylor
Part I Asia
Family Life Education in South Korea ................................................ 17
Jaerim Lee and Seohee Son
Family Life Education in China ........................................................... 33
Yan Ruth Xia and Chun Zhang Creaser
Family Life Education in Taiwan ......................................................... 49
Shann Hwa Hwang
Opportunities for Family Life Education in Thailand ....................... 63
Catherine A. Solheim and Poonsuk Wachwithan
Family Life Education in India: Policies and Prospects ..................... 75
Rachana Bhangaokar and Niyati Pandya
Part II Australia
Education for Family Life in Australia ................................................ 93
Bruce M. Smyth, Cathryn Hunter, Michelle Macvean,
Maggie Walter, and Daryl J. Higgins
Part III Africa
Family Characteristics and Family Life Education in Algeria .......... 117
Habib Tiliouine and Mustafa Achoui
Family Life Education Development, Implementation,
and Evaluation in Tanzania .................................................................. 135
Rosemary W. Eustace, Tumaini M. Nyamhanga,
Aisha I. Ghuhiya, and Stella Emmanuel Mushy
Family Life Education in Kenya ........................................................... 153
Joan Kabaria-Muriithi, Lucy Kathuri-Ogola, and Jane Rose Njue
v
vi Contents
Family Life Education: A Ghanaian Perspective ................................ 165
Gladys B. Asiedu and Ebenezer Donkor
South Africa: Family Life as the Mirror of a Society ......................... 179
Clara Gerhardt
Part IV North America
Family Life Education in the United States ......................................... 195
Sharon M. Ballard, Dawn Cassidy, Alan C. Taylor,
and Mihaela Robila
Social Programs on Family Life Education in Mexico ....................... 217
María Alejandra Salguero-Velázquez, Bruno Anuar Franyutti
Jurado, and Montserrat Soriano Chavero
Part V C aribbean
Family Life Education in the Caribbean Islands:
Barbados, Grenada, and Trinidad and Tobago ................................... 231
Helyne Frederick, Maria Cecilia Reyes- Mohammed,
and Sharon N. Obasi
Part VI South America
Family Life Education: Brazilian Realities and Dreams .................... 249
Ana Cecília Bastos, Wanderlene Reis, Rosely Cabral de Carvalho,
and Lúcia Moreira
Family Life Education in Chile: A Critical Analysis
of Two Programs .................................................................................... 263
Jorge Delva, Valentina Garrido López,
and Carolina Muñoz-Guzmán
Family Life Education in Colombia: Fostering
Families’ Well-Being .............................................................................. 279
Karen Ripoll-Núñez and Sonia Carrillo
Part VII Europe
Family and Child Welfare in Norway: An Analysis
of the Welfare State’s Programs and Services ..................................... 297
Mette L. Baran and Janice E. Jones
Irish Family Life in Changing Times ................................................... 311
Colm O’Doherty
Family Life Education in Ukraine ........................................................ 329
Viktor Burlaka, Oleksii Serdiuk, Tetiana Nickelsen,
Bohdan Tkach, and Hanna Khvorova
Contents vii
Family Life Education in Turkey .......................................................... 345
Zeynep Copur and Kelly D. Taylor
Part VIII Middle East
Socioeconomic, Historical, and Cultural Context
of Israel and Impact on the Families .................................................... 363
Shulamit Natan Ritblatt and Ety Rosental
Family Life Education in Saudi Arabia ............................................... 381
Sarah Almalki and Lawrence Ganong
Part IX Conclusion
Global Perspectives on Family Life Education:
Synthesis and Future Directions ........................................................... 399
Alan C. Taylor and Mihaela Robila
Index ........................................................................................................ 407
Global Perspectives on Family Life
Education: Introduction
Mihaela Robila and Alan C. Taylor
Over the past 60 years, in the United States,
Global Perspectives on Family Life the National Council on Family Relations
Education: Introduction (NCFR) has been instrumental in their continu-
ous support of the development and progress
The purpose of this book is to provide an exten- regarding the family life education field. In the
sive coverage of the different types of family life early 1980s, the criteria for individuals interested
education programs in countries around the in obtaining the Certification of Family Life
world, with a wide geographical representation, Educators (CFLE) were established by
addressing their development, implementation, NCFR. However, historically it has predomi-
and evaluation. Family life education (FLE) nately focused on training educators within the
incorporates a preventative, educational, and col- United States (Allen & Blaisure, 2015). With that
laborative approach to empower families and said, in early 2016, NCFR made a substantial
individuals to address and resolve family issues step to become more internationally minded
(Darling, Cassidy, & Powell, 2014). Effective when they appointed the inaugural NCFR Global
family policies promote family life education and Task Force to explore the potential benefits and
its preventive services as essential in ensuring opportunities that may prove possible with a
family well-being (Robila, 2014). Best practices, global family life education emphasis (Smith,
regarding family life education with diverse pop- 2016). This book is one of the first attempts to
ulations in the United States, suggest implement- examine the types of family life education occur-
ing effective ways to tailor interventions to fit ring in various countries around the world. Thus,
family needs (Ballard & Taylor, 2012). Family the purposes of this book are to examine family
life education and related coursework are avail- life education in different countries, to underline
able on different continents, along with consider- challenges and opportunities, and to present best
able public interest (Darling & Kaija, 2009). practices that could be adapted and developed in
other areas.
The attempt to develop a universally accepted
M. Robila (*)
Human Development and Family Studies, Queens family life education definition that is agree-
College, City University of New York, able to all of those working in the FLE field has
Queens, NY, USA
been a challenging task for decades. FLE scholars
e-mail: [email protected]
have spent over 50 years defining and redefining
A. C. Taylor
the phenomena of family life education (Arcus,
Human Development and Family Science, East
Schvanevelt, & Moss, 1993; Darling, Cassidy, &
Carolina University, Greenville, NC, USA
e-mail: [email protected] Powell, 2014; Hennon, Radina, & Wilson, 2013).
© Springer International Publishing AG, part of Springer Nature 2018 1
M. Robila, A. C. Taylor (eds.), Global Perspectives on Family Life Education,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-77589-0_1
2 M. Robila and A. C. Taylor
Currently, the National Council on Family • Family life education is offered in many dif-
Relations website describes family life education ferent settings.
and its primary purpose through the following: • Family life education takes an educational
rather than therapeutic approach.
Family life education focuses on healthy family
functioning within a family systems perspective • Family life education should present and
and provides a primarily preventative approach. respect differing family values.
The skills and knowledge needed for healthy func- • Qualified educators are crucial to the success-
tioning are widely known: Strong communication
ful realization of the goals of family life edu-
skills, Knowledge of typical human development,
Good decision-making skills, Positive self-esteem, cation.” (pp. 15–20)
and Healthy interpersonal relationships.
Family life education professionals consider It is important to distinguish how family life
societal issues including economics, education,
education is comparable to and different from
work- family issues, parenting, sexuality, gender
and more within the context of family. They other family service fields. In 2011, the concep-
believe that societal problems such as substance tualized model of the Domains of Family
abuse, domestic violence, unemployment, debt, Practice was introduced to distinguish the inten-
and child abuse can be more effectively addressed
tions and practices of family life education,
from a perspective that considers the individual
and family as part of larger systems. Knowledge family therapy, and family case management
about healthy family functioning can be applied (Myers-Walls, Ballard, Darling, & Myers-
to prevent or minimize many of these problems. Bowman, 2011). This model addressed why,
(NCFR, n.d.)
what, when, for whom, and how family life edu-
While these descriptions seem appropriate cation, family therapy, and family case manage-
and applicable to the practice of family life edu- ment are uniquely different and focused. While
cation within North America, it remains to be these three fields of practice have the same pri-
seen whether they are truly transferable to a more mary mission to help strengthen healthy families
global family life context. For example, the indi- and their members, each also attends to this work
viduals and families living in less developed in diverse ways. As was mentioned earlier, fam-
countries may not have the same immediate soci- ily life education fosters strong healthy families
etal problems or similar Western societal para- by helping families develop skills and knowl-
digms that govern what is currently defined as edge. In addition, FLE helps individuals of all
healthy family functioning. For this purpose, the ages enhance their attitudes, values, and goals.
chapters within this book shed light on the prac- Family therapy helps families refocus and
tices of family life education from various coun- rebuild their relationships and functioning.
tries as they relate to multiple ideological Finally, family casework is concerned with sup-
paradigms and distinct, acceptable practices of porting families to comply with the legal and
healthy family formations and functioning. policy systems impacting families while provid-
In addition to the abovementioned description ing various resources to help them become more
by NCFR today, Arcus et al. (1993) introduced successful.
the following practical and programmatic fea- For this edited book, we have asked the
tures of FLE as it relates to its main objectives: authors to focus their chapters on the field of
family life education. While we acknowledge
• “Family life education is relevant to individu- that there are times when the fields of family life
als and families throughout the lifespan. education, family therapy, and family case man-
• Family life education should be based on the agement are sometimes intertwined and com-
needs of individuals and families. bined, our focus is on the educational outreach
• Family life education is a multiple disciplin- activities used to “strengthen and enrich individ-
ary area of study and multi-professional in its ual and family well-being” (Arcus et al., 1993,
practice. p. 21).
Global Perspectives on Family Life Education: Introduction 3
The Framework for Best Practices tent” and aware of the unique customs and rituals
in Family Life Education that exist within, as well as the needs and
strengths of those families, are essential for pro-
The Framework for Best Practices in Family Life gram success.
Education was introduced by Ballard and Taylor While the term “culture” has traditionally
in their book entitled Family Life Education with been defined as a group of individuals who have
Diverse Populations (2012, Sage) and is used in common values, norms of behavior, symbols,
this book as well. The three main components of language, and common life patterns that people
this best practice framework consist of the fol- learn and share with one another, it will con-
lowing, program content, program design, and tinuously evolve and change over time
the family life educator, which are embedded (Shimizu, Lee, & Uleman, 2017). For example,
within the culture and the strengths and needs of theories of cultural diversity or racial identity
the population (see Fig. 1). These components have changed and adapted over the past 20 years
are discussed in the following sections. as we have become more culturally aware and
competent globally (Delgado & Stefancic,
2017; Allen, Fine, & Demo, 2000). It will be
Culture and Needs and Strengths valuable for family life educators to openly
of the Population grasp the concept of culture that goes beyond
geography, language, and behaviors. Culture
The Framework for Best Practices in Family Life also refers to the context (e.g., agency or com-
Education has the three components (program munity) in which the programming occurs,
content, design, and family life educator) embed- including issues such as funding, politics and
ded within the culture and the strengths and needs policy, and the capacity of the organization to
of the population (Ballard & Taylor, 2012). deliver the program effectively (Durlak &
Understanding the culture of the population DuPre, 2008). The sociohistoric and economic
attending an FLE program is important for the context of a region reflects the level of family
success of the program and the acceptance of the life education provided, with the more devel-
program by its participants. For educators who oped areas presenting more advanced and
are offering FLE programs in various countries sophisticated methods, while rural or poorer
throughout the world, being “culturally compe- areas generally lag behind.
Fig. 1 Framework for
Best Practices in Family Culture
Life Education. (Ballard
& Taylor, 2012)
The Family Life
Educator
Program Program
content Design
Strengths & Needs
of Population
