Parenting Education - a vital contribution to Early Childhood Care and Education Mary Crowley OBE President International Federation for Parenting Education
Presentation structure Why
provide services for parents of early years children? What services should be provided? What parents should be offered services? National Standards and training for work with parents What principles underpin our work? 2
Bad Parenting has economic costs UK study
£70,000 is the cost to the public purse of a child with conduct disorder
£7,000 is the cost of a child with no specific disorder
Source: Dr Stephen Scott Kings College London with the London School of Economics, 2002
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Bad Parenting has social costs
80% of crime is committed by adults who had behavioural problems as children (David Farringdon) Key risk factors for crime between conception and age 5: poor parental supervision; harsh erratic discipline ; criminal parents-(Farringdon) Crime costs the U.K. economy £60bn per year Reoffending is reduced by 50% when early intervention schemes are in place Source: Sainsbury Centre for Mental Health, 2009 Report assessing data from every child born in one week in 1970
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Good Parenting has educational benefits
“At-home good parenting has a significant positive effect on children’s achievement and adjustment even after all other factors affecting attainment have been taken out of the equation…..The scale of the impact is evident across all social classes and all ethnic groups”.
DFES report 433 2003 Prof Charles Desforges with Alberto
Abouchaar “The Impact of Parental Involvement, Parental Support and Family Education on Pupil Achievement and Adjustment”: a Literature Review Dept for Education and Skills Report 433)
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What services should be provided?
Routine peri-natal preparation for fathers and mothers -about parenting, not about the birth itself Services offered to all parents at each stage of their children’s development Specialised services for parents in special circumstances Separating parents Parents in prison Adoptive parents Other carers in parenting roles 6
Where and at what stage are parenting services offered? Centre-based programmes in the community (e.g., adult education, health clinics) Work-based programmes (e.g., London Transport) School-based work with children: preparation for relationships and parenting (Ref: work of Harriet Heath USA, Mary Gordon
Canada )
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Who is missing? Are fathers the forgotten parents? ď‚Ą
Good father-child relations are associated with an absence or reduction of emotional and behavioural difficulties in adolescence and greater academic motivation
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Children whose fathers are involved in their lives are less likely to be in trouble with the police 8
Principles and Values ď‚Ą
Parenting education and support should reflect the rights of the child set out in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989) (which has been ratified by all countries except USA and Somalia)
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Practitioners work in partnership with parents at all times 9
Principles 2 •
Gender, cultural diversity and different needs must be respected; entitlement, quality and inclusiveness are of fundamental importance to those who work with parents
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Anyone who works with parents should have specific training for that purpose 10
Recruiting Parents
“Community Consultants” Training for Referral Children can recruit… Offer rewards for attending the introductory session The England experience with Parenting Orders What matters is practitioners trained to work with parents 11
A New World ď‚Ą Children
will grow up in a peaceful world and will become the even better parents of tomorrow.
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Http//www.fiep-ifpe.fr/
Founded in 1964 Members in Europe Asia Africa and North and South America United Nations,Council of Europe, links to UNESCO Bringing -makers and colleagues policy together to share knowledge and passion about this important field across the world World conference on a current theme every two years Next march london - fathers 13
Contact details
marycrowley@parent.freeserve.co.uk Mary Crowley OBE Presidente
La Federation Internationale pour l'Education des Parents
Join the Federation - ask me for a leaflet
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