In this collaborative and partnership-based research, we analyzed the particularities of the socio-educational intervention of three community organizations located in as many neighborhoods with a very high index of socioeconomic deprivation in the Montreal area.

These interventions are intended either exclusively for parents of elementary school-age children (Écoles des parents) in South-West and East Montreal, or concomitantly for parents, families and children, as in the case of two elementary schools associated with La Relance, jeunes et familles in South Central Montreal. While the interest of the adult clientele derives from their interest in developing their ability to guide the educational trajectories of their children, several characteristics emerge from an analysis of the intervention practices.

This project analyzes the characteristics of the socio-educational interventions of three community organizations. 

On the one hand, in all cases, the mediation provided by the counsellors during the training programs enables the development of parental involvement in the school activities that characterize the school-family relationship, especially when it comes to communicating with staff and the adoption of proactive attitudes in co-management and the resolution of social and educational adjustment problems.

On the other hand, flexible schedules, the ability to decentralize the training locations, and the provision of supervision or childcare services by the organizations make it easier for participants—who are often single parents who are unemployed or have precarious work with variable hours—to attend.

At the educational level, the co-leadership of the training sessions characteristic of the interventions of our three partners in the field facilitates both the application of the informal skills built by the group and the concomitant administration of a parallel customized intervention focusing on the resolution of clinical problems or linked to the learning objective. The effects of the training interventions are conclusive, both with regard to the capacity for school re-entry through adult education, and employability and the development of parental childrearing skills.

Main researcher

François Larose, Université de Sherbrooke

Summary

Research report

Call for proposals

Deposit of the research report: July 2018