What I’ve learned, what went well, what this means and what we can do next.
In this, the last, chapter I will summarise the key findings from my research. This doesn’t just include the specific answers to my research questions, but also relates to how my research is part of a bigger picture. With that in mind I will organise my findings into three distinct categories. Firstly, I will summarise what the parents thought about the parenting programmes. Secondly, I will propose how parenting programmes are a real-world example of a Transplant model in practice. And finally, I will look at ways in which elements of my methodology can be applied more widely within the context of general social science research.
What are the views of parents regarding the changes that parents have made as a result of attending a parenting programme?
From the perspective of parents, what impact has the parenting programme had on the children?
I will discuss how these questions are addressed by the key findings from my study, in the context of other relevant literature and my own professional experience.
What Parents Thought About the Impact of Parenting Programmes
Research Question 2: Parents’ Views Regarding Parental Changes
Addressing my second research question, we can see from Chapter 3 that parents reported positive changes in parental behaviour, especially the effective adoption of parenting and behaviour management strategies, along with increased parental confidence. This was seen to also impact other aspects of their lives, including giving parents the confidence to approach their child’s school with concerns or going on to further training to develop their career, all of which will have a direct impact on the child.
This outcome aligns with Bronfenbrenner’s ecological system model (1979), whereby factors with which the child does not directly interact can still have an impact on them. In the context of my study, Bronfenbrenner’s exosystem would include the two parenting programmes where the child does not attend with their parent: The Incredible Years and Triple-P. According to Bronfenbrenner, interactions within the exosystem, in this case between parents and trainers, have the potential to indirectly impact the child through induced changes in parental approach, attitude and behaviour. Although the child does not attend the sessions, the strategies parents are learning and using at home are having a positive impact on their child and their family. Similarly, the PEEP programmes would fall into Bronfenbrenner’s mesosystem, where the parents and trainers interact with each other and also directly with the child. Here the parents are interacting with the trainers, growing their knowledge on child development and positive parenting strategies, and then using what they have learnt not only during group sessions but also at home.
My findings add further support to the evidence (Coren and Barlow 2009; Al-Hassan and Lansford 2011; Lindsay and Cullen 2011; Furlong et al. 2012) that parenting programmes can be successful in encouraging the learning and adoption of new parenting skills and strategies. One key parenting skill reported by parents in my research was the use of positive parenting techniques to manage children’s behaviour; strategies included verbal praise, kindness chart, listening to their child, negotiation and providing options. Additionally, parents reported a new understanding on the value of play in their child’s development. The outcome of this new knowledge has led to parents reporting changes around the time and activities they share with their child; these included sharing stories, singing, cooking and playing with their child. My research also demonstrated two key outcomes arising from the adoption of these positive parenting strategies: firstly an improved parent–child relationship, again echoing the findings of Coren and Barlow (2009); secondly a reported increase in general parental confidence, supporting the findings of Manby (2005) who reported improvements in parental confidence as they were able to successfully apply strategies to address their children’s behaviour.
In addition to the learning of new parenting skills, my findings demonstrated that parents were also learning more about child development and the importance of the role they play in this area. This supports the earlier findings of Al-Hassan and Lansford (2011). The subsequent parental behavioural changes reflect how an increased understanding of their child’s development can help improve their parenting skills; in particular it helps them to create a safer and more stimulating environment within which their child can thrive. This ranged from an understanding of healthy eating and physical play to the value of singing, reading stories and playing even with the very youngest infants.
From my professional experience I have found that most parents want to do their best for their child; this is further supported by them agreeing to or choosing to attend a parenting programme, often to help them develop their knowledge around child development and positive parenting strategies. I have also found in the years that I have been in the education system, specifically early years and primary, that working in partnership with parents and respecting their knowledge as a parent, helps encourage them to develop their parenting skills. There have been many occasions where I have found parents wanting to do their very best for their child but not knowing how to go about it and have welcomed the opportunity to work in partnership with me to help improve their knowledge in this area. This is supported by Crittenden (2005) who agrees that parents have a desire to do the right thing but sometimes do not know how. My findings relating to this research question demonstrate that parents are adopting positive strategies learnt on the programmes and are becoming more confident in their role. This is important because it demonstrates how the desire of parents to do their best for their child is being met by the parenting programmes; they are being supported in improving their knowledge on child development and positive parenting strategies resulting in increased parental confidence.
Research Question 3: Parents’ Views on the Impact to the Children
Key to my research has been the role the parents play in their child’s development and this maps to the first level of Bronfenbrenner’s ecological system model, the microsystem, which represents the immediate environment surrounding the child. In the context of my research, this level maps primarily to include the child’s interaction with their parents, although for those who attend the PEEP programmes this would also include the exchanges between the trainer and child during the programme sessions. It is through the interactions between the layers in this model, from the exosystem through the mesosystem to the microsystem, that the parenting programme can be seen to have an impact on the children of the parents attending.
Answering this third research question, two key outcomes regarding impact on the child are identified: an improved relationship with their parent (Chapter 4) and an increased degree of school readiness (Chapter 5). The first of these is facilitated and supported by the parent learning new skills and strategies coupled with them spending more quality time together. Adoption of strategies learnt on the programme is found to be contributing to an improved bond between parent and child, with their relationship being reported as happier, less stressful and more constructive. This is another key outcome of attendance on a parenting programme and further supports the findings of Simonič and Poljanec (2014) who researched mothers’ views having attended a young mother ’s group. This outcome is important to note because this improved relationship feeds back into promoting the child’s behaviour and confidence, and indirectly increases their school readiness.
Improvement in school readiness is the second notable outcome for children; an increase in positive parenting skills and parental knowledge of child development can lead to an improvement in the child being ready to start school. Examples of school readiness include language development, social development, confidence and behaviour. These are the foundations which will help support the child as they move into and subsequently through the education system. This finding supports Kiernan et al.’s (2008) research where the importance of the parents’ role in their child’s school readiness is recognised. Although the findings of this study are unable to capture any association between parenting programmes and educational attainment outcomes, the findings do demonstrate that having attended a parenting programme, parents are recognising the advantages of providing opportunities to promote their child’s development. This supports the findings of Hattie (2009) and Desforges and Abouchaar (2003) on the importance of parental engagement in the child’s developmental and lifelong learning outcomes, and also demonstrates that having attended a parenting programme parents, themselves, recognise the impact of their engagement. This further advocates the value of the role of parenting programmes in improving child outcomes.
From the literature review the suggestion is that parental engagement with a child’s education can have a positive impact on their behavioural, developmental and educational outcomes (Desforges and Abouchaar 2003; Harris and Goodall 2007; Hattie 2009; Claxton and Lucas 2015). From my own professional experience of teaching both in the early years and primary, I have found that parental engagement in a child’s education can and does have a positive effect on these outcomes. A parental appreciation of child development can help lead to structured quality play opportunities for the child and is likely to promote a home environment where educational support is more forthcoming—a child raised in this environment often reaches developmental and educational milestones ahead of their peers. Hattie (2009) goes further and suggests that parental support could add the equivalent of an extra two to three years to the child’s education. These changes in parental behaviour and interactions with their child may not necessarily be seen by the parents as directly supporting their education, however from my professional experience I have found that indirectly they are making a positive impact in this area.
What are the views of parents regarding the parenting programme?
Specifically, I will focus on what the parents told me about the learning environment and how this enabled them to get the most out of the programmes.
Parenting Programmes as a Real-World Example of a Transplant Model in Practice
Research Question 1: Parents’ Views on Parenting Programmes
My first research question was addressed by two key findings: firstly how parents valued the role of the trainers in creating the right environment, where they could share their parenting experiences and support each other within the structure of a parenting group, and secondly how parents valued the role of other parents on the programme. It is however important to note that although the views and experiences of other parents were seen as a vital component of the programme, this did not reduce the importance of the role of the parenting programme trainer. The vast majority of the interviewed parents identified the role of the trainer in “setting the scene” and supporting them through challenging times as well as providing general parenting advice and information. The parents considered that they worked in partnership with the trainers rather than being dictated to. It is important that I highlight this point again because it suggests the trainers were not adopting the role of an expert, as in Cunningham and Davis’ Expert model, but rather were working in partnership with parents as in their Transplant model (Cunningham and Davis 1985). As I mentioned in Chapter 7 for one of the PEEP groups I visited, it could be suggested that they had even gone one step further and were moving towards the Consumer model where parents were encouraged to choose what they want included in their session. This is important because it suggests that parents are being empowered by the approaches to learning being adopted by the trainers, rather than disempowered as indicated in Cottam and Espie’s (2014) research. Further this also suggests that, for the programmes that formed part of my research, the concerns regarding trainers identifying themselves as the expert and having a deficit view of the parent were unfounded.
As highlighted in Chapter 6 I anticipated that a number of themes, such as an improvement in children’s behaviour, would probably develop from the analysis of the data especially as they had been a focus of previous research. However what was particularly interesting from the interviews with the Triple-P and The Incredible Years parents was the emphasis that they placed on whole family engagement in the programme. This is not only important because it would provide continuity and consistency in parenting and reduce family conflict but also because it was reported that for one parent to be perceived as the expert, telling the other how they should be parenting could place a strain on their relationship or possibly make the other parent feel disempowered. Interestingly the concerns raised in the literature review around Cunningham and Davis Expert model appear to apply more to the inter-parent relationship rather than the parent–trainer relationship.
Bhaskar’s (2008) MELD model guided my research process. MELD took my research from the First Moment (1M) of collecting the perceptions of parents through the Second Edge (2E) of analysing the data with an acknowledgement of how absences and negative power are a vital part of the process regarding changes in parenting behaviours and child development; to the Third Level (3L) of looking at the whole picture through several perceptions, identifying themes that represent the totality. The key findings uncovered by my research, specifically the importance of the right learning and sharing environment and the value placed on whole family engagement in the parenting programme, have taken me towards the Fourth Dimension (4D) providing us with new knowledge and understanding. This new knowledge could be capitalised on in terms of the delivery of not only parenting programmes but also other parent focused initiatives through sharing groups rather than one-to-one interventions and by encouraging whole family engagement.
I will now move on to the third stage of my conclusion and look at how elements of my methodology can provide valuable knowledge in a wider social science research context.
How My Methodology Can Serve as an Example for General Social Science Research
Critical Realism as a Philosophy
As discussed in Chapter 4, an important strength of my research was how I used Roy Bhaskar’s philosophy Critical Realism to guide my research methodology. Ontologically I acknowledge that objects exist in and of themselves, independent of our knowledge of them. Additionally I recognise that our understanding of them might change over time, or between observers, but that the underlying reality remains constant.
1M was the start of the MELD process. Here I observed and collected the views of parents and trainers on the parenting programme process, changes in their parental behaviour and the impact on the child. I used these to help understand how each individual’s experience is one manifestation of the underlying reality.
2E was where I identified what was the nature of the changes reported by parents, and recognised the nature of both becoming and “be-going”. I looked for what was missing in regard to parenting behaviours and child development. I compared the data from the parents and trainers to see whether there were any contradictions in what they were saying. Although this book does not include the trainers’ perspectives this was an important element of my research as it provided triangulation to the data and promoted trustworthiness of the findings. The trainers’ views aligned with what the parents were reporting.
3L is the point where I looked at the whole picture, the totality, of the impacts of the parenting programme process. I examined this totality through multiple time points, multiple views, both parents and trainers, and multiple methodologies (questionnaires and interviews).
4D is the final stage where I am now using this new knowledge and understanding to pursue real change; I want to refocus the Government and local authorities’ attention to addressing these changes.
By using Bhasker’s MELD I have taken individual parent’s perspectives, combined it with others, analysed it critically looking for deeper implications and meanings. To really embrace 4D and to pursue real change I now share the knowledge and understanding that I have gained with others, this book being one important example.
I hope that by sharing how I used Bhaskar’s MELD to provide structure to my methodology this will provide valuable knowledge to future researchers and professionals, and that it can act as a real example for how Critical Realism can be applied within social science research.
Maximising Participation Through Anonymity and Confidentiality
An additional strength of my methodological approach is the technique I discussed in Chapter 5 for helping to increase questionnaire returns through anonymity, and I believe that it may provide new knowledge to the field of collecting longitudinal data, particularly from possibly vulnerable groups. By assigning index numbers to questionnaires and having the gatekeeper allocate a parent to an index, I guaranteed the parents anonymity whilst still providing a system to gather further data from them at a later date, thus allowing anonymous comparisons between pre-intervention and post-intervention data. Additionally, by providing envelopes in which the questionnaires were to be returned, I guaranteed that the parents’ responses were kept confidential from the parent programme trainers. This combination of anonymity and confidentiality helped reduce any worries the parents may have had and so promoted participation. This novel approach will, I hope, support future researchers and professionals in maximising participation rates, especially amongst more vulnerable groups.
Engaging to Maximise Participation
Another particular strength of my questionnaire data collection was investing time to visit the parenting groupspersonally to introduce my research and spend time interacting with the parents and children. Although I emphasised that taking part in my research was completely voluntary and that there would be no negative implications if they did not, the questionnaire returns from these visits were almost 100%. One of the poorest responses I had was from a Baby PEEP group where there were 19 parents with their babies, all moving around various rooms to complete activities between feeding their babies; it was a particularly hectic session for the trainers and there was understandably little opportunity for parents to complete questionnaires, however I still received 16 (84%) completed forms.
Although I offered a visit to all the groups taking part in my research, some of the trainers chose to tell their parents about my research themselves; in these instances I provided a briefing sheet outlining my research. For these groups the returns were not so high. This could be attributed to a number of reasons: not being present meant that I was unable to provide any additional information to answer parents’ questions or address their particular concerns, and did not give me the opportunity to convey the enthusiasm I brought to my research when I talked about it. For one local authority, I visited a The Incredible Years group and received 100% returns on the pre-programme questionnaire. However for the post-programme questionnaire, and pre-programme questionnaire for subsequent groups, the local authority advisor decided that the trainers would co-ordinate the questionnaires on my behalf; the returns were very poor. This is important as it demonstrates that by investing time and going into groups to talk to parents and explain the value of the research, the level of parents’ engagement is increased and they are much more likely to complete the associated questionnaires. It is recognised and expected that for a longitudinal study there will be a natural loss of participants during the research (Robson 2002; Oppenheim 2005; Thomas 2009), so by maximising participant engagement at the start of the research process it is more likely that there will continue to be a sufficient number of participants taking part in the final stage of data collection.
Respecting the Data
The final point I would like to emphasise is another particular strength of my research method, which was the combination of using open-ended questions in the questionnaires and interviews, coupled with the adoption of a thematic approach to analyse the data. This enabled parents to express their views in areas which I may not have considered as they had not arisen during my professional experience or during the literature review, and which could have easily been overlooked had I used different methods of collecting and analysing the data. This is important because it provided me with a more complete picture of the value parents have placed on being able to attend a parenting programme.
To promote trustworthiness of the data I analysed responses from both parents and, although not discussed in this book, trainers on some common issues; this helped make my analysis more robust. This process of triangulation, in combination with coding of the data, helped minimise any biases in my interpretation which could potentially arise coming to this study with 30 plus years of professional experience. Methodological triangulation was achieved as results from the interview analysis were reinforced by considering questionnaire responses too. Braun and Clarke acknowledge that as a qualitative researcher you come with “identities and experiences” (Braun and Clarke 2013, p. 21) and do not consider that you should try to be rid of it but rather take account of it. It was important for me to look for indicators that bias might be creeping into the analysis and then influencing the rest of the research design; at any point where I considered this appeared to be happening it was necessary to step back and re-evaluate the analysis with a more objective perspective. I used this self-awareness to minimise any bias in my analysis.
Working with recorded interviews is a time-consuming process. Having typed up the transcripts I embraced the familiarisation phase and devised nodes of data which I then cut out on strips of paper and physically moved around my dining room table, creating groups and then themes. Looking back at these nodes I can see effective initial coding identifying features of the data which eventually led to the development of the themes discussed in this book. I am confident that the themes that developed from the data are robust, supported by data collection from both parents and trainers. This stage took many weeks as I would step away from the data and then revisit it, looking through a fresh lens, making sure that I really captured the essence of what the parents said in the themes that I developed. As a result of this extended duration and the physical tactile nature of moving conversational snippets around in space, I became totally immersed in the data and far more familiar with it than I feel would have been possible in a purely digital environment.
I urge researchers to respect their data and factor in sufficient time to properly analyse it. The danger of rushing this stage of the process is the researcher potentially “cherry picking” the themes that they expected, or even worse mistakenly imposing their own meaning on what has been said. As researchers it is important that we demonstrate rigour and trustworthiness in our analysis. Stepping away and giving time before revisiting the data again can help to minimise biases and promote objectivity in the analysis.
Current Parenting Programme Availability
Although the Government policy of introducing parenting programmes provision may appear to be removed from the child, in that the child is not the direct recipient of the programme, my research has shown that it can still have an impact on them. This aligns with Bronfenbrenner’s ecological system model, where the interactions within and between the macrosystem, exosystem and mesosystem have an ultimate impact on the microsystem. What becomes evident from my research is the causal relationship between Government policy focus, funding of parenting programmes, parents attending those programmes, parents applying the knowledge and strategies learnt at home—and how this interplay between the levels can impact the child.
Following the evaluation of the PEIP the government decided to fund a further roll out across all 150 LAs in England, the Parenting Early Intervention Programme (2008-2011). One of the roles expected to be fulfilled by PSAs was to support the delivery of parenting programmes.
(Lindsay et al. 2009, p. 22)
From the themes that developed through my research, there is a clear overlap around several aspects of the parenting programmes including changes in parental behaviours and the associated positive impact on the child. What can be concluded is that almost all parents are reporting a positive impact for the parent, for the child and in many cases for the family of the parent attending the parenting programme. I would like to emphasise this point because it suggests that there is a real need for parenting programmes; a need that should be addressed across all parents and not just targeted at a specific group.
There is an increasing range of specific programmes aimed at disadvantaged families with young children which demonstrate that improvements can be made to the home learning environment, parenting, and child outcomes more widely.
(Field 2010, p. 58)
I would however suggest that this support should not only be offered to a limited group of targeted parents but that it should be universally available. The Government’s objective of targeting certain parents has imposed restrictions on trainers regarding how many parents they can accept who do not fall within these target groups—and these restrictions are becoming increasingly tight as further cuts are made to funding. Yet in my interviews, parents spontaneously commented on how they felt it important that the programmes need to be available to all parents; the need for practical parenting skills is universal and not just confined to specific target groups.
The Sure Start programme as a whole is one of the most innovative and ambitious Government initiatives of the past two decades. We have heard almost no negative comment about its intentions and principles; it has been solidly based on evidence that the early years are when the greatest difference can be made to a child’s life chances, and in many areas it has successfully cut through the silos that so often bedevil public service delivery. Children’s Centres are a substantial investment with a sound rationale, and it is vital that this investment is allowed to bear fruit over the long term.
(House of Commons 2011, p. 4)
And yet throughout this research I watched the acceleration of cuts to Government and local authority funding. Millions of pounds had been invested across the country in children’s centre builds and training staff and yet within only a few years these centres were being closed down (Sylva et al. 2015). The result was that closures to children’s centres impacted on the very families that the Government and local authorities said they were trying to support; these families are now expected to travel further to access centres. One head-teacher whose school is considered to be in a more deprived area shared that her families will simply not cross town to access a group.
In December 2015 (BBC 2015) a county council in the south-west of the UK released its plans to close half of its 30 children’s centres. In the same article one of its local authorities announced that it proposed to close its last five remaining children’s centres; there had been 14 in 2013. The resulting consultation with local parents in January 2016 demonstrated that there was overwhelming support to keep the children’s centres open (Smith 2016). Despite pleas from parents, in February 2016 it was announced (BBC 2016) that all five children’s centres, along with their parenting classes and support groups, would be closing. Services to support vulnerable children would now be through health visitors and home visits. This directly contradicts one of the key findings from my research where parents reported the importance of parents being able to get together and share their experiences in a friendly and supportive environment. In addition to learning parenting skills, parents, both mothers and fathers, shared stories of how attending a group had: helped them cope with postnatal depression; make new friends; improve their relationship with their child; realise that they were not the only one with questions around parenting. There were reports that without the group they would be isolated and not see anyone all day. The recommendations from NICE (National Institute for Clinical Excellence 2006) provide further supporting evidence of the importance of group-based parenting programmes rather than individual-based programmes. It is essential to maintain offering parenting support within a group environment; this was one of the most important themes arising from my research, and emphasises the value that parents place on sharing experiences and knowledge with other parents.
The important points here, based on the evidence from my research, are that funding needs to be restored for community-based parenting programmes and that the programmes need to be made more universally available.
Conclusion
The purpose of this research was to provide parents the opportunity to express their views on parenting programmes; this is also the strength of this study. The reason for this book was to make sure those voices were heard. This is important as my research gave parents the opportunity to express what they thought of the parenting programme process, whether they considered there had been any changes in their parenting since attending a course and whether they felt it had benefitted their child—an opportunity that had been seriously neglected.
I think it is important to emphasise again that the methodological strategy that I developed meant that parents were provided with the opportunity to complete questionnaires anonymously thereby not only maximising participation, whilst still being able to collect data over multiple time points, but also promoting honest views. Parents were also given the chance to speak freely at interviews knowing that their identity would not be disclosed. I made it clear when introducing my research that I was not trying to advocate or promote parenting programmes I simply wanted to hear their perspectives. There was no indication from any of the parents that they felt disempowered since attending the programme, on the contrary parents reported feeling more confident.
Positive outcomes reported by parents have included a better understanding of supporting their child’s development, spending more quality time with their child and an improved parent-child relationship. From my own professional experience I would suggest that a positive parent–child interaction is the key to promoting the child’s educational, behavioural and developmental outcomes.
My research has also highlighted some valuable new knowledge regarding the delivery of parenting programmes and similar initiatives, re-iterating the importance of the Transplant model. Information is best delivered in an environment which acknowledges and builds on parents’ pre-existing knowledge and skills, allowing them to share with others whilst embracing the new ideas being presented on the programme. I have also uncovered the importance of whole family engagement in such initiatives; the most effective dissemination of information needs to reach into the whole family and not just attempt to create a single expert within the household. It is important that these aspects of my findings are taken into consideration by local authorities and other organisations when designing and delivering parent-facing programmes.
In conclusion, given the right learning environment, parenting programmes can offer a successful route to increasing parental knowledge on child development as well as introducing strategies and techniques to support and promote the child’s behaviour, development, school readiness and education. This increase in parental knowledge and subsequent change in parental behaviour often results in a more harmonious home atmosphere, an improved parent–child relationship and a more supportive home learning environment.
I hope my research and this book help to promote the principle that the evaluation of a policy or intervention needs to consider the impact on the individuals concerned and that it is important to spend time to actually listen to what they say.