Parent empowerment for family literacy: a European initiative

Abstract

The article describes the genesis of, rationale for and running of the Parent Empowerment for Family Literacy Project (PEFaL), a European-Union funded six-nation family literacy initiative that took place between 2001 and 2004. Whilst a number of features of the project are typical of family literacy programmes, some aspects of PEFaL are identifiably distinctive. These include the multicultural, trans-cultural and linguistic dimensions, and an innovative attempt to encourage parent and child participants to communicate with each other across countries by email and the Internet. These features and some of the project outcomes are discussed and prospects for follow-on activities are examined.

Family literacy in Europe: separate agendas?

“…However, such challenges are not unusual in comparative or educational studies. The Parental Empowerment for Family Literacy Project (PEFaL), undertaken by Camilleri et al (2005), encountered similar challenges when exploring the rationale for family literacy projects across countries in Europe.…”

“…However, few comparative crossEuropean studies have been conducted. One notable exception is the critique of the PEFaL project, which included five European countries; Italy, Romania, Belgium, England and Malta, (Camilleri et al, 2005).…”

Educational Psychologists’ Contribution to theEvery Child MattersAgenda: The parents’ view

“…For many years EPs, and other professions working with children, have been striving to involve parents fully in all their work (see Camilleri, Spiteri, & Wolfendale, 2005;Jones, 2006;Wolfendale, 1993Wolfendale, , 1996Wolfendale, , 1997. The view that involving parents in education leads to better outcomes for the child has been around for some time (see Cairney, 1996).…”

Community-Based Family Literacy Program: Comparing Different Durations and Family Characteristics

“…Hannon [18] proposed a "cycle of literacy" model to describe family literacy programs. The premise is that children with low literacy skills have parents with lower literacy skills and by triggering parents desire to support their children's educational development, parents develop their own literacy skills [19]. Community-based family literacy programs have 2 Child Development Research been shown to improve the basic skills of participating adults [19] and family literacy programs that included shared book reading were effective at increasing preschoolers' emergent language and literacy skills [20].…”

“…The premise is that children with low literacy skills have parents with lower literacy skills and by triggering parents desire to support their children's educational development, parents develop their own literacy skills [19]. Community-based family literacy programs have 2 Child Development Research been shown to improve the basic skills of participating adults [19] and family literacy programs that included shared book reading were effective at increasing preschoolers' emergent language and literacy skills [20]. Froiland et al [21] found a positive association between parent education, number of books in the home, and the frequency of shared reading with preschool children.…”