1. Inclusive intergenerational family learning as
a tool for lifelong learning
IFL - 1st Meeting, SITIA, GREECE
Seminar 1: “Trends and challenges in
Generational Ageing”
Th 18th – Su 21st October 2012

2. Family Learning promotes a learning culture within families and leads
to better outcomes for children and adults.

3. Family Learning means we can learn together about
absolutely anything by using the skills and experiences of
different generations, valuing one another’s experience
and enjoying one another’s company.

4. What is Family Learning?
• an opportunity for parents and children to
work together, to learn new skills and to work
better with the venues children attend
Although parental involvement had the
greatest effect in the early years, its
importance to children’s educational and
literacy outcomes continues into the teenage
and even adult years. (Desforges, Abouchaar, 2003 )

5. • Family Learning is a
diverse, holistic and
innovative approach to
learning using family
life, roles and
responsibilities and
school support as the
context for re-engaging
adults in learning and
raising children
achievement.

6. There is strong evidence of the intergenerational
transfer of disadvantage from parents with poor
literacy, language and numeracy skills to their
children.
Family learning can play a key role in helping to
reverse this process. (National Centre for Research and Development,
2008)

7. A definition of Family Learning
• It enables mother, fathers, carers and
children to learn together – from and with
each other
• It involves explicit learning outcomes for
both
• It helps mother, fathers and carers to
support their children’s learning
• It builds confidence, skills and interest to go
on learning

8. A Family Learning pedagogical approach
• promotes the family as a learning environment
• builds on home culture and experience
• encourages participatory learning
• promotes learning as a change in or affirmation of skills,
attitudes and knowledge
• promotes family relationships as supporting well-being
and readiness to learn
• promotes a culture of aspiration in adults and children
• gives opportunities and builds confidence to try out new
skills and ideas
• promotes community cohesion and sustainable living

9. What benefits from family-learning classes do parents identify
for their children?

10. Family benefits
•

11. How do parents rate the importance of these benefits?

12. What makes a Family Learning
Programme Successful?
• Partnership
• Informal / non formal structure
• Interesting topics - Meeting the needs of
groups
• Building on existing knowledge of learners
• Practical activities

13. Informal adult learning is about
• Learning to know
• Learning to do
• Learning to live together
• Learning to be

14. Children benefit from family learning in numerous ways:
• They receive higher quality support from their
parents when helping them with their
homework.
• Parents are also more likely to understand the
education system, what is expected of their
child and how they can best support them.
In addition, some studies have shown that
children’s behaviour has improved.

15. Impact for adults
• Improved social and cultural capital
• Improved parental self-confidence and
self-efficacy
• Parental empowerment

16. Key competencies for LLL
• communication in the mother tongue
• communication in foreign languages
• mathematical competence and basic
competences in science and technology
• digital competence
• learning to learn
• social and civic competences
• sense of initiative and entrepreneurship cultural
awareness and expression
• cultural awareness and expression

18. Activities
Listening to parents
• Parent questionnaire
• Translation
• Community link person
• Improving parents’
engagement with school
• Increased confidence of
parents and improved
parenting skills.

19. Family
Learning
Courses

20. Project Objectives
• Building a partnership between home, school
and community in order to maximise support
to parents
• Providing parents with opportunities to
improve their own parenting skills
(workshops)
• Fostering the notion of lifelong learning

21. 2nd meeting Palermo, 12-16 December
• Leaflet, poster
• Logo
• Website
• Good practices: family learning experiences
• Results of questionnaires – different
perspectives about intergenerational FL dialog