Parent Education: A Classroom Program on Social Learning Principles

Abstract

In their review paper on parent education, Croake and Glover (1977) noted that the history of parent training is fairly old. Over time, parent education courses have been varied according to theoretical frameworks, topics, and presentation formats. Parents today still have a wide choice of courses from which to choose, one of which is behavior modification. It is believed by some (e.g., Croake & Glover, 1977) that this approach is useful since it potentially can improve family relations and encourage positive behavior in children. Although these and other advantages have been stated for the various parent training programs, few studies have been conducted to assess whether the goals of a program are ever attained. In fact, the main problem with the literature in parent education is that very little research has been done to evaluate the effectiveness of a given parent education program (O'Dell, 1974). This paper describes a classroom program of parent education with a focus on teaching behavior principles to parents. It emphasized the view that children are primarily learners continuously acquiring new patterns of behavior and that parents are their most important teachers. By understanding how a child acquires new behavioral patterns, parents are in a good position to influence their child's