Promising Practices in Parenting Education

Family-service professionals know that parenting education and support can make an important difference in the lives of families, and the research is clear on the benefits of parenting groups. However, less is known about how the actual process of offering and implementing a parenting program may affect its impact on families.

Recognizing that even the best-designed program may not work if it's poorly implemented, the Canadian Association of Family Resource Programs has produced a new study that fills this knowledge gap. What Works for Whom examines parenting groups from a fresh perspective, looking at the variables that make the difference in how parents receive a program. The report, based in part on the "practice wisdom" gathered from nearly 500 facilitators across Canada, identifies promising practices in programs for parents of young children, particularly parents facing multiple challenges.

The report offers specific suggestions on common challenges program leaders face, including:
Getting participants to come - reducing barriers, offering incentives, personal contact, persistence

Ensuring participants keep coming - adapting topics to parents' concerns, building feelings of trust, respect and belonging

Engaging participants - appealing to different learning styles, adapting to language and literacy levels

Helping participants use what they learn - modelling skills, relating new knowledge to daily life, using active learning techniques

Helping participants to sustain learning - building a support network in the community and among participants
Readers are invited to send their feedback on What Works for Whom to info@frp.ca

For more information, click here.

FREE hit counter and Internet traffic statistics from freestats.com