Phil I agree with this but how do you get the parents who need support to go to parenting classes? Most think it comes naturally and the ones who might most need it are likely to be the refuseniks. Do you wait until their kids are truanting and try compulsion? Is there an incentive that works?
When I worked with schools in poor areas the heads invariably said that the parents were the problem because their own experience of education was negative so they saw it as a waste of time. They worked on changing the parents’ minds. (It was incidentally the difference between white working class young parents who’d been to london schools and ended up in low paid manual jobs and highly aspirational immigrant parents who saw education as the golden ticket to life chances and were highly disciplined with their kids.) The parents were n’t crap but their aspirations were extremely low and that’s what they passed on.
I think it has to be styled as help rather than punishment. There are moments when a child is clearly going awry when parenting advice and support can be offered (probably not described as "classes") which would be well received. But the problem you raise - of engaging those who do not want to be engaged with - never really goes away.
Agree but it’s v hard to do and many won’t accept as they see it as punishment no matter how packaged. And quality of provision needs to be such that it both is and feels of value. Minimising cost of delivery risks compromising quality.
Like all these things, it is expensive. But it's worth it. It may be that the best way - indeed the SMC said this - is to make the support universal and begin with the health visitor. That way you might be able to continue longer for some than others, according to need as well as desire.
Phil I agree with this but how do you get the parents who need support to go to parenting classes? Most think it comes naturally and the ones who might most need it are likely to be the refuseniks. Do you wait until their kids are truanting and try compulsion? Is there an incentive that works?
When I worked with schools in poor areas the heads invariably said that the parents were the problem because their own experience of education was negative so they saw it as a waste of time. They worked on changing the parents’ minds. (It was incidentally the difference between white working class young parents who’d been to london schools and ended up in low paid manual jobs and highly aspirational immigrant parents who saw education as the golden ticket to life chances and were highly disciplined with their kids.) The parents were n’t crap but their aspirations were extremely low and that’s what they passed on.
I think it has to be styled as help rather than punishment. There are moments when a child is clearly going awry when parenting advice and support can be offered (probably not described as "classes") which would be well received. But the problem you raise - of engaging those who do not want to be engaged with - never really goes away.
Agree but it’s v hard to do and many won’t accept as they see it as punishment no matter how packaged. And quality of provision needs to be such that it both is and feels of value. Minimising cost of delivery risks compromising quality.
Like all these things, it is expensive. But it's worth it. It may be that the best way - indeed the SMC said this - is to make the support universal and begin with the health visitor. That way you might be able to continue longer for some than others, according to need as well as desire.