Ethics of Professional Practice - Essay Example

Ethics of Professional Practice Family Life Education Family Life education is one of the critical aspects accorded a priority by many education systems. The criticality of the family in any society cannot receive any underestimation. The salient need to focus on ensuring that qualified family educators perform the task of providing families with the proper education on certain subjects that have been identified as crucial for family success. Each society exhibits the presence of certain integral beliefs that define the purpose and functionality of the family. This paper will focus on discussing such beliefs as well as the purpose and content of family life education (United States, 2008). Beliefs about the family and the quality and nature of family life As mentioned above, the family is a core unit in any society, and serves top define the social development of that society. Different societies have adopted a diverse range of ideologies and beliefs in the definition of the family unit. In some societies, families exhibit a closed system paradigm where power and authority rests with the parents, and especially the father. This implies that the father must offer his consent before any member of the family indulges in ay pursuit. This paradigm also extends to define the society in other terms. Other families exhibit a level of democracy, whereby family happiness is achievable when all the members of the family express their opinion (Nwagbara, 2003). Evidently, family happiness is a determinant of the quality of life the individuals lead. There is evidence suggesting that the welfare of children and adolescents depends on the family environment. Families that offer children and adolescents the required emotional and social support provide a conducive environment for them to register positive development defined by a high level of esteem and confidence. On the contrary, families that expose children to violence, neglect, and abuse only serve to affect their growth adversely. Experts striving to understand the critical role of families have highlighted that the family is significant in defining the quality of life (Nwagbara, 2003). The purpose of family life education Family life education is of significant importance in the society. Providing family life education is one of the evident ways in which a society can ensure that it succeeds in enriching the life of all the family members. This will serve to add immense value in the lives of the individuals. As education in other sectors serves to impart new knowledge and skills, family life education targets to offer families an opportunity to acquire new skills and information on how to enhance the quality of life that they live. Effective living requires a diverse range of knowledge that can empower families to choose the right course and ensure its functionality as a critical social unit (Nwagbara, 2003). Families that lack such critical knowledge are likely to present certain undesirable attributes, and lack the capacity to address some of the pressing challenges facing families in the modern day. In addition, family life education seeks to lay a form basis for the development of self-aware individuals who have recognize their abilities, aspirations, potential and weaknesses. Such self-awareness is important in helping individuals experience a sense of direction and purpose. Without the relevant education, families lack the capacity to promote the development of individuals with these attributes. Therefore, family life education seeks to empower families to achieve this (Nwagbara, 2003). Through the education on different subjects, families are imparted with the relevant knowledge and skills that promote the development of self-driven individuals. The family offers an opportunity for children to learn the skills of developing effective interpersonal relationships. Therefore, family life education helps families to create favorable conditions for the development of such relationships. Through effective family life education, families learn how to exhibit unity and cooperation. Individuals from such families will have the potential to develop successful interpersonal relationships in the larger society. With the emphasis of the need of individuals with this attribute in the modern workplace, family life education seeks to ensure that the attribute is developed in the primary social unit that is the family. Content of Family life education Family life education focuses on multiple aspects that have the potential to affect the family. One of the critical subjects handled is the position of both individuals and families in the societal context. This topic is of significant importance as it opens families to new perspectives and concepts related to the criticality of the unit to the society. The introduction of this topic in family life education was prompted by the fact that families exhibited the lack of awareness of the critical roles that they played in the society. An additional topic tackled in family life education is the internal dynamics of families. This topic is critical as it enables families to understand the traditional and modern trends that define family dynamics. With an increasing confusion surrounding the dynamics of families in the contemporary society, families benefit immensely when this topic tackled in family life education (“Handbook of family life education”, 2003). Human growth and development is also an area of focus in family life education. It is important for families to comprehend the human growth process in different perspectives as experts have described. Having such understanding will equip the family with adequate knowledge on how to foster growth in all the family members who are at different developmental stages. According to recent research in psychology, each developmental stage presents unique challenges. Therefore, it justifies the inclusion of this topic in the content of family life education, as it can help families address the challenges each of its members faces successfully. Moreover, family life educators also discuss human sexuality with families as one of the critical subjects that they should understand. Effective understanding of human sexuality will foster the development of effective gender roles and tolerance. Ways of developing successful interpersonal relationships are also tackled by family life educators. All the members of the family receive pertinent guidelines on how to develop functional relationships. Therefore, the educators help the families to cultivate attribute that foster the development of effective interpersonal relationships (Powell & Cassidy, 2007).  The issue of family resources management is also included in the content of family life education. It is important to teach families how to recognize their resources, and how to manage them effectively. Failure to manage resources only serves to fasten their depletion. Families have to fulfill a range of needs, a factor that places them under compulsion to manage and distribute resources effectively in a bid to ensure that they satisfy their varying needs (Powell & Cassidy, 2007). With surging economic recessions in different societies, the salient need for effective resource management within the family unit becomes more evident. Successful parenting is one of the things that parent desire to exhibit. Notably, parenting presents multiple challenges for many parents. Therefore, family life educators intervene in a bid to offer parents the relevant skills required for them to achieve their parental roles. Moreover, family life education seeks to help children to exhibit a receptive attitude to the efforts exhibited by their parents towards successful parenting. Other issues tackled in family life education include family law and the pertinent public policies. Process of Learning for Families Family life education adopts both preventive and therapeutic approaches in ensuring that they address the issues faced by families. However, emphasis is placed on preventive approaches. Through different programs, target groups are identified, and family life educators focus on offering them the relevant guidelines with the potential of helping them build successful families. In the preventive approach, such information is disseminated to families that are yet to develop any difficulties (Bialozor & Family Health Education Project (n.d.). Family life educators indulge in a rigorous stepwise approach that ensures that the family educator identifies the issues relevant to each family and addressing them effectively. In some cases, the family educator holds sittings with each the parents and children of different ages separately. In such sittings, they address the issues affecting the specific families, ensuring that the diverse range of content is covered (Chowdhury, Carson, & Carson, 2006). In other cases, family life educators use therapeutic approaches when families are experiencing different forms of distress, and make concerted efforts of helping them to address the issues they are facing. The family life educator uses the relevant approaches enlightening the family on potential strategies of addressing their challenges. Evidently, families face unique challenges that bar them from achieving happiness and success as a unit. Therefore, through interactive sessions with families, the educator imparts new knowledge and practical guidelines, with focus on reestablishing the family unit (Chowdhury, Carson, & Carson, 2006).. Conclusion Evidently, the family is a critical unit in any society. Its success determines the stability of the society, and its failure may serve to compromise positive social development. Therefore, family life education serves to enrich family members with knowledge and guidelines that help them develop family attributes that enable the family to have an outstanding stability. The content of family life education is diverse, and educators focus on the different topics in a bid to ensure that family life is successful and of a high quality. As highlighted, both preventive and therapeutic approaches are used in delivering family life education. References Chowdhury, A., Carson, D. K., & Carson, C. K. (2006). Family life education in India: Perspectives, challenges, and applications. Jaipur: Rawat Publications. Handbook of family life education: 1. (2003). Newbury Park [u.a.: Sage Publ. Powell, L. H., & Cassidy, D. (2007). Family life education: Working with families across the life span. Long Grove, Ill: Waveland Press, Inc. United States., & United States. (2008). Family life education: A problem-solving curriculum for adolescents (ages 15-19). Rockville, Md.: U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, Health Services Administration, Bureau of Community Health Services. National Family Life Education Workshop, In Baird, J., In Keenan, D., & American Home Economics Association. (2004). Family life education re-examined: Applications for teachers; seventeen selected papers (with suggestions for teachers) from the National Family Life Education Workshop. Washington: American Home Economics Association. Bialozor, R., & Family Health Education Project. (n.d.). Family life education in the elementary school. Downers Grove, Ill: Family Health Education Project. Nwagbara, C. (2003). Population/family life education, women and gender issues in Nigeria. Owerri: TAIT Publications. Read More