Theoretical Reconstruction of the Home Economics Education Curriculum for Sustainable Development in Post-Conflict North East Nigeria

This study undertakes a theoretical reconstruction of the Home Economics Education curriculum to align it with sustainable development imperatives in post-conflict North East Nigeria, covering Borno, Yobe, and Adamawa states. The prolonged Boko Haram insurgency has disrupted educational systems, decimated livelihoods, and fundamentally altered household structures in North East Nigeria, creating conditions that demand a contextually responsive and theoretically grounded curricular redesign. Employing a qualitative design combining critical discourse analysis, phenomenological interviews, and curriculum archaeology, the study engages 80 purposively selected participants including Home Economics educators, policymakers, displaced community leaders, and international development practitioners. The study interrogates the epistemological foundations of the existing curriculum and proposes a reconstructed framework integrating sustainability science, trauma-informed pedagogy, and indigenous knowledge systems. The Transformative Learning Theory and the Capability Approach jointly anchor the theoretical reconstruction. Original contributions include a novel Contextual Sustainability Framework for Home Economics, a reconstructed curriculum architecture for conflict-affected Nigerian settings, and a policy translation model for post-conflict educational rehabilitation. Findings are expected to provide the first theoretically grounded curriculum reconstruction for Home Economics in Nigerian conflict-affected zones. Recommendations address the Federal Ministry of Education, USAID Education Programming, and the Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council. Keywords: curriculum reconstruction, sustainable development, post-conflict education, Home Economics, North East Nigeria.