Kulttuurisesti kestävä kotitalousopetus

The connection between culture and development is multifaceted. Culture can be seen as a development process, its tool or even the outcome of development (Sen, 2010). According to Unesco (2012) culture is one of the forces that can make a change in sustainable development. Unesco has paid recently attention to sustainable development that is based on cultural approach in relation to economic, social and environmental sustainability. Cultural approach in sustainable development is fresh (Soini, 2013) and needs both conceptual and empirical research. Instead of agreeing to one common definition it is more essential to look openly what culture can mean in sustainable development (Soini & Birkeland, 2014). One suggestion is drawn in this article. Article looks at the planning of teaching based on culturally sustainable starting points and reasons out the relation between sustainable development, culture and education within Home Economcis teaching. At the same time the potential practices in Home Economics teaching are pointed out. The discussion is based on critical pedagogy (e.g. Giroux, 1991) and culturally responsive pedagogy (Gay, 2010). The national basic education curriculum in Home Economics, Home Economics teachers’ annual teaching plans and selected teaching cases are viewed in the article from the point of view of culturally responsive education. In the teaching plans the indicators for culturally responsive education are pointed out. Through the teaching cases the challenges of culturally responsive teaching are reasoned out. The article aims to offer tools for including culturally responsive elements as part of Home Economics education. Cultural sustainability was viwed through seven dimensions (Mäkelä 2013. Based on analysing teachers’ annual teaching plans Home Economics teaching seemed to have an international (1) dimension, it maintained traditions and intergenerational interaction (2) and it was seen as local (3). Also art and creativity (4) had their place in the annual plans. On the other hand religion and spiritual (5) dimension as well as multiculturalism (6) and build and natural environment (7) were not seen in the plans. Locality is emphasised in core Home Economics teaching and multiculturalism in optional teaching. In additional Home Economics (grade 10) teaching build and natural environment has been bit more in focus. In additional teaching, the interaction between school and surrounding society seems to take place, which is emphasised in the new national basic education curriculum. When data was viewed according to grades; 8th grade teaching focused on locality and 9th grade on internationality. In Home Economics teaching feasts and celebrations gave opportunity to view cultural sustainability in many sides: locality, traditions, religions and spiritual dimension together with internationalism took place. As the United Nations Decade on Sustainable Development in Education 2005-2014 has come to its end one can scrutinise how education has succeeded in creating more sustainable futures. United Nations and its member states aimed that the principles of sustainable development should be included in national curriculums throughout the educational structure. (Kaivola & Melén-Paaso, 2007; Lampinen & Melén-Paaso, 2009). In Home Economics education, focusing on culturally responsivde element of the sustainable development can be one concrete outcomes of the decade. In the planning of the teaching, work needs to be done in the future as well. Through the questions below teacher or teacher trainee can examine one’s own teaching and its culturally sustainable elements. • How is local way of practices seen in teaching? • How is the multifaceted feature of the learning content seen? • How is the surrounding society and world affecting teaching? • How the habits and celebrations of multicultural society are seen in the teaching? • How do you teach the aesthetics of everyday life? • How do extend the learning environment outside of the classroom? • How the knowledge and the skills from the past help in understanding the present day and learn for future? These questions give opportunity to view teaching and teaching plans critically. Article has aimed to make the cultural element of sustainable development visible and help to incorporate it in Home Economics teaching.