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poses upon the basis of analysis of family activities and relationships. The family is an extremely complex organization that involves a great number of interests, forces, and relationships within its own circle. When the contacts of this circle with other social groupings are also considered the complexity and instability of data are tremendously increased. Objectives of instruction based upon analysis of the elements and factors that concern the family unit can have only such validity as is derived from the soundness and completeness of the analysis itself.

The statements of home economics objectives submitted by the land-grant colleges quite frequently show an overemphasis upon one or another element of the family or home that distorts the value of the family unit objective for undergraduate home economics instruction. Since the activity and relationship analysis of the family is never completed, new and outstanding results of investigation in one phase very naturally tend to be reflected in at least temporary overemphasis in home economics instruction and purposes. One example of such overemphasis is apparent in a large number of the statements of objectives. During recent years remarkable progress has been made in the scientific study of the physiology and psychology of young children. This fact, coupled with an almost universal interest in and love of babies, has apparently led to frequent definitions of college home economics objectives in terms that seem to make child care, child psychology, and child growth the chief concern of family life. The child-centered family like the child-centered school is as much a distortion of social and economic conceptions appropriate to modern life as would be an ancestor-centered family. The importance and value of child study as one element of the undergraduate home economics program is fully recognized. Considerable judgment is necessary, however, if this element is kept in proper relationship to other phases of family relationships. Similar excessive preoccupation with special phases derived from analysis of family and home interests and activities might be cited, but this serves to indicate an important weakness when objectives and curricula to accomplish objectives are based upon incomplete analysis and stop short of synthesis of various elements derived from such analysis.

No one questions the importance of the family and home in the social organization. No one probably would deny that a corresponding obligation is laid upon home economics education to provide educational service based upon analysis of the activities that center in the family. At the same time it may be doubted whether such analysis can provide a definition of objectives adequate for home

economics instruction under modern social conditions. Most men live very rich and active lives outside their family relationships: women are increasingly seeking and finding similar interests that are much more closely related to other institutional and social groupings than to the homes that they maintain. This does not mean less interest in and love of home, but is simply realization of the wider and richer individual living that has come to women largely through better and higher educational opportunities. To some members of both sexes the home and the family provide full and satisfying realization of personal living. When this is not the case there would seem to be no more reason why the other individual interests and abilities of woman should be submerged in the family unit than that the wide economic and human interests of men should be subordinated or smothered under a single important social relationship. Under phrasing that is frequently obscure and uncertain the statements of objectives submitted by home economics departments in land-grant colleges show clearly that this conception is playing an increasingly important part in the development of college home economics education.

Remunerative employment objectives.—All of the 43 institutions that describe their home economics objectives include in one form or another statements of objectives in terms of gainful employment. Twelve list preparation for one or more types of such employment among the primary objectives of their home economics instruction. The more important employments mentioned for which preparation is offered are in descending order of frequency, teaching, dietetics, extension service, institutional management and research, and, among the employments mentioned only occasionally, social service, publichealth service, nursing, journalism, and business concerned with the buying, selling, or servicing of products used in homes.

It should be fairly obvious that these employment objectives are not fully determined and can not be determined by analysis of family and home activity and relationships. All are more or less closely related to family and home interests but the specific employment in each case involves and is related more closely to other social and economic groupings. Attainment of gainful employment objectives must be determined in each of these cases by adopting and relating specific phases of strictly home economics instruction to other bodies of fact and activity centered about social agencies that are not formed upon the basis of the family unit. Examination of curricula reported in another section of this survey of home economics in the land-grant colleges will consider the vocational curricula from this standpoint. The objective of combined scientific and social education.-Real values and legitimate purposes are involved in the definitions of the

objectives of college home economics in terms of handicraft, home life, and vocation. Yet definitions upon all these bases as in other applied sciences are subject to criticism and give rise to confusion, misunderstanding, apparent conflict, and obvious inconsistency of

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The most frequent complaint and criticism in regard to the areas of specialized education that have scientific or vocational objectives is that the liberal and social elements of education are neglected or do not function. This criticism is very seriously directed against teacher training, engineering, agricultural and business education, and is deplored by the leaders in each of these fields. In the same way the college of liberal arts is freely criticized because it is claimed that it leads nowhere but to academic and impractical interest. In view of the criticisms of these types of education it is extremely significant that the statements of objectives by home economics leaders in the land-grant colleges reveal an unmistakable determination that home economics shall combine practical, scientific, social, and cultural elements in such fashion that they shall be integrated in the consciousness and attitudes of the individual student.

To define the objective of college home economics that is directed to this end demands a degree of predictive hazard, but upon the basis of survey reports this objective may be described as one that attempts to combine scientific and social education by utilizing as a medium and incentive the activities and relationships that arise from home and family life.

This statement is not so clearly and so definitely stated by any of the reports from the home economics departments in land-grant colleges, but represents an attempt to embody in brief form a variety of partial statements of ideals and purposes that clearly tend toward some such conception of objectives. It will be noted that the definition consists of three elements: First, the combination of social and scientific education; second, dependence upon the activities and relationships of the family as a source of subject matter; and third, utilization of this subject matter as a medium and incentive for college education.

In so far as this is a just statement of a definite home economics objective it requires solution of practical problems and experimental procedures that may well be of greater significance in higher education than the mere segregation of another area of educational endeavor.

The processes that will be required if this problem is to be solved in the field of home economics will result in the creation of new subject matter, in new treatment of old subjects and in daring experimental combinations of methods and courses. These things can not

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be done in a day. Criticism of home economics upon the score of failure to accomplish this task in the immediate future will be justified only if the problems are not earnestly attacked, if attainment of academic respectability is substituted for constructive accomplishment or if the rank and file fail to follow progressive leadership in adherence to purposes of this character.

Statements of home economics objectives tend to adhere to dependence upon home activities and family relationships for subject matter even in those cases in which objectives are directly those of gainful employment. Without entering into the question of whether home economics teacher preparation, training of dieticians, business women, and institutional managers are primarily home economics functions or belong to merely related areas, insistence by home economics staffs that these fields be centered in home interest emphasized the fact that in their opinion the home does provide an extremely rich field of subject-matter content. It must be admitted, however, that much work remains to be done if this material is to be segregated and utilized. In spite of the biological, social, and economic importance of the family, there has been relatively little thorough study devoted to it under modern conditions. In other words, the field has not been thoroughly explored although the work that has been done makes it evident that the family is an inexhaustible mine of indefinite extent. The demands of home economics leaders for funds to carry on exploratory investigation in this field make it perfectly evident that they are fully aware of the need for thorough study.

Subsequent discussion of home economics organization, staff, and curricula will attempt to relate them, in so far as possible, to the conception of college home economics as a form of combined social and scientific education through the medium of home activities and relationships.

Chapter II.-Organization

This survey holds no brief for any specific form or type of college home economics organization. Nevertheless the organization of home economics in the institutions tends to reflect and to determine to a considerable degree the conceptions of home economics objectives that are dominant in the land-grant colleges as a group. This relationship between organization and conception of home economics is especially valid as a measure of institutional and administrative attitudes; it does not so accurately indicate the objectives of the home economics staffs that are compelled to adapt their work to organizations over which they have little control. In an institution the organization of home economics may be a survival which is inappropriate to the present, more highly developed purposes of the home economics personnel. Or it may be borrowed ready-made from another institution which has made great progress in definition and attainment of home economics objectives and may, therefore, conceal very vague and limited purposes. Nevertheless, a rather high degree of correlation may be expected between types of institutional objectives and forms of organization when the entire group of home economics units in land-grant colleges is considered.

This is true both with respect to the place of home economics in the institutional organization and with respect to the nature of the internal organization of the home economics unit itself. For convenience of presentation discussion will follow this classification and deal first with the place of the home economics unit in the institution; second, with the internal organization of the home economics unit; and third, with the relationships that arise from the position of home economics in the institutions and from the nature of the internal organization of home economics units.

Institutional Organization

Examination of the formal position occupied by home economics in the land-grant colleges shows four types of assignment that reflect the following four institutional conceptions of home economics objectives: (1) Assignment of home economics to the college of arts and sciences; (2) assignment to the college of education;

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