Today’s Family and Consumer Sciences (FCS) educators instruct and train students for life management and to work in a wide variety of fields. They teach early childhood development, food production and hospitality management, and apparel and interior design. They often teach courses in high demand by area employers, who may provide input into the curriculum and offer internships to students.

At SPU, teacher certification in Family and Consumer Science Education is offered at the secondary level. SPU is an approved institution for vocational (career and technical education) certification of family and consumer science teachers in middle, junior, and high school family and consumer science programs. Secondary school teachers’ responsibilities are often more varied than at the elementary school level. FCS teachers may teach course content using child development laboratories, food preparation kitchens, or computer simulations. Student groups complete exercises that require them to apply knowledge, interact with others, adapt to new technology, and logically think through problems.