The new home economics syllabus has been designed to provide students with the knowledge, skills and attitudes that will enable students to take control of their own lives at present and in the future. It is concerned with the way individuals and families manage their resources to meet physical, emotional, intellectual, social and economic needs.
The emphasis in the syllabus is on the acquisition of management theory and skills and the application of the principles of management to all areas of the syllabus. There is also increased emphasis on practical activities and the vocational dimension of the subject. In recognising these changes of emphasis it was necessary to make a number of changes to the content of the syllabus.
The Course Committee tried to ensure that the new syllabus would not be overloaded with material. To ensure this, some material was deleted and other material was presented in electives, so that all students would not be expected to cover a very wide range of topics in great detail.
ONE SYLLABUS IN PLACE OF TWO
The most significant change is that the new syllabus, home economics, scientific and social will replace the two existing syllabuses - home economics (general) and (scientific and social). It was decided in the course of the consultation process that there was a lot of duplication of material in the two syllabuses and that the number of students at present studying home economics (general) was not sufficient to continue with this syllabus.
NEW TOPICS
The following topics are new to the syllabus core:
FOOD
- Factors affecting food choices
- Current food habits and trends
- Current dietary guidelines
- Energy values of individual foods and meals
- Maintaining a healthy body weight
- The Irish diet
- Cis and trans fatty acids
- The Irish food industry
- Critical evaluation of dishes or meals prepared and cooked and the conducting of comparative assessments of home-made and commercial products or meals
- Profiles of three types of processed food
- HACCP
- The role of national agencies in food safety
- Most of the development in the food area has been to encourage a more integrated approach and to change the emphasis to the management of resources to meet specific needs
- Microbiology and food spoilage is more specific, and much of the microbiology will be examined at Higher level only
- Relevant legislation has been updated.
RESOURCE MANAGEMENT AND CONSUMER STUDIES
- The management process and its application
- Textiles in the home
- Small claims procedure.
SOCIAL STUDIES
- Exploration of a number of definitions for the family
Alot of the social studies material, that was in the old course has now been updated and put into the social studies elective. Therefore those students who do not take this elective will study a small amount of social studies: the family in society. All relevant legislation has been updated.
THE ELECTIVES
(Only one of these electives will be studied by each class group.)
HOME DESIGN AND MANAGEMENT
- Housing styles
- The provision of housing
- Energy efficiency.
TEXTILES, FASHION, AND DESIGN
- All new to the scientific and social syllabus.
SOCIAL STUDIES ELECTIVE
The topics covered in the social studies elective are:
- Social Change and the Family
- Education
- Work
- Leisure
- Unemployment
- Poverty
- Reconciling employment with family responsibilities
- Statutory and community responses to creating employment and eliminating poverty.
ALL AREAS
Differentiation of Higher and Ordinary level material is more specific.
SECTIONS REMOVED OR REDUCED INCLUDE :
FOOD
- Tests to show the presence of protein, fats and carbohydrates in food.
RESOURCE MANAGEMENT AND CONSUMER STUDIES
- The section on household appliances has been reduced to the study of four appliances.
HUMAN PHYSIOLOGY
The systems of the body have been deleted from the syllabus. Only those sections that were necessary to support other areas of the syllabus have been retained. For example, digestion and absorption of foods have been retained. The Course Committee believe that the amount of physiology covered at Junior Certificate is sufficient as a basis for teaching the Leaving Certificate syllabus. They also believe that to include the systems as they were on the old syllabus would be very time-consuming and irrelevant to the aims and objectives of the new syllabus.
SOCIAL STUDIES
The course committee decided that it is essential to provide a clear focus to the social studies sections of the course. Therefore, the social studies content in the core, concentrates on the family in society. The social studies elective deals with a number of social issues that relate to the family, for example social change, work, unemployment, and poverty. The following topics have been removed:
- migration and emigration
- social problems: the list has been reduced to facilitate a more detailed depth of treatment of those topics that are included
- alcohol, drugs and gangs have been removed.
THE HOME
Most of the home management material has been moved into the home design and management elective. Areas that have been removed include drainage, composition of floor coverings, and composition of cleaning materials.