Parenting is the most important and challenging role that is undertaken by most adults. However the skill of parenthood is not one that is acquired automatically once a couple becomes a mother and a father. Parents need all the assistance available from society at large particularly from adult education institutions. This project is informed by liberatory philosophy education. It is envisaged that through this partnership parents acquire a deeper understanding of their situation, as parents of adolescents and feel empowered that through their capabilities they are able to take action.
The partnership will study the nature of family processes, including reciprocal socialisation, and the family as a system, the developmental construction of relationships, maturation of the adolescent and the maturation of the parents, socio-cultural, historical changes and the family life cycle. They will also analyse parenting techniques and parent-adolescent conflict, autonomy, and attachment in adolescence.
The partnership will aim to develop a model that could contribute to create and strengthen the cooperative relationships between adults and adolescents, that will be used as a model for democratic living and training ground for democratic leadership.

There are 5 partners from 4 countries: Malta, Italy (2), Romania, Slovenia

The objectives are:

1. to help parents to acquire a deeper understanding of their situation and feel empowered that through their own capacities they are able to take action and change their situation
2. to empower parents through active participation, and reciprocal dialogue
3. to develop new skills to deal with the problems of modern society related to the families’ and adolescents’ needs;
4. to realize a real learning partnership between organizations working to support the parents, students, teachers, in countries from EU and candidates countries;
5. to create the possibility to exchange experiences between partners;
6. to create and strengthen the cooperative relationships between adults and adolescents, to be used as a model for democratic living and training ground for democratic leadership;
7. to model good attitudes to learning, to problem solving, to working collaboratively and parenting skills.
8. to offer to the beneficiaries the possibility to meet other parents, educational organizations from other European countries and to improve their cultural knowledge
9. to identify specific areas where the lack of knowledge regarding adolescents’ needs might be the cause of insufficient relationship and partnership between parents and adolescents, especially in the poor groups and groups in risk of social exclusion;
10. to disseminate the findings and experience obtained to similar institutions through the use of ICT

Activity Plan

The main activities that are expected to take place in the first year of the project, 2006/2007 are:
- Identifying and selection of the target group;
- Organization of meetings of the partners to exchange experiences and good practices in the field of helping parents in garnering adolescents’ support
- Elaborating and spreading informing leaflets to make known the project and its objectives at the local level
- Workshops with learners:
- Meetings of the beneficiaries
- Elaboration of an e-magazine and/or magazine, with the support of the young learners, containing data and articles about the participant countries, reflections of the experts and learners, news about the participant organizations and the unfolding of the project, stories written by the beneficiaries, etc.
- Designing and elaborating of a web site containing information about the project, best practices in this field and a virtual exhibition with the products made by the beneficiaries
- Organizing of dissemination seminar.