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OVERVIEW ON FAMILY LEARNING IN ROMANIA

OVERVIEW ON FAMILY LEARNING IN ROMANIA. Dr. Anca Colibaba - President, EuroEd Foundation – Iasi, ‘Gr. T. Popa’ University, Iasi, Romania FALCON MEETING, OSLO - NORWAY, 31 AUGUST - 2 SEPTEMBER 2005. BACKGROUND IN ROMANIA (I).

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OVERVIEW ON FAMILY LEARNING IN ROMANIA

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  1. OVERVIEW ON FAMILY LEARNING IN ROMANIA Dr. Anca Colibaba - President, EuroEd Foundation – Iasi, ‘Gr. T. Popa’ University, Iasi, Romania FALCON MEETING, OSLO - NORWAY, 31 AUGUST - 2 SEPTEMBER 2005

  2. BACKGROUND IN ROMANIA (I) • there is a general recognition about the vital role played by parents, grandparents and other carers in their children’s education at all stages; • there is an incipient institutional attempt to support those parents who may wish to improve their child-support skills and confidence in the context of family life and learning; • these attempts made by schools and more rarely by representatives of local communities encourage both informal and formal learning which takes place at home; • the current initiatives in the field assert Family Learning as an important way of reorganizing and building on the strengths and traditions of families and recognizing that the family is the primary educator of the children;

  3. BACKGROUND IN ROMANIA (II) • it encourages participation and responsibility from families and communities who, otherwise, may feel excluded from the expectations of schools(rural families, gipsy families, ethnical minorities, etc) or may be tempted to place the whole educational responsibility on the formal education given by the school(professional families and business people with little family time) • it is viewed as a comprehensive concept that encompasses the transfer of knowledge, life or professional skills and cultural values among two or more generations; • it has proven to break down barriers between learning in different contexts and between generations in an amazing way

  4. FAMILY LEARNING - AN ADDED VALUE FOR PARENTS • this is one of the ways in which the process of life long learning is being implemented • it gives a vital support to parents’ personal development - the best way to learn is by teaching; • in more than one occasion the learning direction is a positive two-way process and this encourages the adults to further / deepen their own studies / skills; • it facilitates an increased understanding of the need to create and recognize learning opportunities at home and in the wider community; • parents and care-givers - especially grandparents - understand better their role as their children’s first educators and act in a more directed way to transfer knowledge and skills ; • in the process adults involved discover more about how children (and adults) learn and how to better use learning styles for the benefit of learning; • they improve their confidence and skills as parents and optimize their communication with the children; • .

  5. FAMILY LEARNING - AN ADDED VALUE FOR CHILDREN • basic life skills and knowledge, cultural values and a sense of belonging are transmitted in the family chain; • cohesion of the family as the vital cell of a community is enhanced; • communication channels diversify; • motivation for learning in a non-directive way is higher; • a positive feeling of security and protection; • there are many channels for learning and practice which may suit a wide variety of learning styles; • application of knowledge and practice of skills is a life long asset; • it gives opportunities to children themselves to teach younger siblings or adults.

  6. TYPES OF APPROACHES TO FAMILY LEARNING IN ROMANIA • those that provide services to parents and children with the intent of influencing the achievement of both parents and children (fewer); • those that focus on affecting the achievement of the child alone, with the parent / family as the instrument of change; most of these are school-based mini projects which involve parents in supporting their children’s school education and their integration in the community. STARTING POINTS IN ACTION • partnerships (school, families) in almost each school; • weak link: the participation of community agents or of other institutions with educational vocation ; • few community programmes with a limited number of participants; • few key practical issues solved in bigger partnerships (location, funding);

  7. MISSING POINTS • absence of an integrated national strategy for the development of family learning programmes; • lack of a comprehensive research into home practices in Family Learning in order to avoid imposing models which may be unsuitable, unattractive and unsuccessful; • no analysis of the impact of Family Learning projects on the adults involved; • no consistent promotion of a partnership approach; • absence of a need analysis to identify specific learning contents, skills and target populations; • no training in family learning for staff from both adults education and school settings; • no planned budget; • lack of involvement of key governmental educational departments; • no active support from the local administration; • no evaluation strategies developed for the limited existing attempts.

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