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1/31/10

"I Don't Do FCCLA"

If you were on Twitter at all this weekend (and if you follow educators) you probably saw the hashtag #educon. Educon 2.2 "is both a conversation and a conference. And it is not a technology conference. It is an education conference." If you can find the time, I highly recommend you visit the Educon 2.2 website and take a look at some of the sessions - many of them have websites or wikis to visit.

While the Educon attendees were getting ready for what sounds like a very valuable conference, I was on my way home from Chicago, where my FCCLA colleagues met to get updates from the FCCLA national staff, learn more details about the upcoming National Leadership Conference, and participate in our own professional development. During every meeting I think I have ever attended at either a state or national level, at least one person laments as to the reasons each and every family and consumer sciences program doesn't participate in FCCLA.

Without going into the reasons that we've all heard before (time, money, interest, contracts, knowledge, willingness) look at this tweet that came through about Educon -


Apply this same thought to leadership and FCCLA.  Where is the uproar when a family and consumer sciences teacher says "I don't do FCCLA."  Do they say this in the same tone that people say "oh, I don't that technology stuff" as if they are superior because they don't and you do?

Believe it or not, I'm not writing this post to debate why or why not to have FCCLA in the classroom, or to validate or refute reasons for individual classroom choices.  That's another post for another time, perhaps.

I'm just wondering why our profession chooses to be silent when our colleagues make the decision to not allow their students to participate in the career and technical student organization for family and consumer sciences education.  When the teacher chooses to not participate, they've locked students out of the option to even consider taking part in FCCLA student leadership activities - activities designed specifically to reinforce family and consumer sciences curriculum, academic content, interpersonal communication, and to allow students to develop and practice personal leadership as well as critical and creative thinking skills.

Imagine the uproar.....if our jackets were blue instead of red.
   

3 comments:

  1. Great point--If we know students benefit from FCCLA involvement (and they do) it is a lot like saying, "I don't wear my seatbelt" to not give them the option of the experience. No way would we put our own children (or students) into a car without buckling up, we know that there might be somebody else that isn't making wise decisions that could cause an accident. Because they are buckled up, they are better prepared to successfuly handle such an incident. There are plenty of situations in life that my students are better prepared for because of FCCLA involvement and I would be ripping them off if I did not offer the opportunity to them.

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  2. Just realized some might come to this blog and not recognize the reference to "blue jackets." That is a reference to our fellow CTSO organization, the FFA. They do a great job of integrating FFA into the agricultural education programs in our state.

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  3. Great post Christine. There should be an uproar any time a teacher says, "I don't do (blank)."! Whether it be FCCLA, technollgy integration, or reading; we as educators should strive to offer every possible enrichment opportunity we can. Just like with technology, students are going to use and use it more all the time and move ahead of us whehter we like it or not. Why not bring it into our classrooms so our kids can see it has greater potential than just social aspects?

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