Abstract
ABSTRACT Purpose: Despite increased focus on parenting support internationally, there is a lack of agreement in what constitutes parenting support. This paper explores the experiences of parenting support activities from the perspective of stakeholders in Norwegian basic schools. Methods: Five focus group interviews were conducted with representatives from the schools’ parent work committee, class teachers, health nurses, and social workers from nine schools. The data were interpreted using an inductive thematic analysis. Results: Three main themes emerged from the data: (1) A community for the best of the child, (2) uniting through relations, and (3) sharing knowledge and language. Parenting support was experienced as universal, relational, and multidimensional. It was related to everyday life interactions between the home, school, and the parenting community with the best interest of the child as a goal. Conclusion: To avoid reducing parents to passive recipients of expert advice, parenting support activities should be an integral part of everyday school-home-parenting community collaborations. Abbreviation: EU-The European Union; UN-The Unition Nations; CoE-The Council of Europe; NSD-The Norwegian Centre for Research Data; CTP-Class teachers in primary school; CTJS-Class teachers in junior secondary school; P-Parents; H-Health nurses; SW-Social workers
Highlights
Bringing up children has been regarded as one of the most important tasks adults perform (Abela & Walker, 2013)
In examining participants’ experiences of parenting support in a basic school context, our analyses revealed three main themes and eight sub-themes
Our study revealed that the experience of parenting support was described as a collaboration between the school, the home, and the parenting community
Summary
Bringing up children has been regarded as one of the most important tasks adults perform (Abela & Walker, 2013). In 2018, the Norwegian government launched a four-year policy document captioned “Confident Parents—Confident Children: The Government’s Strategy for Parenting support (2018–2021)” (The Norwegian Directorate for Children Youth and Family Affairs, 2018). This policy emphasizes preven tion as socio-economically profitable because it reduces the need for later and more costly measures. The government with this strategy aims to promote the child’s best interests by strengthening the rela tionship between parents and/or between parents and children, where parents should have and find support regardless of where they live
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