Transcript The High Road to Quality Parenting Education:

Diverse Paths to the Same Goal
Stephen J. Bavolek, Ph.D.
Rhenda Hodnett, MSW
Part 1:
Impact of My Personal
Parenting Beliefs and
Attitudes on My Professional
Role as a Parent Educator
Impact of My Personal
Parenting Beliefs and Attitudes
on My Professional Role as a Parent Educator
The parenting beliefs that we
currently hold today were
influenced by the experiences
we had growing up as
children.
Impact of My Personal
Parenting Beliefs and Attitudes
on My Professional Role as a Parent Educator
What we experienced as a boy
or girl, and replicated to some
degree as a Father or Mother
influences our role as
professional parent educators.
Biological systems predispose human
beings to form and sustain enduring,
nurturing relationships.
The intensity and frequency of
positive and negative experiences
promote the development of an
adapted or acquired self.
Positive Adapted Self
Negative Adapted Self
… Perceptions.
All the information we receive about
ourselves and the world through our
senses.
… Cognition
All the abstract conceptual processes that
our brain uses to organize and make sense
of our perceptions which include memories
and unconscious thoughts.
… Emotions.
Emotions help us establish the intensity and
value of every perceptual and cognitive
experience we have.
… Social Consensus.
The input we receive from others.
… a conscious or unconscious
expression of a vast system of cause
and effect relationships between our
true nature and the adapted beliefs of
the Self.

Adult-Adolescent Parenting Inventory

www.nscsonline.com
Part 2:
Knowledge of Proven
Parenting Strategies and
Practices
Parent Educators need to be
knowledgeable of areas of
parenting and child rearing that
have been proven to promote
healthy child and family
development.
Understanding and honoring
parents’ strong beliefs
regarding the use of physical
punishment as a means of
discipline and punishment.
Increasing parents’ awareness and
understanding about the detrimental
effects physical punishment, verbal
abuse, inappropriate touch and neglect
have on the neurological, emotional,
social and physical development of
children.
Teaching parents the value of using
alternative skills and strategies to
physical punishment.
Increasing parents’ awareness and
understanding of the stages of
child growth and development
which include neurological,
physical, social/emotional, and
intellectual stages along with …
… Kohlberg’s morals stages of
development, Erikson’s psychosocial stages of development,
Freud’s psycho-sexual stages and
Maslow’s hierarchy of needs.
Understanding and personally
utilizing discipline techniques
that promote the dignity of the
child.
Understanding brain
development and functioning
during prenatal, birth to five,
school-age and adolescent
periods of childhood.
The importance and functioning
of parent-child bonding,
attachment, attunement, and
empathy.
The importance of teaching
children empowerment and
protective skills.
Part 3:
Part 3:
Parenting
Programs
& Practices:
Parenting
Programs
and
Assessment
andAssessment
Evaluation and
Practices:
Evaluation
Assessment is the process of gathering data
to guide decision making (type of
intervention, length, intensity, etc.)
 Focus intervention
 Analyze change
Evaluation
is a process of measuring the
relative worth of a service or program.
 Ethical practice
 Funding
Two categories of Evidence Based
programs:
Experimental
or Randomized Control
Trials (RCT)
Quasi-experimental
Quasi-experimental includes:

Simple pre-posttest design.

Pre-posttest : Longitudinal follow-up.

Comparative Group Design: Group 1
gets Program A and Group 2 gets
Program B.
SAMHSA:
Substance Abuse and Mental
Health Services Administration
NREPP: National Registry of Effective
Parenting Practices and Program
CEBC:
California Evidence-based
Clearinghouse for Child Welfare

NREPP does:
◦ Helps you begin to determine if an intervention
might meet the needs of your target population
◦ Rate the quality of the research supporting
outcomes and rates quality of training and
implementation materials

NREPP doesn’t:
◦ Rate an intervention’s effectiveness
◦ Provide an exhaustive list of interventions
◦ Endorse specific interventions

CEBC Categories
◦ 1. Well supported by research evidence

2 RCT, peer reviewed, valid/reliable measures, etc.
◦ 2. Supported by research evidence

1 RCT, peer reviewed,
◦ 3. Promising research evidence

Manual, 1 study with control group, peer reviewed,
etc.
◦ 4. Lacks adequate research evidence
◦ 5. Evidence fails to demonstrate effect
◦ 6. Concerning practice
Two categories of Assessment:
Formal and Informal
Formal assessment tools have proven
validity and reliability.
Validity
— does the assessment do
what it says it’s suppose to do?
Reliability
—does it do it consistently?
Informal assessment tools are not
concerned as much with validity and
reliability.
These are instructor/agency made
assessments: true/false; multiple
choice; fill in the blanks, check-lists,
rating scales, observational forms.
The principle purpose to assess and
evaluate is to measure the change in
behavior.
Behavior is made up of:



Performance
Beliefs
Knowledge
Environmental Conditions:
Impact
of personal history
Neurological
networks that have
become normalized
Different inventories are
designed to measure different
aspects of behavior.
What factors are related to
your intervention?
Parent-Child Attachment
Parenting attitudes and beliefs
Knowledge of child development
Behavior management skills
Parental stress
Maternal depression
Sample of instruments used as outcome
measures in parent education:
*Adult Adolescent Parenting Inventory
*Eyberg Child Behavior Inventory
*Parenting Stress Index
*Family Environment Scale
Part 4:
Part 3:
My Professional
Skills
as
a
Parenting Programs and
Parent
Educator
Practices:
Assessment and
Evaluation
Every learning situation can be
classified into two categories:
 Instruction Centered (IC), and
 Learner Centered (LC)
IC: The instructor and the
instruction is more important
than the learner.
LC: The learner is more important
that the instructor and the
instruction.
IC: Imparting factual information
takes priority to parent
learning.
LC: The focus on instruction is
always on the parent.
IC: Completing the session agenda
takes priority to engaging and
challenging the learner.
LC: Engaging and challenging the
learner is more important than
completing the session agenda.
IC: The instructor is active and the
learner is passive.
LC: The instructor and learner
alternate being active-passive.



Model integrity DOES matter
Tailoring a program to meet the needs of the
parent requires advanced knowledge & skill
on the part of the parent educator
Aspire to have a level of competence that
allows you to customize a program without
jeopardizing the “proven effective
components” that are key to successful
outcomes
The following are generally recognized as
the skills of a good parent educator:
• Keeps the focus on participant learning
(parents or child)
• Engages parents through small group
discussions/debates/role plays/creative
expressions.
• Investigates the parent’s viewpoint through
increasing self-awareness.
• Makes concepts and principles simple.
• Gives concrete examples to illustrate
abstract points.
• Adapts while teaching (flexibility).
• Reflects after having taught on ways to
improve.
• Is organized.
• Has a command of the content.
• Is detail oriented.
• Uses dignified discipline techniques
(Acting Inn board, Praise, builds self
esteem, etc).
• Uses visual aids (DVD’s, pictures,
illustrations).
• Is a good time manager.
• Sets high but reasonable expectations for
participants.
• Administers fair assessments.
• Uses the results of assessments as
reflective of quality of instruction.
• Creates an atmosphere where parents are
motivated intrinsically (from within) rather
than extrinsically (from outside).
• Practices what s/he preaches.
Empowers the group or individual through
cognitive processes such as:
• Brainstorming.
• Problem solving and decision making.
• Suggestion circles.
• 10 things you would recommend.
• Negotiating and compromising.
The following are generally recognized as
characteristics of a good teacher:
• Demonstrates respect
• Has a sense of humor
• Uses “common sense”
• Shows interest and enthusiasm
• Demonstrates a sense of caring and
empathy
• Makes learning fun and exciting
• Is available to help
• Enjoys teaching parents or children
• Is an excellent communicator
• Invests in the success of the parent