Certified Family Life Educators\u27 practice of the collaborative approach to teaching-learning

This study explored the extent to which family life educators practice the collaborative approach to teaching-learning, the approach promoted in the model of Family Life Education as prevention. It also explored factors expected to be related to such practice. A sample of 76 Certified Family Life Educators (CFLEs) completed a questionnaire designed to gather information on their teaching-learning approach, experiences, and beliefs. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses were conducted to examine the relationship of CFLEs\u27 philosophy of Family Life Education, the philosophy of Family Life Education of his or her most recent training program, the interaction of the two philosophies, level of work experience, level of self-disclosure, and level of interpersonal control to the extent to which they report practicing the collaborative approach to teaching-learning. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses also were conducted to examine the relationship of the independent variables and the interaction term to each of six subscales of the dependent variable. The results indicated that philosophy of Family Life Education and level of self-disclosure contributed significantly to the variance in the extent to which CFLEs report practicing the collaborative approach as measured by the Principles of Adult Learning Scale. Philosophy of Family Life Education was significantly related to three subscales of the dependent variable: Learner-centered Activities, Personalizing Instruction, and Participation in the Learning Process. Level of self-disclosure was significantly related to three subscales of the dependent variable: Learner-centered Activities, Relating to Experience, and Climate-Building. Directions for future research and implications for the field of Family Life Education were discussed