Clare Family Learning Project

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If you are interested in reading about earlier initiatives to address educational disadvantage and their influence on family literacy you might like to read the following:

• Family Involvement in Literacy (1996) Sheila Wolfendale & Kenneth Topping (ed.), London: Cassell Education.
• Literacy, Home and School (1995) Peter Hannon, London: The Falmer Press

Also significant to the design and content of family literacy and family learning programmes was research into how children learn to read and how parents support this process, which has led to advances in literacy theory. Information on research findings can be found in the following:

• Learning To Be Literate (1998) Alison Garton & Chris Pratt, London:Blackwell.
• Literacy Goes To School (1996) Jo Weinberger, London: Paul Chapman Publishing,Ltd.

Family Literacy and Parenting courses: What are the Differences? by Moira Greene and Janet Webb, in NALA Journal Summer, Family Literacy and Parenting courses: What are the Differences?

The Question

As interest in family literacy programmes within the adult literacy service continues to grow a question frequently arises:

 

• What is the difference between a family literacy programme and a parenting programme?

 

There is certainly common ground between the two programmes, but there are also key differences.

The following paragraphs will attempt to tease out an answer to this question by broadly considering programme aims, content, methodologies, and anticipated outcomes.

Background and purpose

First, consider the background and purpose of each family-centred programme.

Parenting programmes became popular in Ireland in the 1980s. They aimed to help parents become more confident and competent in nurturing their children's development and, in particular, to offer advice on a number of parenting ‘problems' around children's behavioural and emotional development. Various organisations were involved in offering parenting programmes including:

 

• Local VEC's;
• Health boards;
• Social services and 
• Voluntary groups.

 

Family Literacy Programmes were first piloted in Ireland in the 1990's in response to parents' requests to help their children to learn successfully, especially to learn to read. These requests came initially from parents who were attending classes with voluntary adult literacy schemes. Since then, most of the developmental work in family literacy has continued to be in the adult education sector, in particular, in adult literacy schemes.

Parenting and family literacy share common ground in that both programmes aim to develop parents' confidence, attitudes and skills to support their children on their journey through life.

However, each programme focuses on different aspects of the child's growth and development:

 

• Parenting could be said to focus on emotional and behavioural issues;
• Family literacy focuses more on cognitive development.

 

In other words, the programmes can be distinguished by their objectives.

Content and methodology

Next, look at the content and methodology of family literacy and parenting programmes.

Consider for a moment any two adult education classes, for example, a course in horticulture and a course in computers.

Both would be likely to use adult learning methodologies that take into account the participants' prior experience with gardening and/or computers. Both would encourage group participation, aim to boost learning confidence as well as skills, and be highly interactive with a lot of ‘hands on' experience.

However, while there may be many similarities in their approach to the learning process and in the methodologies used, the courses are clearly distinguished by their content. The programmes share a similar target group and use some common methodologies, but the actual course content is different.

Similarities

Likewise, parenting and family literacy share some common ground regarding target group, process and methodologies. However, the content of these two courses is quite distinct. 

For example, both courses:

 

• Discuss and role-play various forms of parent-child social interaction;
• Emphasise how children are socialised into all kinds of human communication patterns through interaction with their parents and other family members;
• Aim to help parents to become more aware of how they can and do scaffold and model types of knowledge, attitudes, skills and behaviours for their children.

 

Differences

However, family literacy focuses specifically on those interactions between parent and child that promote the development of literacy and numeracy skills, for instance:

 

• Question-answer exchange;
• Descriptive language;
• Rephrasing information;
• Acquiring ‘book talk' (front/back cover, title, turn the page) or
• ‘Story talk' (once upon a time, what happened next, how does the story end?);
• Counting;
• Recognising patterns;
• Sequence and order

 

Family literacy may also cover forms of communication that could be considered part of social behaviour, such as taking turns, not interrupting, following directions, but again these are considered with the context of ‘learning situations.'

Parenting programmes perhaps could be said to cover a wider range of parent-child communications and social interactions.

Outcomes

In addition, with each course having a distinct perspective on parent-child interactions, consider the likely outcomes.

Parenting courses

Having just completed a parenting course Parent A enters the supermarket with his child. He now feels more confident about how to deal with the child's choice of snack foods and, if necessary, how to handle the tantrum that follows not being allowed to purchase a large box of sugar laden cereal.

Family Literacy course

On the other hand, Parent B has just completed a family literacy course. She sees the shopping trip as an ideal opportunity to explore environmental print. She may enter the supermarket with the idea of encouraging the child to look for favourite items such as cereal, juice or tinned beans. Both courses suggest ideas for positive parent-child interaction in the ‘supermarket environment', but the content of these interactions is different.

Progression

Finally, differences between these two programmes are suggested by the anticipated progression routes for the parents.

In family literacy, it is implicit in the goals of the programme that participation will lead to further involvement in lifelong learning and especially in improving literacy skills.

Factors in family literacy participation that seem to motivate parents to participate in further adult education classes include:

 

• Having a greater awareness of the parents' role in promoting their child's literacy development;
• A clearer understanding of the literacy skills that enhance their performance in this role;
• A greater sense of confidence in their ability to improve their own skills; and
• Having had a positive and enjoyable adult learning experience.

 

It is not clear that progression into further areas of learning is as much a part of the programme goals in parenting courses, but if so, it would seem that the direction would be in the area of lifestyle change, family health and well-being.

Both programmes provide valuable learning opportunities for parents. They should be seen as complements for one another, not competitors. They should also be respected for their differences. 

The Question's interest in family literacy programmes within the adult literacy service continues to grow a question frequently arises:

What is the difference between a family literacy programme and a parenting programme? 

There is certainly common ground between the two programmes, but there are also key differences. The following paragraphs will attempt to tease out an answer to this question by broadly considering programme aims, content, methodologies, and anticipated outcomes. Background and purposeFirst, consider the background and purpose of each family-centred programme. Parenting programmes became popular in Ireland in the 1980s. They aimed to help parents become more confident and competent in nurturing their children’s development and, in particular, to offer advice on a number of parenting ‘problems’ around children’s behavioural and emotional development. Various organisations were involved in offering parenting programmes including:

 

• Local VEC’s;
• Health boards;
• Social services and
• Voluntary groups.

 

Family Literacy Programmes were first piloted in Ireland in the 1990’s in response to parents’ requests to help their children to learn successfully, especially to learn to read. These requests came initially from parents who were attending classes with voluntary adult literacy schemes. Since then, most of the developmental work in family literacy has continued to be in the adult education sector, in particular, in adult literacy schemes. Parenting and family literacy share common ground in that both programmes aim to develop parents’ confidence, attitudes and skills to support their children on their journey through life. However, each programme focuses on different aspects of the child’s growth and development:

Parenting could be said to focus on emotional and behavioural issues;

Family literacy focuses more on cognitive development.

In other words, the programmes can be distinguished by their objectives. Content and methodology. Next, look at the content and methodology of family literacy and parenting programmes. Consider for a moment any two adult education classes, for example, a course in horticulture and a course in computers. Both would be likely to use adult learning methodologies that take into account the participants’ prior experience with gardening and/or computers. Both would encourage group participation, aim to boost learning confidence as well as skills, and be highly interactive with a lot of ‘hands on’ experience. However, while there may be many similarities in their approach to the learning process and in the methodologies used, the courses are clearly distinguished by their content. The programmes share a similar target group and use some common methodologies, but the actual course content is different. SimilaritiesLikewise, parenting and family literacy share some common ground regarding target group, process and methodologies. However, the content of these two courses is quite distinct. For example, both courses:

 

• Discuss and role-play various forms of parent-child social interaction;
• Emphasise how children are socialised into all kinds of human communication patterns through interaction with their parents and other family members;
• Aim to help parents to become more aware of how they can and do scaffold and model types of knowledge, attitudes, skills and behaviours for their children.

 

Differences. However, family literacy focuses specifically on those interactions between parent and child that promote the development of literacy and numeracy skills, for instance:

 

• Question-answer exchange;
• Descriptive language;
• Rephrasing information;
• Acquiring ‘book talk’ (front/back cover, title, turn the page) or
• ‘Story talk’ (once upon a time, what happened next, how does the story end?);
• Counting;
• Recognising patterns;
• Sequence and order

 

Family literacy may also cover forms of communication that could be considered part of social behaviour, such as taking turns, not interrupting, following directions, but again these are considered with the context of ‘learning situations.’Parenting programmes perhaps could be said to cover a wider range of parent-child communications and social interactions. OutcomesIn addition, with each course having a distinct perspective on parent-child interactions, consider the likely outcomes. Parenting coursesHaving just completed a parenting course Parent A enters the supermarket with his child. He now feels more confident about how to deal with the child’s choice of snack foods and, if necessary, how to handle the tantrum that follows not being allowed to purchase a large box of sugar laden cereal. Family Literacy courseOn the other hand, Parent B has just completed a family literacy course. She sees the shopping trip as an ideal opportunity to explore environmental print. She may enter the supermarket with the idea of encouraging the child to look for favourite items such as cereal, juice or tinned beans. Both courses suggest ideas for positive parent-child interaction in the ‘supermarket environment’, but the content of these interactions is different. ProgressionFinally, differences between these two programmes are suggested by the anticipated progression routes for the parents. In family literacy, it is implicit in the goals of the programme that participation will lead to further involvement in lifelong learning and especially in improving literacy skills. Factors in family literacy participation that seem to motivate parents to participate in further adult education classes include:

 

• Having a greater awareness of the parents’ role in promoting their child’s literacy development;
• A clearer understanding of the literacy skills that enhance their performance in this role;
• A greater sense of confidence in their ability to improve their own skills; and
• Having had a positive and enjoyable adult learning experience.

 

It is not clear that progression into further areas of learning is as much a part of the programme goals in parenting courses, but if so, it would seem that the direction would be in the area of lifestyle change, family health and well-being. Both programmes provide valuable learning opportunities for parents. They should be seen as complements for one another, not competitors. They should also be respected for their differences.   

Ireland

 

• Family Learning Resource Guide. Clare Family Learning Project 2000
• International Adult Literacy Survey: Results for Ireland. 1997.
• Learning for Life: White Paper on Adult Education. 2000:Dublin.
• Report to Céifin Centre, Family Well-Being. What Makes a Difference. Kieran McKeown, Jonathan Pratschke, Trutz Haase. Dublin: 2003.
• Literacy and Numeracy in Disadvantaged Schools: Challenges for Teachers and Learners. DES Dublin: 2005.
• Meeting the Numeracy Challenge. NALA Report.
• Achieving Equality in Children’s Education. Katherine E. Zappone. St. Patricks’ College, Drumcondra, Dublin: 2002.
• Primary Education Ending Disadvantage. St. Patricks’ College, Drumcondra, Dublin: 2002.
• A Staff Handbook for Family Learning
• County Dublin VEC (2003) have an informative handbook with information on setting up and running family learning programmes 'The story so far...'.
• The County Co-ordinator of Literacy Services, Co.Dubin VEC, Main Road, Tallaght, Dublin 24, 01 4529600, e-mail infocodubvec.ie

 

United Kingdom

 

• On the Road, Journeys in Family Learning. Eds. Shan Rees, Foufou Savitzky, Attillah Malik. London Language and Literacy Unit. London:2005
• ViewPoints 15. Family Literacy ALBSU The Basic Skills Unit. Six articles on Family Literacy.
• Preparing for Early Literacy Education with Parents. Cathy Nutbrown and Peter Hannon, Eds. NES Arnold: 1997.
• Family Literacy Works. Brooks et al. Eds. The Basic Skills Agency. UK:1997
• Family Literacy Lasts. Brooks et al. Eds. The Basic Skills Agency. UK: 1997
• Family Numeracy Adds Up. The Basic Skills Agency. UK: 1996
• Family Literacy Practice in Local Programmes. The Basic Skills Agency. 1997
• Basic Skills Support in Schools. Jane Curle. 1997
• 2007 Ph.D Research by Anthea Rose, How we can characterise Family Literacy Programmes in England, Ireland and Malta. University of Nottingham.

 

United States

 

• Handbook of Family Literacy. Edited by Barbara Hanna Wasik. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. London: 2004.

 

Canada

 

• On Our Way. The Family Road to Literacy. Ruth Hayden and Maureen Sanders. Edmonton, Canada: 2004.

 

 

Resource Categories

Literacy, USA, Ireland