What is Family Learning?
The European Family Learning Network has broad and inclusive definitions of both ‘family’ and ‘Family Learning’.
We take ‘Family’ to mean the diverse forms of modern kinship relationships that exist as well as the broader caring and friendship networks that people rely on and learn from throughout life.
‘Family Learning’ might involve any combination of:
- formal and informal learning within the family;
- family members learning together;
- learning about roles, relationships and responsibilities in relation to stages of family life, including parenting education;
- learning how to understand, take responsibility and make decisions in relation to wider society, in which the family is a foundation for citizenship;
- learning how to deal with agencies that serve families.
Similarly, we continue to see these as taking place in the following ways:
formal initiatives – for example, Family Literacy, Language and Numeracy programmes, Wider Family Learning provision and Parenting Education programmes;
broader initiatives – for example, Bookstart and Sure Start;
informal Family Learning opportunities – for example, through television, the Internet and the media, at museums, libraries, sports and leisure facilities, or through faith, community, family and voluntary groups and centres.
About Family Learning: the impact on children, young people and parents
Family Learning is increasingly recognized as a highly positive influence on children’s development and attainment. Research shows that parental involvement in their children’s learning positively affects the child’s academic performance (Fan & Chen, 2001) in both primary and secondary schools (Feinstein & Symons, 1999), leading to higher academic achievement, greater cognitive competence, greater problem-solving skills, greater school enjoyment, better school attendance and fewer behavioural problems at school (Melhuish, Sylva, Sammons et al., 2001).
At the same time Family Learning plays a vital role in engaging adults who have become switched off from learning, thus breaking intergenerational cycles of disengagement. It is a non-threatening first step that motivates and empowers adults to address their own skills needs.
