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To BUILD relationships with other professionals working with children and families may be one of the most effective ways to increase parenting options and resources. Building networks and partnerships that support children, parents, and families at local and state levels and sometimes at a regional, national, or international level will ultimately BUILD the field of parenting education. While many of these affiliations are informal in nature, membership in professional associations or organizations will provide critical linkage with others in the field working toward the same goals.
Critical BUILD Practices
To BUILD, a parenting educator will
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Examples of Specific Professional Objectives for BUILD
The parenting educator should be able to
- analyze key contemporary policies for their implications for parents and the field of parenting education;
- write a one-page policy;
- form partnerships with major community organizations and public and private agencies that serve children, parents, and families in the state;
- convene meetings of parenting educators in the community or state for the purpose of establishing and funding strong networks of support for children, parents, and families; and
- establish referral procedures, and create an electronic parent education communication system.
What We Know About BUILD
The field of parenting education should make an organized, programmatic effort to change or enhance the child-rearing knowledge and skills of families and the child care system (Arcus, 1993). It is the development of these organized and systematic efforts to which BUILD pertains.
Parenting is a complex process that is highly influenced by the social context in which it occurs. To be truly effective, parenting educators must acknowledge the interaction and interdependence among the various contexts affecting children and families. When educators understand the total system of services and educational programs, they can better appreciate that communities and institutions share with parents the responsibility for the healthy development of children and youth. This appreciation then will direct parenting educators into networks and coalitions that foster a caring environment with communities that make effective schools, adequate housing, good job opportunities, and wide recreational facilities high priorities (Brown & Rhodes, 1991; Brown, 1998).
Understanding the "big picture" will help parenting educators design programs that are tailored to the specific needs of specialized populations, e.g., single, divorced, or non-custodial parents; gay/lesbian/bisexual parents; or grandparents raising grandchildren (see EMBRACE). It has been repeatedly noted that educational programs should be guided by an understanding of the social settings in which children are parented as well as by an appreciation of the interrelationships among the parent, community, and family support systems (Bronfenbrenner, 1979; Furstenberg, 1976 Halpern; 1990; Powell, 1988; Stevens, et al., 1993).
Parenting educators can help educate legislators and other policymakers so they can make more informed decisions affecting children and families. Parenting educators who advocate for a specific policy as a means of becoming active in helping other family life professionals must understand policy alternatives education. Family policy analysis is a technical exercise that requires considerable expertise and knowledge of family research and programs (Ooms, 1995). Research-based information that policymakers receive is valued and may be the only information they get from unbiased resources. When parenting educators understand how political, educational, legal, and medical systems operate, they can be more effective in selecting information to present to policymakers and others (Small & Eastman, 1991). The field of parenting education has been and continues to be shaped by diverse disciplines and institutions. The field of parenting education has a 100-year history in this country (Palm, 1999). It is a history that is marked by ever-changing issues, audiences, disciplines, and institutions.
Issues -- e.g., child rearing, mother-child relationships, infant mortality, psychological development, parent education, child abuse.
Audiences -- e.g., middle and upper-class mothers, immigrant mothers, fathers, two-parent families, single parents, parents of color, working parents, grandparents raising grandchildren.
Disciplines -- e.g., public health, social work, psychology, education, medicine.
Institutions -- e.g., local, state, and federal government agencies; universities; public and private social service agencies; educational organizations such as PTO/PTAs; and professional organizations such as the American Association for Families and Consumer Sciences (AAFCS), the National Council on Family Relations (NCFR), and the National Parenting Education Network (NPEN).
As a field of study, parenting education has been described as being large, complex, rapidly growing, and having little or no infrastructure to help it more forward (Carter, 1996). No one knows exactly how parenting education will develop in the 21st century, but that is safe to say the field will remain complex and challenging for its practitioners (Palm, 1999).
Given these circumstances, it is essential that parenting educators connect, discuss, brainstorm, plan, and act in concert with others to effect change on behalf of the families they serve. The professional success of the field will depend upon all concerned, that is, knowledgeable stakeholders coming together to share resources, to work collectively to overcome obstacles, and to meet challenges to build a public agenda that strengthens families (Shor, 1987; Weiss, 1990).
References
Arcus, M.E. & Thomas, J. (1993). The nature and practice of family life education. In M.E. Arcus, J.D. Schvaneveldt, & J.J. Moss, Handbook of family life education: The practice of family life education. (Vol 2). Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
Bronfenbrenner, U. (1979). The ecology of human development: Experiments by nature and design. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press
Brown, M.B. (1998). Recommended Practices: A review of the literatures on parent education and support. University of Delaware. Online at: [http://bluehen.ags.udel.edu/strength/best/cover.htm].
Brown, W.K. & Rhodes, W.A. (1991). Factors that promote invulnerability and resiliency in at risk children. In W.A. Rhodes and W.K. Brown (Eds.), Why Some Children Succeed Despite the Odds, (pp. 171-177). New York: Praeger.
Carter, N. & Kahn, L. (1996). See how we grow: A report on the status of parenting education in the United States. Philadelphia: Pew Charitable Trusts.
Czaplewski, M.J., & Jorgensen, S. R. (1993).The professionalization of family life education. In M.E. Arcus, J.D. Schvaneveldt, and J.J. Moss (eds.), Handbook on family life education: Foundations of family life education. Newbury Park, CA: Sage. 51-75.
Furstenberg, F.F., Jr. (1976). Unplanned parenthood. Glencoe, IL: Free Press.
Halpern, R. (1990). Poverty and early childhood parenting: Toward a framework for intervention. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 60(1), 6-18.
Palm, G. (1999, March). 100 Years of parenting education. NCFR Report. 44(1), 3-6.
Powell, L. & Cassidy, D. (2000). Family life education: An introduction. Mountain View, CA: Mayfield Publishing Company.
Shor, I., (ed.) (1987). Freer for the classroom: A sourcebook for liberatory teaching. Portsmouth, NC: Boynton/Cook.
Schilling, R.F., Gilchrist, L.D., & Schinke, S. P. (1984). Coping and social support in families of developmentally disabled children. Family Relations, 33, 47-54.
Small, S.A. & Eastman, G. (1991). Rearing adolescents in contemporary society: A conceptual framework for understanding the responsibilities and needs of parents. Family Relations, 40, 455-462.
Stevens, J.H., Jr., Hough, R. A., & Nurss, J. R. (1993). The influence of parents in children's development and education. In B. Spodek (Ed.), Handbook of research on education of young children, 337-351. New York: McMillan Publishing.
Weiss, H.B. (1990). Beyond parens patriae: Building policies and programs to care for our own and others’ children. Children and Youth Services Review, 12, 269-284.
This material is reproduced with permission. Debord, K., Goddard, H. W., & Myers-Walls, J. A., Bower, D., Mulroy, M., Kirby, J., Ozretich, R. A., & Kobbe, A. M. (2002). National Extension Parenting Educators’ Framework. Cooperative Extension System.
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