Preparing the Educators Who Teach About Families: Engaging Family Science in the University Setting

Abstract

In this article, we address foundational and innovative aspects of preparing educators who teach about families, including theoretical, methodological, and practical considerations. We approach our task by defining and utilizing a human development and family science (HDFS) worldview, which, like the related foci on translational family science and family life education, integrates both the need for comprehensive academic grounding and professional preparation in the service of improving individual and family lives. We integrate the HDFS worldview with critical pedagogy and feminist praxis in family science that explicitly calls attention to inequality, oppression, and the need to empower individuals, families, communities, and societies. One of the hallmarks of HDFS scholarship and pedagogy on families is the intentional approach of teaching students to work in fields where they are seeking to name and redress individual and family vulnerability. In addition, we provide a comprehensive case study of collegiate education for training graduate students who are preparing to teach undergraduate students in the interdisciplinary field of HDFS. Finally, we provide directions for future research and implications for practice in HDFS pedagogy and teacher training in academic and community settings.