Portland Community College | Portland, Oregon

Intro to Family Life Education begins by understanding the Family, then proceeds through understanding Family Life Education as a profession, the various components and theories within the field, and the contexts in which it is practiced. We will closely consider the family, family diversity, global & cultural perspectives, sexuality education, marriage & relationship, and parenting education. The knowledge gained from this course can be readily applied to parenting education, human services, and early childhood education contexts. This course provides an overall view of the field, and the opportunities within, rather than specific information for creation of FLE programs. For the purpose of this class, we see the Family Life Educator not only as those who professionally implement classes and programing to meet specific needs in the varying content areas, but to include all whose career path brings them to work directly with, or to directly influence, families. 

"... the family is a microcosm of the world. To understand the world, we can study the family: issues such as power, intimacy, autonomy, trust, and communication skills are vital parts underlying how we live in the world. To change the world is to change the family."        ~Virginia Satir

Participation in weekly online Discussions is required, with an initial post each Thursday and follow up posts on Saturdays. All course work for the week is completed by Sundays.