What is Family Life Education?

Family Life Education PowerPoint Presentation

Family life education (FLE) is the educational effort to strengthen individual and family life through a family perspective. The objective of family life education is to enrich and improve the quality of individual and family life by providing knowledge and skills needed for effective living.

FLE emphasizes processes to enable people to develop into healthy adults and to realize their potential. Family life education helps people to work together in close relationships and facilitates the ability of people to function effectively in their personal lives and as members of society. While various professionals assist families, it is the family life educator who incorporates a family-systems, preventive, and educational approach to individual and family issues.

Family life education includes knowledge about how families work; the inter-relationship of the family and society; human growth and development throughout the life span; both the physiological and psychological aspects of human sexuality; the impact of money and time management on daily life; the importance and value of education for parenting; the effects of policy and legislation on families; ethical considerations in professional conduct; and a solid understanding and knowledge of how to teach and/or develop curriculum for what are often sensitive and personal issues.

Where are Family Life Educators Employed?
Family life educators work in a variety of settings. They bring comprehensive family training to a myriad of employment sectors and job classifications. Often, CFLEs work in the following venues:

• Practice - teaching, education, research/scholarship, program or curricula development,
• Administration - leadership or management, organizing, coordinating, and
• Promotion - public policy, lobbying, advocating for system change and awareness.

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Certified Family Life Educator (CFLE)
National Council on Family Relations (NCFR) sponsors the only international program to certify family life educators. The Certified Family Life Educator (CFLE) program encourages applications from all professionals with course work and experience in family life education including formal teaching, research/scholarship, community education, public information and education, curriculum and resource development, health care, military family support, counseling, and ministry. Certified family life educators have a minimum of a bachelor's degree; many CFLEs have advanced degrees.

The Certified Family Life Educator credential requires demonstrated knowledge in the following ten family life content areas: List of the ten Family Life Education Content Areas

Why Become a CFLE?
Certification recognizes a proven background and understanding in each of the ten family life content areas. While CFLEs may work specifically in one discipline, such as parent education or marriage enrichment, their understanding of the many areas that affect today's families enables them to be more effective in their efforts to educate and work with individuals and families. The Certified Family Life Educator designation recognizes the educational, preventive, and enriching nature of their work. Additionally, standards identified for certification help to increase awareness and understanding of family life education as a profession.