The stereotypical home economics teacher is the most organised individual I know in a school.ÌýThroughout my career, we have been reliedÌýupon to plan, prepare, teach, and mark work whileÌýdelivering the most amazing practical experiences for our students.
Yet, resourcing within this subject varies up and down the country. Returning to school post-lockdownÌýhas made us realise the differences we are all facing and trying to work with the deliver the same curriculum.ÌýSome are single-person departments, others have colleagues for support and work sharing; some haveÌýtechnicians, preparation areas, ample storage, regular food deliveries, state-of-the-art kitchen facilities and equipment, whileÌýothers have little or none of these.
Not only does this impact of the everyday direct teaching of the subject and the amount of time teachers are involved in non-teaching activities, but now more than ever it has an impactÌýon how we can -Ìýor,Ìýworryingly, perhapsÌýcannot -Ìýdeliver the subject while followingÌýCovid-19 guidelines.
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During an oversubscribed summer webinar, many HE teachers raised their concerns over equity within the subject area, and this hasn’t changed. If anything, the gap is widening and some students are becoming more disadvantaged.
We are becoming more and more frustrated at the lack of subject guidance for home economics in Scotland. In England, the Ìýand (formerly the Consortium of Local Education Authorities for the Provision of Science Services)Ìýissued food-specific information and risk assessments before the summer holidays;Ìýin Scotland,Ìý (formerly the Scottish Schools Education Research Centre)Ìýissued guidelines for science and technology.
But home economics teachersÌýare still waiting -Ìýand for how much longer? No one seems to be taking the lead, and blame is being cast around.
We need -Ìýnot want -Ìýguidelines.ÌýSome councils have put a blanket ban on practical work, whileÌýindividual schools and departments have also had to due to lack of time and resourcing. If we are to include June, there are a number of students who haven’t been able to do any practical work for eightÌýweeks. And, if what we hear is correct, this could easily become 12 weeks.
These students will be expected to take the same exams next yearÌýas those who have cooked throughout the school year. The initial SQA proposals made no consideration of this and merely
cut out areas which, to be honest, would take minutes to teach and are not dependent on the skills developed through practical work.ÌýÌý
Every day the home economics receives posts from worried teachers asking for help and support on these matters. We should not be in this position.
For teachers who like to be thoroughly planned and organised this is a major cause of anxiety, as we feel we are letting our students down. In the meantime, we wait -Ìýand wait.
The writer is a home economics teacher in Scotland
