men who work exclusively as homemakers have become complicated by discoveries in the social as well as physical sciences. As Hertzler puts it,
Throughout our history, home economics professionals in food
and nutrition have been concerned with quality of family
life as evidenced by the issues studied, the programs
delivered, and the population served (e.g., parents, teens
children, elderly). Emphasis on quality of life around 1900
was on the physical side of food in home life; this has
evolved to include social and psychological qualities as
Although an evolution of values and priorities can be traced from the beginning of the century to the current period, certain cultural constants can also be traced, which have implications for the home economics discipline. For example, as Cetron and Gayle note, the onset of computers has changed the shape of classrooms in rapid order, so that future changes in the educational system will be obvious. "Classrooms will be full of personal computers and other high tech teaching aids," they say (3:34). But that is an outward change. What will not change is the fact that education will be "the major public agenda item as we enter the twenty first century." Further, if education in the past few decades has been seen as an important index of economic security it "will continue to be viewed as the key to economic growth" (3:34). This is why they predict that, in an America that hopes to compete in a global village, competence in more than one language will become more nearly the rule than the exception it is now. As the so called competitive position of the U.S. in the global community is perceived as at risk, the need for good education will be perceived as paramount. Cetron and Gayle argue for increased public participation in the educational process. What they fail to point out is how such participation may be effected, but the implied...