Parenting Program Providers - Beliefs and Promotion of Play

• In Event: Beliefs, knowledge and delivery of play and play-based learning among caregivers and service providers from infancy to early primary school

Proposal

Providers who deliver parenting programs to promote playing and talking with young children are central to its success. In many cases, they initially have the same view of play and its role in mental development as parent beneficiaries. Training and continuous capacity building and support of providers of parenting programs are necessary to ensure that play is fully embedded in the environment surrounding every child.

As a research and learning partner to a multi-country initiative, we carry out implementation research with providers of playful parenting programs in four countries: Zambia, Rwanda, Bhutan and Serbia. The research seeks to understand the operational realities of the frontline providers of parenting programs – how and what they are trained, what knowledge and skills they possess, and how they deliver the content to caregivers in their home visits or group sessions. The research involves a survey in and knowledge assessment each country (n=150), in-depth interviews with a subsample of providers, and observations of both the training sessions and delivery of the program to parents.

The in-depth interviews were conducted with a subsample of providers (n = 10 – 12 per country) who initially participated in a phone survey (n=150 per country). Findings from the phone surveys revealed that forms of playful stimulation were assumed to be appropriate at ages later than they should be. Findings from the in-depth interviews revealed that providers associated child development with brain development and parenting, but were confused about the meaning of "responsive stimulation," sometimes thinking the child should respond to the parent. They understood that changing parenting practices around play was central to their mission, and they expected to influence parents by persuading them of its importance. During sessions with parents, they often appropriately pointed out the complete benefits of play, namely for thinking, communicating, motor and social development; whereas others inaccurately named specific skills to be acquired from a game such as using their fingers, or learning colors. Thus, play continued to be seen as instructive, i.e. teaching specific skills. Early findings also showed that during sessions with parents, those providers who demonstrated new ways of play, and gave parents the opportunity to practice and receive coaching, were more persuasive. The in-depth interviews showed that while providers believed most parents engaged in the new play practices between sessions, they often struggled with parents not understanding the benefits of play, as well as challenges such as conflicts within the family and parents lacking time to devote time for play with their children, or thinking that play required buying expensive toys. Together, the findings point to difficulties in training providers on how to promote play among caregivers of young children – how they understand play and its benefits and how they communicate these to parents. Fortunately, the providers themselves were strongly supportive of the play messages they were giving parents and the benefits it provided children.

Author

• Carina Omoeva, FHI 360